From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Wed Feb 4 00:17:18 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 00:17:18 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, February 2015 Message-ID: <201502040817.t148HIaW015618@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 2 February 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return label enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Centre Hotel] Orlando Site of 2015 NFB Convention The 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 5-10, at the Rosen Centre Hotel at 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Rosen Centre staff only. Call (800) 204-7234. The 2015 room rates are singles, doubles, and twins, $82; and triples and quads, $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before June 1, 2015. The other 50 percent is not refundable. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2015, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. Guest-room amenities include cable television; in-room safe; coffeemaker; hairdryer; and, for a fee, high-speed Internet access. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site spa. The Rosen Centre Hotel offers fine dining at Executive Chef Michael Rumplik's award- winning Everglades Restaurant. In addition, there is an array of dining options from sushi to tapas to a 24-hour deli. The hotel has first-rate amenities and shuttle service to the Orlando airport. The schedule for the 2015 convention is: Sunday, July 5 Seminar Day Monday, July 6 Registration Day Tuesday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day Wednesday, July 8 Opening Session Thursday, July 9 Business Session Friday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 58, No. 2 February 2015 Contents Illustration: Training the Trainers Who Bring Braille to the Blind Calibrate by Jennifer Dunnam Responses to "What Is the Cost of a Free Product?" by Gary Wunder A Fine State President Steps Back: Michael Barber, the End of an Era by Jim Omvig Digital Braille Versus Paper Braille by Christian Coudert Mentioning Ol' Reliable by Grace Warn Blind Voters in New Mexico Forced to Take a Step Backward by Curtis Chong Seeing Is Believing, or Is It? By David Cohen Ebook Legal Restrictions Are Screwing Over Blind People by Kyle Wiens The Battle for ATM Accessibility Continues The San Fernando Valley Chapter Reviews a Year of Progress by Racquel Decipeda The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund by Allen Harris Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Tamala Young (OK), Tammy Robar (HI), and Lisa Craig (HI) create boards for a game called "mini Braille Twister."] [PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Tamala Young, Tammy Robar, and Lisa Craig participate in a make-and-take activity. They are creating a file folder game called "mini Braille Twister" by affixing chair leg cushions to file folders to create a large tactile Braille cell.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Martha Harris (MN), Lisa Craig (HI), Daphne Mitchell (NM) making candy necklaces/bracelets using Twizzlers Pull 'n' Peel, Froot Loops, and Life Savers.] [PHOTO DESCRIPTION: In another make-and-take session Martha Harris, Lisa Craig, and Daphne Mitchell (you can only see the back of her head) are making candy necklaces/bracelets using Twizzlers Pull 'n' Peel, Froot Loops, and Life Savers.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Ellen Bedford (CT), Kathryn Webster (CT), and Joy Scott (NC) use their feet to make the letter "b" in a round of Braille Twister.] [PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Ellen Bedford, Kathryn Webster, and Joy Scott participate in one of the "Taste of NFB BELL" sessions, playing Braille Twister. People-sized tactile Braille cells were created on the floor using Poly Spots (that's the official term for these little rubber discs that PE teachers usually use to mark bases or spots on the floor for various games). In this game, participants use parts of their body, like in Twister, to mark dots to create Braille letters, contractions, or other symbols. In this picture they are using their feet to make the letter "b."] Training the Trainers Who Bring Braille to the Blind On December 11 fifty members of the National Federation of the Blind traveled to Baltimore to plan, brainstorm, and dream about the NFB BELL program in the summer of 2015, which will be held in twenty-four states around the country. Six states-Connecticut, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Kentucky-will host the NFB BELL program for the first time in the summer of 2015. At the seminar participants shared their knowledge about how to manage the various logistics of the program so that it runs smoothly for the students. Participants also spent time familiarizing themselves with the robust curriculum and trading ideas about how to implement different aspects of the lessons for students of varying abilities. Brainstorming sessions focused on how to incorporate the transition to UEB into the program as well as how to bolster the content related to nonvisual graphic literacy. And, of course, participants had to try out some of the new games and activities incorporated into the newest version of the curriculum; our NFB BELL coordinators are all kids at heart! Everyone had a great time and left energized and ready to plan another summer of Braille fun. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jennifer Dunnam] Calibrate by Jennifer Dunnam From the Editor: Jennifer Dunnam is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, and this article is taken from the Minnesota Bulletin, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. I find many observations to be close to home, and I believe this article is likely to become one of our classic pieces of literature. Here's what she says: Many benefits flow from being a member of the National Federation of the Blind. Some of these are the mutual support and encouragement we give each other, the ability to make things happen together that we could not do alone, the sense of community we possess, and the useful information and resources we are able to share. The collective experience we can call upon is deeper with more of us in the mix, and the more of us there are, ready and willing to participate, the more we can do. There is one aspect, however, that is a bit more complicated to describe, but it can apply to all of us individually-whether we grew up as a blind person or lost sight later in life. Participating in the National Federation of the Blind can help us "calibrate." The word "calibrate" has numerous definitions, but here is the one that I (nerd though I may be) find relevant: "To check, adjust, or determine the graduations of a quantitative measuring instrument by comparison with a standard." Certainly this is not a precisely relevant definition, since we're talking about humans, but perhaps I can illustrate with a bit of personal history, which is no doubt similar in some ways to the experiences of many others. My parents are the best anyone could ask for. They worked hard to ensure that I, their daughter who has always been blind, would live a normal life, able to take care of myself and to get along and do my fair share in the world. They knew that sometimes toughness was necessary from them in order to achieve these goals. However, they were not with me everywhere I went, could not always influence the way others treated me, and, with a few rarely-encountered exceptions, did not have exposure to other blind people who could show by example how to live a successful life as a blind person. There were many other people in my early life, also with the best of intentions, who had little exposure to the truth about blindness and also did not have the same incentive to consider my future as my parents did. Many felt sorry for me or constantly told me what an inspiration I was. Most wanted to do all they could to make life easier for me. Therefore, although I was fortunate to receive a good education at public school, I also received many strong messages that I was not like other people and that the rules were not the same for me as for others. For most of my school years I always sat in the very front of the class (or sometimes at the very back), in a different type of desk from everyone else. I was often allowed to leave class just a little before the end so that the fellow student who helped me get to my next class would have time to get me there and then to get herself to her own class (no independent cane travel training for me until I was twelve, and even then it was very limited). It isn't that no one ever insisted that I come up to the mark and meet standards like everyone else. I remember how grouchy I was when suddenly I was expected to start doing more chores. I was offended when a teacher said, "You're responsible for cleaning out that desk just like everyone else." These were important lessons, but they were harder to take because the messages were not consistent, and I was so often treated differently from others. One time there was an article in the town's newspaper about me-all about my good grades in school, my climbing on the playground equipment, my school friends, and on and on. Certainly it can be argued that there is merit in such an article showing a positive image of blindness, but none of this would have been newsworthy at all if I were not blind. However, as a young child I was not mature enough to keep it in the correct perspective, so I fear I took it all to heart a bit overmuch, thinking that maybe it meant I really was as amazing as everyone said I was. The other side of the coin of being "different" started to rear its ugly head more as I became a teenager. People my age often did not want to hang around with me much. My younger sisters got driver's licenses and could drive off wherever they wanted, but I could not have even told you the name of the next street over from where we lived, much less navigated around the city. My sisters and friends spent as much time as they could walking around the mall, but it was a struggle for me just to walk around my own school building independently. And, if I did go to the mall with them, I spent a lot of time waiting because, unless I could talk them into going somewhere, they set the course. The feeling of powerlessness is hard to convey to one who may not have experienced it, but I imagine many readers here know what I am talking about. I and everyone else assumed this was how it had to be and would likely be so for my whole life. To survive, I simply began to adjust to this way of being-the waiting, the loneliness- and began to stop hoping for better. Because of the mixed messages and relative powerlessness, I did not have a good grasp of how to view myself as just a regular person, not more and not less-even though at the time I might even have been able to say the right words about it. It was all very confusing-to be "special" but also somehow inferior-amazing but also to be pitied and shunned. During high school one summer I attended the school for the blind. In some ways the experience was helpful in that in this setting I was not so special, weird, or different from the rest of the crowd. However, most of the crowd was made up of kids with similar struggles-not being judged by normal expectations and not knowing how to deal with it, or even quite realizing it. Besides which, there was a strong sense that how much sight one had was a primary predictor of how much responsibility one could be expected to take. The experience, although it was not all bad, did not generally present much hope to me. Fortunately I soon met the National Federation of the Blind and was astonished to discover that my own expectations were actually far too low. For example, I got to know people who not only walked independently around their cities, but took control of things by hiring drivers rather than waiting and hoping people would be willing to drive them somewhere. Not only that, I witnessed blind people taking charge of navigation when riding with a directionally-challenged sighted driver and knowing precisely where specific locations were, even in a mall. After recovering from the shock, I got to work on improving my skills and learning all I could from my new role models. No less important than the skills, and probably more so in the scheme of things, were the adjustments I was able to make to my approach and attitude. Learning new skills went a long way to helping me understand that I was not somehow a lesser person than others. However, it was in some ways a rude awakening to figure out for sure that I was not actually the least bit amazing either. There were many blind people smarter than I was, more talented than I was, and with better social skills. In this group one helped with the cleanup regardless of one's level of sight-no excuses or special treatment for me. People assumed, respectfully, that I was capable of doing a given thing and would ask if I needed help, rather than immediately scurrying to the rescue at the first sign of questions. If I didn't know how to do something, people would teach me rather than just doing it for me, and they kindly but frankly let me know if I did or did not do things that would be detrimental to general life success. I learned, directly and by example, how to fit in in the larger community and to do my share. The messages were consistent in this environment, so it was possible to learn how to put the views of the larger society into perspective. I have now been a Federationist for many years, and the help of this organization in this respect remains invaluable. This experience is not unique to people who grow up blind. Many who lose their vision later in life may start out maintaining the independent spirit that they had when they were sighted, but, as time goes on without a supportive community and without strategies to deal with the constant barrage of well-intentioned low expectations from others, it becomes just easier to give in-to stop trying to live the life we want, which can make us dependent and disabled in ways that are not really necessary. The Federation can help us get that spirit back and to get the five ingredients of freedom that Jim Omvig so aptly enumerates in his book Freedom for the Blind: The Secret Is Empowerment: . Coming to believe, emotionally and intellectually, that it is respectable to be blind. . Learning the skills and mastering the alternative techniques of blindness. . Knowing how to cope effectively and unemotionally with things people do and say because of their misunderstandings about blindness. . Having the discipline; the flexibility; and the work ethic, grooming, and appearance to blend in. . Giving back, both to other blind people and to society. I am grateful to be able to "calibrate" from time to time with my Federation family-people who show by their example how to be a blind person with confidence, class, resourcefulness, and willingness to believe in and help others. We strive to create a space that lets us measure ourselves against normal expectations and to keep low expectations from coming between us and our dreams. ---------- Responses to "What Is the Cost of a Free Product?" by Gary Wunder In the November 2014 issue of the Braille Monitor, we ran an article entitled "What Is the Cost of a Free Product?" It was written by Tim Connell, and I dare say that it was sent to me because I had been trying to get major screen reader developers to tell their side of the story by explaining the struggles faced by for-profit companies in an ever-changing market, one which offers far fewer consumers than most businesses hope to find for their products. I thought it important to discuss the case that can be made for the for-profit screen reader development that has long been the way those of us who are blind have gotten screen access and many other blindness-related technologies, especially since we have devoted considerable space to low-cost or free screen reading solutions. My hope was that the article we ran would stimulate discussion, and, after some gentle prodding from me, this it did. That gentle prodding took the form of a question: If access to technology is so important to us, why hasn't there been more discussion about the models of screen reader development reviewed in Tim Connell's article? Most who commented did not attempt to address the three major funding models currently used for screen reader development and reviewed by Connell. Instead, they responded to what they saw as an attack on NVDA, the Nonvisual Desktop Access program developed and maintained by NV Access. While the Braille Monitor cannot hope to print each of the responses generated, there are two that are particularly thought-provoking and add significantly to the discussion of how we will continue to have access to information that appears on the screens of computers, tablets, and telephones. Here, with slight editing, our responses are taken from the National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science mailing list. The first is from Aaron Cannon, who apologizes for not being articulate and then proceeds to acquit himself very well in putting forward his point of view. Here is what he says: [PHOTO CAPTION: Aaron Cannon] I think the reason we haven't seen more arguments with Tim's article is that, frankly, his main points are hard to track. I can't complain too much, though, since I suspect that he writes much more clearly than I do. But let me let Tim speak for himself: The work that the developers of NVDA have done is exceptional. On a small budget they have developed a really good product and have provided a free screen reader to many thousands of people around the world who couldn't previously afford one, especially in developing countries. Their technical skills and dedication are to be applauded; however, I have a problem with the funding model they have chosen. Philanthropic funding is at best a fragile beast, and it often doesn't extend to covering services like training and support, which can be the most important components of accessibility (especially in education). The bigger issue of equity and why we accept such a fundamental right as access to a computer to be at the whim of philanthropic generosity should be of tremendous concern. Do we welcome it simply because the recipients are people with a disability? Why is this particular group of people not worthy of a business model that guarantees standards of support, service, and viability? The developers of NVDA need investors, not handouts. Perhaps my brain just isn't working right this morning, but I am having a hard time following his objections to NVDA. If I understand it right, he is saying that the funding model for NVDA is fragile, so we shouldn't trust it. He also seems to be arguing that it's based on charity, and so beneath us, and besides, it doesn't allow for user support and training. If my reading is correct, I remain unconvinced. NVDA support is available from various organizations for a fee. JAWS users, on the other hand, end up also paying for support, but they do so up-front, whether they need it or not. Training is also available for a fee, but that's certainly not unique to NVDA. JAWS does come with some training materials, but similar materials are also available for free for NVDA. I agree that NVDA funding is more fragile than we should like, but much of what we who are blind rely on is philanthropic in nature. And, if one source of funding dries up, another one is found. Anyway, I don't see traditional sources of investment funding being substantially more reliable than philanthropic ones. Investors/donors come, investors/donors go, and organizations either find new ones, figure out a way to do without, or fail. So far NV Access seems to have been able to find new donors when needed. Consider what would happen if FS [Freedom Scientific, the developer of JAWS] and NV Access both went under, and all the developers moved on to bigger and better things (or at least things that would provide them with a paycheck). JAWS would be gone. Your already-installed copies would probably work, but there would be no way to install the full version on new machines. NVDA, on the other hand, would still be available. Not only would it still be available to install, but it would be available to improve, fix, and whatever else someone wanted to do with it, within the bounds of the GPL [general public license]. It's even possible that a new group of developers would come along and keep the project going. In short, JAWS belongs to FS. NVDA belongs, in a very literal sense, to everyone. I'd much rather see money invested into something I own than into something I don't. That's all for now. Aaron Cannon [PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Jacobson] So there you have a thoughtful and articulate response to one of the concerns in Connell's article. This was followed by several posts, the one which follows being by Steve Jacobson. He currently serves as the vice president of the NFB in Computer Science and holds the same office in the affiliate of the NFB of Minnesota. He has been employed by the 3M company as a programmer for many years and is currently a Lead Data Quality Analyst. Here is what he says: This article and the issues it raises are very important in my opinion. I think we have a somewhat false sense of security regarding our ability to use computers and access software in many ways. First, I did not interpret anything Tim said in his article as minimizing the efforts of those working on NVDA. I certainly keep a copy on my computer as a means to help me out when my main screen reader hangs up, and NVDA has a lot of power. My interpretation of his point was more like this: How would it go over if sighted people on the job had to depend upon volunteers to build and support their computer monitors? That just wouldn't be accepted. Our screen readers are our computer monitors, and I think he was asking why we should expect anything less for something that is so important. Those of you who are working for someone else are likely very aware of how terribly fragile our accessibility is. If you are in full control over the software you use, the picture is a good bit better because you can control what you use and could, for example, pick software that works with NVDA. Where I work, I regularly use two programs that work fairly well with JFW [JAWS for Windows] and Window-Eyes and do not work with NVDA. I am not blaming NVDA since these are both older pieces of software, but both JAWS and Window-Eyes are a little more robust and offer some ability for a user to stretch their functionality more easily than is the case with NVDA. Since efficient access means money in my pocket, paying the price for a commercial screen reader is worth it to me. However, that doesn't mean I would not donate to NVDA, and NVDA has often been better at implementing modern approaches to accessibility. That is a valuable contribution that cannot be overstated. The Wikipedia model for funding was mentioned in another note, and while I use that resource some, I don't see that as an effective approach to screen reader development that needs to exist in employment settings where there is security involved. A screen reader is not a collection of information that you can crosscheck for accuracy; it is closer to a computer monitor that bridges software to hardware. I am not arguing that there are not other funding models to support NVDA that we could consider. Discussing alternatives is the point to all of this after all. The commercial screen reader model isn't perfect either. As I see it, screen readers, including NVDA, are so busy trying to keep up with new versions of Windows and Microsoft Office that they don't have a lot of resources to try to innovate. Software and webpages have changed dramatically over the past ten years, but how information is presented to the blind has not changed all that much. Even the efforts of screen readers to take advantage of ARIA [Accessible Rich Internet Applications, a tool used to tell screen readers how information should be presented when its presentation is visually obvious but is ambiguous to screen-reading software] seems to be painful. Large companies like Google and Microsoft make sweeping changes to their software, provide very basic accessibility by exposing the information in their changes, and then leave it to the screen reader developers to make it all work for you and me. The time and money that they have to spend just to keep up is not insignificant, and a lot of the money that we pay for upgrades goes to just staying even with what particularly the large companies change. I have personally witnessed the time it can take to figure out why something doesn't work right, and it can be extreme. We expect our screen readers to know when a menu pops up and to track menu selections as they have been doing for twenty years. If finances were unlimited-a dream, I know-shouldn't there be a way to automatically tell us what is important on a webpage in a similar manner? There are tools we can use, but thinking about what is really important on a webpage isn't something screen readers really have time to research, and they have concentrated on what they can get from HTML. But, one has to wonder, could useful analysis of appearance help us? How about a command to jump to the text with the largest fonts or analyze text color for example? What about the third model discussed in Connell's article: building a screen reader into the operating system? From a technical point of view this is probably the most sound approach. However, I have the same reservations that were expressed in the article. I know that there have been bugs with accessibility both in Microsoft Office and Windows for a few years that are known to Microsoft. Microsoft sends us updates all the time to their software and operating system. How often do you run Windows or Office Update? But some accessibility bugs have to wait for the "next major release" whatever that means. We have also seen Microsoft leave out or complicate keystroke access to Office 2013 that can only have happened because making keystrokes work well isn't a real priority. This is within their own software, so they have control. While keyboard access is something some sighted people still use, it still gets what appears to be casual consideration at best. How can I feel confident that they would maintain a screen reader over time, and what priority would they give bugs that might be present in handling competing products? What priority would a Microsoft screen reader give to Open Office support, for example? Similar concerns could be asked about Apple, although the environment is somewhat different. The point is that there are some real drawbacks to all of the current models. Add to that the fact that software and web development are extremely dynamic right now and probably will be for some time to come. Now look at our market size, which is relatively small. Also look at the laws that require accessibility, which apply mostly to state governments and to the federal government. These laws have limited applicability in the private sector, and even in those areas they clearly cover, access is too often substandard or not available at all. It isn't that efforts are not being made, but the number of webpages is huge, and the pressure to continually evolve is great. As consumers we really need to think about all of this as we move forward. It is one thing to evaluate all of this in terms of our leisure activities. Inefficient access can be frustrating, but it is mostly manageable because we have some control over our environment. But in particular, how do we deal with websites and software used within parts of the private sector, where even ADA may not apply completely, and where "undue burden" may accurately describe the changes that would need to be made in some cases? These are real challenges that go beyond insulting one's favorite screen reader or web browser, and this is what we really need to try to address. When I attended the first Microsoft Accessibility Summit in 1995 and when I participated in discussions of the accessibility of JAVA in 1998, I never dreamed we would still be fighting for accessibility as we must in 2014. There needs to be serious thought as to how we can do better in the future, and we need to discuss it thoroughly and reasonably. Best regards, Steve Jacobson ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Barber] A Fine State President Steps Back Michael Barber, the End of an Era by Jim Omvig From the Editor: Jim Omvig is a distinguished member who has been an active member of the National Federation of the Blind for almost fifty years. He has moved around the country to fulfill a number of Federation assignments, and he and his wife Sharon have returned to Iowa, where he continues to be active in the affiliate. Jim is the author of several published works and a frequent contributor in these pages. In this article he offers a much-deserved thank you to Michael Barber, our immediate past president in Iowa. What Jim does not mention was the concern expressed by some about Michael serving as the president of our NFB affiliate, while simultaneously working as a staff member at the Iowa Department for the Blind. While it is essential that organizations of the blind maintain their independence from the agencies that exercise extraordinary power over our lives, this should not preclude Federationists from taking leadership roles in our chapters, affiliates, or in the private and state agencies created to serve the blind. Michael Barber proved once again that a person of character and strength can serve in both roles. Here is what Jim writes as his tribute to a fine man who has worked tirelessly for blind Iowans and blind people throughout the country: In our younger days we humans frequently speak glowingly of the "Golden Years," and we anticipate wonderful things as our time on this earth passes. For many of us, of course, these marvelous dreams come true, but for others, the gold can become more or less tarnished by the health issues which often accompany the aging process. Such has been the case for retiring NFB of Iowa state president, Michael Barber of Des Moines. Mike is only sixty-five years old, but this past year has been extremely difficult for him. The gold truly has become tarnished. His major health troubles began right after the 2013 National Convention in Orlando, when he passed out in a Gainesville, Florida, restaurant and had to be given CPR to survive. Testing and treatments over the next several months revealed that he suffers from a lung problem called Pulmonary Fibrosis, along with some heart issues. Despite his illness, Mike has put his heart and soul into his presidential duties during this past year. But, as the October 2014 NFB of Iowa state convention approached, he and his wife Kim reasoned that, for his own well-being, as well as for the good of our Iowa affiliate, he should step down as state president, and we should find another high- quality Iowan to assume those rigorous presidential duties. He did so, and Donna Prime of Iowa City, Iowa, is our new state president. She assumed her duties on Sunday, October 19, 2014. Donna works for the Veterans Administration in Iowa City. She has been a medical secretary in the Iowa Regional Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory for twenty-three years and has also been president of our Iowa City chapter for several years. Like so many other Jernigan-trained blind Iowans, Michael Barber has a fascinating background. He was a student at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in 1967 and 1968. And if my speculation holds, he will be the very last Federation state president to have been personally trained and empowered by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan. It may well be that this is "the end of an era." Mike, along with many other very proud Iowans, had the distinct pleasure of being present in the spring of 1968 when, as Kenneth Jernigan was being presented with a presidential citation from Lyndon Johnson, the president's representative proclaimed wisely, "If a person must be blind, it is better to be blind in Iowa than in any other place in the nation or the world!" Like so many other blind Iowans from the sixties and seventies, Mike truly became empowered at that Jernigan "attitude factory" in Des Moines! He has had an interesting and varied career. He first worked for four-and-a- half years at the Iowa Department of Transportation as a transcriptionist. He then changed careers and worked as a manager in the Iowa vending program for fifteen years. He changed directions again and worked as the first totally blind banking service representative for the Norwest Company for about five-and-a-half years. Finally, like so many of Kenneth Jernigan's students, he began to feel the need to give back. He joined the staff of the Iowa Department for the Blind in 1996, and he worked there helping other blind people with sophisticated blindness technology for the next eighteen years. One of his proudest accomplishments while there is that he worked with Project Assist to produce tutorials for blind people. During the twenty years Dr. Jernigan was in Iowa, the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa (NFBI) flourished. But, after he left in 1978, troubles arose, and those problems continued in one way or another for many years. By 2006 Mike Barber decided to run for the presidency in the earnest hope that he could restore order and bring the organization back to something like the proud heritage it had enjoyed since the glory days of the sixties. As I said above, Mike has put his heart and soul into the task, and he has done a terrific job. The NFB of Iowa has truly flourished during the eight years of Mike's presidency. He re-established good relations with the Iowa press, and he accomplished the same with the Iowa governor and legislature. In fact, in 2012, when the Iowa Department for the Blind could not get the state funding it needed from the legislature, Mike rallied NFBI members, along with members of the Iowa Council of the United Blind, to go to the legislature every day for weeks to work on funding. We were successful, and the department received even more state dollars than it had requested. Mike also worked vigorously on activities inside the Federation. Through those eight years he got large numbers of blind Iowans to go to Baltimore to attend leadership seminars at the National Center. He also worked hard each year to encourage many Iowans to go to DC to participate in the Washington Seminar. One of the fun things which happened during Mike's presidency had to do with retiring Iowa US Senator Tom Harkin. Senator Harkin was one of those strongly opposed to the Federation's effort in Congress to eliminate the payment of subminimum wages to people who are blind or otherwise disabled. In an effort to help change his thinking, Mike got twenty-six blind Iowans to picket one of Harkin's Iowa offices. Harkin became so angry that he personally called then-president Marc Maurer to complain. Then we dare not omit Mike's efforts to guarantee the right of blind people to carry guns and to receive permits. Mike's activities on this issue brought worldwide attention to the issue and to the Federation. Finally, what a way to end a Federation presidency: Mike bought seriously into the Federation's effort to establish seventy-five new chapters this year in recognition of our seventy-five years as a movement. His last official act, before giving up his office, was to finalize the establishment of a new chapter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mike, thank you for your many years of service to the blind of Iowa and America. We know you'll continue to be around and involved to the extent which your health permits. In the meantime, thank you, God bless you, and be well! And to our new NFBI president, Donna Prime, welcome, and the best of luck to you, too. You have large shoes to fill, and, like those before you, we are confident you will. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Christian Coudert] Digital Braille Versus Paper Braille by Christian Coudert From the Editor: Christian Coudert is the editor in chief of the Louis Braille magazine (Paris, France). He has done some interesting research about the reading of Braille from paper and from refreshable Braille displays. Some of the findings from his study are surprising and may provide helpful guidance for those considering whether to purchase a refreshable display or a Braille notetaker and how many cells it should have. We have removed parts of the article that describe how to simulate the tests done in reaching these results and have tried to smooth a few rough edges that resulted from translation of this article from French to English. Here is what he says: Let me recount how I came up with the idea of writing this article: since I have had a Braille notetaker, I have gradually given up reading on paper, preferring electronic Braille. However, without taking the trouble to check it, I have always been convinced that reading on paper must unquestionably be much more effective. Indeed, whereas both hands can be used for reading on paper (the left hand reading the next line while the right hand ends the current line), this method cannot be applied to paperless Braille because you have to press a navigation button on the device to display the text below once you have finished reading the content of the Braille display. Another preconception has always led me to think that the more Braille cells we have (up to a point), the faster our reading speed will be. In order to check the validity of these assumptions, I decided to perform an experiment with a panel of volunteer readers. This study does not claim to be scientific. To have true scientific validity, it would have been necessary to select a group of readers and have each of them read the same texts during several timed sessions, assign everyone the same electronic equipment, and refine the results, taking into account each reader's age and length of Braille experience. However, the number of readers involved and the number of reading sessions undertaken enable us to draw what we believe to be objective conclusions that would likely be confirmed by other studies. Before getting into the details of the study, let me make it clear that I do not write with the purpose of promoting one reading mode over another. All reading systems are complementary; each person chooses the system that suits him or her, based on factors such as fixed location or travelling, the availability of various formats for a given title, budgetary constraints, and so on. It is also true that a large majority of sighted readers who use digital tablets do not use them exclusively, seeing no need to give up paper and generally seeing no need to decide which method is better-they let the content and other factors determine how they will read. There is no doubt that a Braille reader must first master reading on paper to understand fully the concepts of pages and paragraphs and enjoy the benefits of the various layouts used in this medium (title centering, line breaks, paragraphs, lists, and poetry layout). On a Braille display, where text blocks of eighteen, twenty, or thirty-two cells follow each other, most of these markers disappear. Hence, learning Braille, like learning to write, is best done with a solid background in paper Braille. For our tests we chose to use Braille notetakers rather than standalone Braille displays because the notetakers are designed for reading text, whereas standalone Braille displays are designed for displaying the contents of computer screens and contain more Braille cells. Readers used their own equipment, and, when they wished, equipment was lent to them. When we crunched the numbers after each reader went through several sessions reading from paper, an eighteen-cell display, and a thirty-two- cell display, we were a little surprised by what the numbers revealed. Half of the readers had a slightly faster reading speed on paper than on a Braille display, but the difference was very small, almost to the point of insignificance. The difference in reading speed for each individual reader between his or her fastest and slowest speed was rather low, with the exception of one reader, who had a difference of thirty-four words per minute between his fastest and slowest speeds. This indicates that the reading pace is not fundamentally altered by using a device instead of paper Braille. Strengths of Paper One achieves a high reading speed and comprehension when reading with both hands because of the ability to begin reading the next line. Blank lines can be easily skipped, and knowing the boundaries of a page is easy. The spatial representation of the page communicates the layout and the importance of empty lines, indented lists, and other formatting is easily understood. Weaknesses of Paper With paper Braille, fragility (dots get deleted over time) can become a barrier to rapid reading. The bulkiness of paper requires significant space for storage. Size can also make finding a large enough reading space difficult, especially while traveling. Strengths of a Notetaker Braille in a digital format means the reader has a large number of works available, whether through books prepared for digital Braille or books with letter-for-letter presentation which are translated by the notetaker. The notetaker provides a text-search facility, which partially offsets the difficulty in skipping multiple pages or finding a page by its number. Of course one also has the advantage of being able to search for a wanted word or phrase. The compact size of the notetaker means it can be used where space is limited, and, since books are stored digitally, the unit can hold many titles. Our readers made the point that these devices allow one to read anywhere, including standing in the tube [the mass transit trains in France]. Weaknesses of Reading Braille on Refreshable Braille Displays One can waste time reading if the text is not properly formatted for Braille or converted by the translation and formatting programs inside the display. Reading can be hampered when lines are formatted specifically for print, contain hyphens to indicate the end of print lines where no such hyphenation is required on the Braille display, and by the presence of print page numbers that serve little purpose. Some of the information conveyed in the printed or the paper Braille is lost when using a Braille display and can interfere with both reading speed and comprehension. The Braille display can eliminate information essential in the reading of tables and Braille music, but for literature these formatting considerations are less critical. Our Findings This study shows that the average reading speed on paper is equivalent to that obtained on eighteen-cell notetakers (120 words/minute). It is slightly higher than that on thirty-two-cell devices (4 percent). The perception we have of our reading speed is distorted by a set of factors we were not aware of but which were disclosed by this experiment: the dot quality on piezoelectric displays largely offsets the disadvantages of a reading process of real two-handed reading on paper. In addition, electronic Braille frees the reader from the need to turn paper pages, the problem that arises when Braille is close to the fold of a magazine or soft- bound book, and the problem that results when having so little reading space means one has no place for the opposing page. In order for reading with a Braille display to be comfortable and efficient, it is important to be sitting comfortably and find the position that lessens or eliminates wrist, upper limb, and back fatigue. Placing the device flat on a table is not always the best solution. It is also important to set one's Braille notetaker to maximize its ability to display given types of information. If knowing about blank lines is not important, turn on the function which suppresses them. If multiple spaces between words are not required for understanding the document, turn on the feature to compress the information and make the most of the cells on the display. We observe that devices with front panel buttons provide the best ergonomic experience since scrolling the text with the thumbs is more natural than pressing a button at the end of a display. Our study shows that using a display with a larger number of cells does not necessarily increase the reading speed: fatigue is usually greater on thirty-two-cell equipment than on those with eighteen or twenty cells because of the greater movement of the hands which is required. We have not yet mentioned the observations made by those attempting to use automatic reading. This function, available on all notetakers, automatically scrolls the display at a speed determined by the user. We found that the use of this feature significantly decreases reading speed because scrolling of the display is based on time rather than on the number of characters displayed. In cases where the display contains a small amount of text, perhaps as little as one or two words, much time is wasted waiting for the next forward movement through the text. Manufacturers should consider improving this function by seeing that each line contains as much text as it can accommodate and by speeding up the pace of the forward movement when fewer characters are displayed. I would like to thank all the readers who agreed to take part in this experiment. The results speak for themselves and should encourage Braille producers to offer more digital books in Braille. Braille readers who currently use paper should consider adopting refreshable Braille displays because they offer so much access to the written word, ease of transport, instant access (no delay waiting for parcels to be delivered), easy navigation when searching a digitized document, the ability to add markers for bookmarks on places where one needs to return, and archiving books and magazines without any deterioration over time and without the significant amount of space required by their bulk. We sincerely hope the price of equipment will fall significantly so that more readers around the world can benefit from them. I extend my warm thanks to Alain and Brian, who made the translation from French. ---------- Mentioning Ol' Reliable by Grace Warn From the Editor: At chapter meetings, state conventions, and at our national convention, we work hard to make the content of our meetings both interesting and informative. We must decide how much of our agenda will focus on history, how much on current events, and how much on future planning. Grace Warn assists me in putting together each issue of the Braille Monitor. She has written a piece that encourages us to listen to those who know about our history, learn it, and be in a position to pass it on. Here is what she says: Disney's Lady and the Tramp happens to be my mother's all-time favorite Disney movie, and it's in my top five, so we've watched it frequently over the years. When I was younger, I laughed at the way Trusty would several times say, "It's like my grandpappy Ol' Reliable used to say- don't recollect if I've ever mentioned Ol' Reliable before?" And Jock, with long-suffering patience, would reply, "Aye, you have-repeatedly," thereby stopping Trusty from telling this story (for what may have been the four millionth time). Then there is that final scene in which Trusty brings up Ol' Reliable, only this time Lady and Tramp's pups say, "No you haven't, Uncle Trusty." And Trusty is so thrilled-finally, someone who wants to hear his story. Except that, when Trusty starts to tell the pups this wonderful bit of wisdom that his grandpappy told him, he can't. It's been so long since he got to tell someone what Ol' Reliable used to say that Trusty has forgotten what it was. As a kid, I found it funny. As an adult, I find it sad. Now I'm sure you're wondering what the heck a running gag in an old Disney movie has to do with the NFB, blindness, or anything else that would make this article belong in the Monitor. Simply put, it's because I want our people to let Trusty tell us what Ol' Reliable said once in a while. In every group there's a Trusty: be it a family, an NFB chapter, a church congregation, or what have you. There's that one person, usually older, (whether by age or by years as a member) who is ready and willing to tell the stories at the drop of a hat. And often that person has two or three or five favorite stories to tell about experiences in the group. Some of these stories they tell so frequently that, after a year or so, you and other members can repeat them word for word. Now you love this person, but you come to recognize when Trusty is about to start in on one of these stories, and you've heard it often enough that you'll do just about anything to keep from having to hear it again. Perfectly understandable: there's a limit to how many times you can hear the same thing over and over and keep your sanity. Ask any parent about that movie that somehow "got lost" or the cassette tape that "got stretched" so it wouldn't play anymore. I've only been a member of the NFB for a few years. One of the best parts of working with Gary to put together the Monitor is how interesting it is. I've learned more about civil rights, legislation being considered in Congress, technology, and any number of topics than I ever did in high school, all because of articles I've helped edit. But several times I've had to ask Gary about an issue or an organization that was referenced in passing in an article because, while it's perfectly obvious to someone who was reading the Monitor in the 90s when the issue was huge in the work of the NFB, in 2015 I'm clueless. And I'm not the only one. My best friend has been a member of the NFB for over twenty years, but when I've asked her about a couple of these topics, she didn't know either. Because, after all, she's my age. At the time when whatever it was was a hot topic of discussion, she was ten, or twelve, or fifteen, and she wasn't interested in that. She was talking to me about whether NSync was better than the Backstreet Boys, or whether our Girl Scout troop would go roller skating or bowling next month. My point is that the story that you're tired of hearing-perhaps we haven't heard it, but we'd like to. This year there's a lot of focus on history with this being the National Federation of the Blind's seventy- fifth anniversary. This is the time when the old stories about the amount of work Dr. tenBroek did in founding the NFB, or how Dr. Jernigan inspired one of the current leaders of the NFB, or how Dr. Maurer brought the Federation into the new millennium should be told again and again. Some of you were lucky enough to have met one of these men, gotten to know them, been encouraged or inspired by what they had to say to you. But, for me and countless other younger members of the Federation, these men are names on an award or a voice heard once a month at chapter meetings when the Presidential Release is played. It is hearing someone else talk about meeting Dr. Jernigan at a convention or that letter that Dr. Maurer wrote to them when they were sixteen-that's how we're going to connect to these leaders. It's a balancing act that all organizations must negotiate. You have to have eyes on the future, have goals that will take you there, and ways of getting members interested in moving that direction. Otherwise the organization becomes stale, irrelevant, and ultimately, it falls apart. But at the same time, we have to maintain the organizational memory of who we are as a group, where we have come from, how far we have come, and how we made the journey, because that maintains the core of the organization's identity. Those old-timers who remember all those stories-they won't be around forever. They can choose to stop being a member for any number of reasons, or they can be taken from us by age or illness. And with them go memories that can't be replaced. So next time you're at a chapter meeting or a state convention and your local Trusty starts winding up to that story you've heard twenty times too many, let them tell it just one more time. Do it for that person who joined last year who hasn't learned the story by heart or for the veteran Federationist who heard it as a kid but who didn't have the attention span to hear it the whole way through the last time Trusty told it. When one of our younger members is called upon to relate that story, maybe in a decade or two, you'll be very glad you did. ---------- Consider a Charitable Gift Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time, talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the Blind . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB? . Am I giving the most appropriate asset? . Have I selected the best way to make my gift? . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift? . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor? . Have I talked to the NFB planned giving officer about my gift? Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated gifts . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other beneficiaries . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement cost Your Gift Will Help Us . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will educate blind people . Advance technology helpful to the blind . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind . Provide critical information to parents of blind children . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong] Blind Voters in New Mexico Forced to Take a Step Backward by Curtis Chong From the Editor: This article appeared in the fall issue of Que Pasa, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico. It is written by Curtis Chong, a man who began voting long before there were any kind of civil rights laws addressing the voting rights of blind people: before one was allowed to bring a person of his or her choice to the voting booth, before one could come to the polling place alone and be assisted by a judge from each party, and before the time when machines would allow for the casting of a truly secret ballot. For all the progress we have made in assuring that blind people have the right to cast a secret ballot, this article shows that we still have some distance to go. In the March issue of this publication we will hear from Lou Ann Blake, the staff member and fellow Federationist who works so hard to see that provisions of the Help America Vote Act are enforced and the technology available to us is enhanced. Here is what Curtis has to say: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico will recall Resolution 2014-04, passed at our 2014 convention, which expressed "extreme disappointment with Secretary of State Dianna Duran for the failure of her office to involve and consult with the blind community during the evaluation and certification of the Dominion ImageCapture Evolution (ICE) voting machine" (This resolution was printed in the June 2014 issue of Que Pasa). Some of our members had tried the new Dominion ICE voting machine during a "mock" election held in Albuquerque in late March, and others had taken advantage of the opportunity to examine the new machine when representatives from Bernalillo County brought it to our 2014 convention. For the most part, as reflected in the resolution, we were unimpressed with what was supposed to be the latest and greatest in nonvisual voting technology, and we were extremely displeased by the failure of the Secretary of State to involve the blind community during the early stages of the evaluation and selection process. Since the time of our convention, blind voters in New Mexico have had the chance to use the Dominion ICE in both the primary and midterm elections. I regret to say that, with very few exceptions, our experience using the Dominion ICE in a real election was even worse than anything we might have imagined when we passed Resolution 2014-04. Audio Quality I don't know what speech synthesis engine is being used in the Dominion ICE. What I do know is that the quality of the voice used on the Dominion ICE is significantly worse than the voices we hear when we run our computers with the latest screen reader or our iPhones with VoiceOver. Anyone who has used the AutoMARK to vote in a previous election will marvel at the consistency and quality of the speech on that system-especially as compared to the muffled speech and poorly pronounced words on the Dominion ICE. Some voters have reported that the volume of the speech on the Dominion ICE tends to go up and down even while one happens to be reading a proposed amendment or bond measure. It has been reported that because of this, lengthy proposals are very difficult to understand. Perhaps more significant is the deplorable fashion in which candidate names are pronounced. The Dominion ICE massacres Hispanic names; this problem was far less noticeable with the AutoMARK. In many cases, candidate names, as spoken by the Dominion ICE, sound much different from the way they are spoken on radio or television. Speed Control Makes Speech Incomprehensible Since the Dominion ICE is supposed to be the latest and greatest in voting technology, you would think that it should out-perform older access technologies that have been used for years by the blind. Not so with the speaking rate controls. When speech is first turned on in the Dominion ICE, the speaking rate is slower than a normal speaking rate. Some blind voters might be tempted to speed things up. Fortunately, the Dominion ICE does have a button which does this. Unfortunately, when the speech is made to talk faster, words are actually chopped off. For example, "party" becomes "part," and "voting" becomes "vote." Slowing the speech down presents a different problem: an echo effect seems to be introduced, and syllables are long and drawn out, making some words impossible to understand. Bad Nonvisual Interface Design The way in which a blind voter must operate the Dominion ICE does not demonstrate an understanding of how we use our computers and iPhones today. Nor does it reflect any appreciation or awareness of how the nonvisual user navigates through lists and lengthy passages of text. The first problem is that when you are navigating through the list of candidates in a particular contest (often a list with only one entry), you are thrown out of the contest when you move past the last name in the list. When this happens, you have to press a left arrow key to move back to the contest and a down arrow key to get back into the list of candidates for that contest. This is frustrating, especially if the list is short (i.e., contains only one or two names). The problem is even worse when you are trying to vote the last contest on the ballot. In this case, if you should move past the last name in the list, you cannot simply press the left arrow and the down arrow to return to this last contest. No. The software thinks that you are finished voting and takes you right to the summary function, which means that you then have to traverse the ballot, contest by contest (two key presses per contest), until you reach the last one. Good nonvisual interface design would avoid this problem by keeping you in the contest when the bottom of the list is reached and enabling you to move back up to the top of the list so that a selection could be made. The second problem is that, after you have selected one or more candidates for a particular contest, the Dominion ICE insists on repeating your selection-not once but twice-before you are permitted to move to the next contest. Good nonvisual user interface design might repeat your selection once, but certainly never more than once. The third problem relates to long passages of text such as the text contained in a proposed bond issue or constitutional amendment. The blind user is forced to listen to the entire text of the passage. There is no opportunity to back up one word, line, sentence, or paragraph. If you miss something, you have to listen to the entire passage again-all in all, an unnecessary waste of time. Failure to Consult with the Blind As Resolution 2014-04 indicates, Secretary of State Dianna Duran never reached out to the blind community during the time that her office was evaluating and selecting a replacement for the AutoMARK. If we had been as involved in the evaluation of the Dominion ICE as we were in the selection of the AutoMARK, we would have told the Secretary of State in no uncertain terms that the Dominion ICE was not a good voting system for us. I am sure that the secretary of state will maintain that the Dominion ICE is the best nonvisual voting system on the market and that there is no competing product which would better meet the needs of blind voters. However, I have had a chance to examine at least one competing voting system, and I can say with certainty that blind voters in New Mexico would have been a lot happier with this machine had it been selected. Where Do We Go From Here? Despite our tremendous unhappiness with the shabby treatment meted out to the blind community by Secretary of State Dianna Duran and her office, and regardless of how much we find fault with the Dominion ImageCapture Evolution (ICE), the bottom line is that New Mexico is not going to abandon the Dominion ICE voting system any time soon. On the plus side there is a very good chance that over time the Dominion ICE will get better. But the improvements will surely not happen unless we continue our efforts to identify the problems and offer detailed suggestions for improvement. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: David and Matthew pose in front of the toboggan shoots. They are holding the big, long toboggan between the two of them.] Seeing Is Believing, or Is It? by David Cohen From the Editor: How many times have we heard the expression that finds itself the title of this article? It is said so often that we come to believe it as true, but is seeing really believing? I remember presiding at a state convention and being approached while on stage by someone who needed change for a twenty dollar bill. We handled the transaction quietly, and I was relieved to turn my attention once again to the presenter. About an hour later I was again approached, this time during a presentation by our rehabilitation agency's director. This time I was told that someone had left the restaurant without paying, and the hotel staff was angry. The person who had eaten and left was developmentally disabled and did not understand what she had done, so again I reached for my wallet. Later in the day we had a contest in which our chapters compete to raise the most money for the affiliate. The chapter that won had about twenty dollars more than the second place winner, and the argument began to be made that some of us in a position to know the totals helped the first- place chapter beat out the second-place chapter. I was accused directly of giving money to change the results, and when I denied that I had made a contribution to either chapter, I was told, "Gary, you have to realize that not everyone in this room is blind. Some of our people can see, and we saw you-right there on the stage-exchanging money." Now it is one thing to expect fairness in a contest and to ask if the state president, who should presumably be impartial, had donated to one chapter in favor of another, but the thrust of the argument was that my denial that I was giving money in the contest was provably untrue because I was seen pulling money from my wallet. Seeing is believing; seeing is truth; seeing is knowing, but I hadn't contributed a dime to either the first- or second-place contestants and certainly had not tried to change the outcome of the contest. Many of us have experiences in which those around us gently or not so gently remind us that seeing is believing. Here is David Cohen's account of one such encounter in his life: If ever there was a loaded statement, "seeing is believing" packs the equivalent of the funniest Looney Tunes gags. I'm thinking of Yosemite Sam in the episode about the singing sword, where he finds himself, along with the loveably innocent resident dragon, inside the castle turret, surrounded with explosives and the dragon's desperate need to sneeze fire. (To see this episode, go to .) Seeing is believing-it is seemingly obvious, easy to say, easy to remember. But observing and allowing the facts to be revealed takes time and patience, and very often that which is revealed needs no words of explanation, for the truth of it is a feeling of knowing. If any words at all are spoken, the result is an "Oh my God" moment, or what is otherwise referred to as an epiphany. Those of us who work hard at changing public attitudes about blindness are often left to wonder, "How many times have my attempts at public education about blindness resulted in an epiphany?" Probably we wish that experience was more common than it is, but we do our best to soldier on. I have two black dogs which I walk routinely. The elder is Maggie, and she is 100 percent Labrador. The younger male is Snerdley, and he is at least half Labrador and possibly more-he is always mistaken for Labrador, but his crescent-curve tail, his pinched-short ears, and his twin elongated canine teeth, which bow inwards to his mouth, lead me to think he's got something else in his bloodline...possibly Burmese Python or perhaps the vampire Lestat. So, when I am asked about the dogs, I like to say that I have 1.5 servings of the recommended daily allowance of Labrador. The three of us go walking at least twice each day. On the day of the incident I'm about to describe, it was late afternoon on Labor Day, and there had been a parade earlier in the day. Because today is a holiday, the traffic on State Route 48 passes at a reduced volume-like a Sunday evening as opposed to the normal weekday ever-present and rushing volume one can expect from the most heavily-traveled road in the state of Ohio's second largest suburb. The sidewalk on which we are walking is blocked by twin aluminum bleachers positioned outside the board of education building two blocks north of my home, and additionally the city has stationed portable toilets intermittently a few yards from the corners of select blocks both north and south along the one-mile stretch of the parade's route. Years ago when I was passing one such port-o-john and struck the backside of the molded plastic enclosure with my cane a bit too forcefully, a surprised voice called out from within, "Just a minute. Occupied!" The smile that spread across my face had a life of its own as I recalled how many times I had accidentally knocked on the doors of hotel rooms, apartments, and cubicle walls at work before I thought to apply a softer touch in such situations. On this day we circumnavigate the portable toilet stationed on the sidewalk near my driveway. I knock on and identify with my cane the wooden sawhorse barriers placed in the crosswalk of this street to block any through traffic from entering the parade procession. My cane tap echoes the location of the upcoming curb, and I sweep for the wheelchair ramp on the other side. We three step up onto the next block, and Maggie stops after a few yards to sniff at a familiar spot. Ahead of me I hear a voice and with it several sets of footsteps. As the voice draws closer I realize that it is the voice of a man, and walking along beside and behind him are young people. "Stay to the side everybody. Those dogs are working," he says. As the group passes, I exchange neighborly greetings perfunctorily because it's important that my primary focus remain on Maggie, who on occasion relieves herself at this spot and forces me to attend to my civic duty and pick up. "Hi. Hello. How are ya?" they call. As the young people pass, I smile, but do not take my attention away from Maggie. She is rooting in the grass at the end of her leash, like an Iowa hog, and snorting just as loudly. This informs me that she is not thinking of relieving but searching for edibles left over from the parade. If you have a Labrador of your own or have ever lived with such a dog, you know that no other appetite on earth compares to that of the Lab-not even that of professional athletes injected with HGH and steroids. I do believe that, if I ever spilled mustard or ketchup on her, she'd consume herself into nothingness and find a way of communicating with me spiritually to beg for something else to eat. I give Maggie a cursory leash tug, signaling her to come along, and the three of us are walking northwards again. I have the twin leashes in my left hand, my cane in my right. I always keep the dogs on my left, which has taken some patience and a lot of repetition to train into them. Obviously I cannot have one or both of them crossing in front of me to my right side to sniff, but sometimes they cannot resist. "Two legs or four, you cannot beat the arc of the cane," I like to say, and many times I've tickled the pad of a dog foot. Dog feet are so cool, and especially Labrador duck-style feet. The way I manage walking two dogs is to use common stainless steel choker chains so that I can heel them both quickly with a catch-and-release tug/signal, and shorten the length of leash or leashes as necessary. Most of the time the walk is smooth, but sometimes one dog or the other will try to stop or go too fast. Maggie is most often the culprit, but sometimes Snerdley sees a rabbit or cat, and he rockets ahead and will cross to my right side. But, when this happens, I simply stop, reattach my shoulder to its socket joint, and try to think of something other than the guilt I feel at restraining Snerdley from acting on his nature. I try to tell myself that I have equally disappointing experiences in my life, one being that Chipotle does not deliver to my house. "I know, Snerdley. I know. You missed the rabbit. I love fast food too but can't always have it," I tell him, and he chuffs at me disgustedly. A twin portal blow through his dog nostrils is his way of dismissing me, I'm sure. The three of us have been walking together for five years now. Prior to engaging in this twin walk, I would walk one dog and return home to walk the other, but after months of their competitive bickering and my hearing, "She always gets to go first," and "That's my leash! Why doesn't he get his own?" I'd had enough and made the change to walking them simultaneously. At present both dogs are pulling ahead strongly, both competing to be the first to capture the freshest inhalation of oxygen, and I pick up my own pace. The sidewalk beneath my feet soon begins to slope downward and informs me that we're approaching the end of this block. I mentally throw my ears forward to the cross-street, the crosswalk, and I include the passing traffic on State Route 48 to my left as I shorten their leashes to bring them closer to me. Hearing nothing ahead of me, we cross this street without stopping and maintain our pace. It's a perfectly executed crossing; even the Olympic orientation and mobility Russian judges are pleased, and their scorecard displays a 9.7 rating for my performance. For me it is just one of those days when alignment is Zen-like, no other people approach with dogs, and no remnant of parade food has been discarded in the crosswalk to distract my pack. In this next block are the aluminum bleachers. They block the entire sidewalk, which is at least twice the width of your average suburban sidewalk path because it accommodates a very nicely cobbled-brick area surrounding a city bus stop and shelter. I am quite familiar with the parade bleacher setup because at least twice in the early years of my residency here I took a five foot nine-inch bleacher seat to my forehead, with my cane sweeping beneath and my ears and mind elsewhere. I was either dreaming about Diane Sawyer's voice in my computer's next-generation synthesizer or perhaps thinking of eating a Frisbee-sized Wendy's double burger with everything. But today, in contrast to previous years when I took those headshots, I have stepped off the sidewalk well before the bleachers, and, along with the dogs, I walk up the sloping grass of the board of education lawn to go around the blockade. "Hello. I like your dogs," a woman's voice speaks. Maggie, Snerdley, and I are heading directly for her until Maggie stops short to root at what I can only imagine is food droppings from parade-attendees. "Oh I'm sorry," the woman says, as I tug on Maggie's leash, giving Maggie a smart leash correction of the sort I learned how to administer when in guide dog school twenty years ago. The correction is not a harsh one-a mental check at best-and the equivalent of a tap on the shoulder. "I'm sorry," the woman repeats. "I know they're working... I shouldn't have distracted them." She says this apologetically, but I can hear that she's smiling because-well-dogs have this effect on people. "No problem," I say, loosening my hold on Maggie. She's now sweep- sniffing and no longer rooting, which tells me she's not eating or about to eat. "I know you're not supposed to pet working dogs, but can I..." the woman asks me. I worked with a black Labrador guide dog for many years and never did get used to this request. In it is both the acknowledgement that the dog must not be distracted and the dismissal of the admonition. I sometimes wonder if these people might just as easily say, "I know you're not supposed to smoke in the maternity ward, but can I?" "I know the sign reads twelve items or less, but I have three boxes of cereal-isn't that one cereal?" "I know it's a school zone and the cautionary light is flashing, but, come on man, this is a Porsche." Alas, I give in. "Sure," I say, and ask if she attended the parade. I am attempting to avoid another guide dog conversation which, as dog guide users can tell you, is not an easy thing to do. Guide dogs attract interest and questions. Never mind that these are not guide dogs. Seeing is believing, and to this woman I have two canine assistants. I cannot imagine how, with me clearly using my cane, the assumption is so often that these dogs are guides. Isn't it just as likely that I am out collecting dogs, just four short of a sled-dog team? But my experience as a blind man has taught me that we see what we know, and that knowing is not the same as understanding. Knowing is good for multiple-choice tests and Jeopardy, but understanding has very little to do with memorization. In response to my question about whether she has been here for the parade, she says, "Yes. We're cleaning up and are waiting for the trucks to remove the bleachers. Were you here for the parade?" she asks. "Yes and no," I tell her. "I live just two blocks south of here and the parade...well, it passes in front of my house. It's like having a marching band playing in your living room," I say to her and feel chills on the nape of my neck as I recall the scene I've just inadvertently described from The Amityville Horror movie. "Oh I know you," she says. "You're the guy with the dogs," and I desperately hope she's saying that I am the white cane guy with the dogs. But to her I am not the white cane user but the blind guy with two guide dogs, working dogs or service dogs...whatever. "Yes, that is me," I reply. "I think these dogs are so amazing...I mean what they do for you," she says, bending over to pet one and then the other. What do I say? Do I tell her the truth: that my dogs are regular walking, trashcan-sniffing, rabbit-chasing, and obviously harnessless dogs, with no formal training? This is a uniquely dissonant situation, for everything in plain view contradicts the woman's belief. "God, why are you doing this to me?" I ask internally. "Why am I doing this to myself? Please turn my head into a plasma flat screen so I might be seen for who I am and what I am doing," I muse patiently. "Give me the radio voice of Art Schreiber, Rush Limbaugh, or Terry Gross so I might be heard." "Now where did you get them?" she asks, still petting and cooing to them. "Maggie is from a breeder in Tampa, and Snerdley comes from the Tampa Humane Society, where he was doing three to six for civil disobedience," I reply. "Whaaat," she said, laughing at me, but I know she's sincere and believes the twain are working. "The truth is that neither dog is a working dog," and this I relate seriously. "I sort of rescued them, and they are from Tampa, Florida." "But they work for you, right?" she states more than asks. "Nope. This works with me," I say, offering her a soft but sincere smile and holding my cane upright above the recently shorn front lawn I feel beneath my feet. I know my cane's simple utilitarian power, but most folk know it only as an accessory to the DMV driver exam picture and functionally like a candy-striped barber pole mounted on the wall outside the shop. "They're not working for you... They're not service animals?" she replies, and I can hear the disbelief in her voice. "No, they're served animals," I reply. "They get served meals in the morning and in the afternoon, dog snacks from Who Laid the Rail, and routine walks with me to the pet store, where they are served treats and God only knows how many discounts that I am unaware of which they steal from the store's lower shelves." The woman is laughing. I am laughing. I think she's definitely a dog- person. This mistake has occurred so many times since I began walking the dogs I've cared for in the past ten years since my former guide died. Who knows-maybe I've educated someone. Even better, maybe she'll want two dogs of her own. But the thought that she may have been listening and now understands is soon dislodged. "I don't understand. I always thought they guided you. I've seen them take you across the street," she says. Take me across the street-I incredulously consider this. Chinese emperors are taken places by rickshaw inside the Imperial City. The New York Yankees are taken by floats or convertibles through the streets of Brooklyn in parades celebrating victory, but the last time I was taken across a street was by my mother in the early seventies. "Do you have a dog?" I asked in a mild tone. I don't want to communicate my frustration at her not getting that I am just a man out walking his dogs. "Yes, a Beagle mix," she says and, hearing Beagle, I so want to reply "BeagleJuice, BeagleJuice, BeagleJuice," but even I know now is the time for seriousness. "When you walk the Beagle, the Beagle sometimes walks ahead of you and sometimes at your side. Beagle turns at all the routine corners and after certain street crossings. Beagle marks territory at the usual places and walks down curbs and up wheelchair ramps along with you." I am explaining, and she is understanding. This I know because she is now speaking to me engagingly, and, truth be told, she is laughing at herself, which I can appreciate because I've walked into bleachers in broad daylight. "Oh my God. You're just walking these dogs. You're blind, though, right?" she asks, and she is most definitely in need of confirmation. If ever there was an opportune time for me to walk into a tree or bleachers, it is now. This would be called taking one for the team. "This is true," I say. You who work to change public attitudes know how it is, that moment when you are engaged by a person unfamiliar with blindness but who gets it because of something you've said. Elation! Now the person who was once ignorant simply wants you to confirm the obvious- hurray. It's the experience one has when trying to convince someone about the usefulness of Braille and then having the light come on for them when you press the right button on the elevator and begin heading for your floor. "Yes," I reply, now uncomfortably looking directly at her for only a second or two. "Ohhhh," she exclaims, and she's cool in her understanding and not at all uncomfortable with the word "blind," which I really appreciate. "Sweet!" I'm elated. She's comfortable with her new understanding-I can get on with my walk. But, not so fast. I'm hearing the dismantling of square one of this understanding I have helped to build-the foundation is not as strong as I had hoped. "But how...You just walk...alone...with that," she states a bit incredulously, pointing at my cane as if I'm holding a soiled diaper. I have a choice to make. I can prolong the exchange, which has turned into a whole bunch of everything regarding blindness, and maybe dispel her disbelief. Or I can make another joke and tell her that yes I do use the cane, it works for free, I incur no health insurance costs, it requires no room and board, does not cheat at cards, and also functions as a sweeping tool for the identification and retrieval of all the single socks that have gone AWOL beneath beds and behind the washing machine and dryer in my home. I could answer yes, excuse myself, continue my walk-or I could give it one last try. "My name is David," I say, holding out my hand to her and we shake. "This cane is a literal extension of my arm and hand, with five fingers each and an eyeball for a fingerprint. It informs me of everything I need to know sixty-five inches ahead of my scheduled arrival. It really works wonderfully in its simplicity." "Oh I guess so," she replied, in a tone of challenged consideration. "I never really thought...but...but...just that cane...don't you need a service dog?" ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kyle Wiens] Ebook Legal Restrictions Are Screwing Over Blind People by Kyle Wiens From the Editor: Kyle Wiens is the co-founder and CEO of iFixit, an online repair community and parts retailer internationally renowned for their open source repair manuals and product teardowns. His opinion piece originally appeared on December 15, 2014, on WIRED.com. He graciously gave his permission for us to reprint it. As you can tell, he gets it. Here is what he says: In late 2012 a fourteen-year-old high school student stood in front of a camera and began to read. Chris Nusbaum's voice was calm and steady. And so were his hands, which ran smoothly over lines of Braille as he made a personal appeal to Amazon-maker of the most widely-used e-reader in the world. "My class has just been assigned a project for which we must use information in the class's textbook. Every student has a Kindle, which has the textbook loaded on to it. All of the sighted students can easily read the material and complete the assignment independently," Nusbaum read. "I, on the other hand, cannot read the book without the assistance of a sighted reader. Therefore, I am put at a severe disadvantage in completing the project when compared with my sighted classmates... All of this because of a problem which can easily and inexpensively be solved by integrating text- to-speech software into your readers and making sure that your apps and information are accessible with that software." For the nearly eight million people in the US with some degree of vision impairment, the advent of ebooks and e-readers has been both a blessing and a burden: a blessing because a digital library-everything from academic textbooks to venerated classics to romance novels-is never further away than your fingertips; a burden because the explosion of ebooks has served as a reminder of how inaccessible technology really can be. For more than a decade the visually impaired have been locked in an excruciatingly slow and circuitous battle against US copyright laws. And it's left the visually impaired with few options but to hack their way around digital barriers-just for the simple pleasure of reading a book. Books, Blindness, and Barriers to Content There's no Library of Alexandria out there for visually-impaired readers. Only 1 percent of published books are available in Braille. And, while audiobooks are widely available through online platforms like Audible, the selection is relatively narrow. Audible boasts more than 150,000 titles, but that's only 4 percent of the estimated 3.4 million books that are available through Amazon. If you're looking for an independent author, or the collected stories of a minor, long-dead novelist, or a biography on anyone less celebrated than a celebrity or a world leader-you're probably out of luck. Still, many popular books are available on venues like Audible, so we asked Blake Reid-head of the Samuelson Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic-whether that was enough. Reid's team works on media and accessibility issues; they explained: "Yes, audiobooks are already on the market. But there are not very many of them and virtually none for technical or academic subjects." That's why ebooks and e-readers are especially promising for people with disabilities. There are well over a million ebooks in the Kindle's Store alone-everything from cookbooks to magazines to how-to books. A lot of e-readers come prepackaged with a Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature, which converts the words on an e-reader's screen into a synthesized, human voice. Essentially, TTS reads a purchased ebook aloud-and that's been an incredible tool for making the collective digital library more accessible and more inclusive. That is, until the copyright hounds got out. When the Kindle 2 was released in 2009, it came with TTS functions that could be used across all Kindle ebooks. Publishers balked. They argued that TTS would negatively impact the audiobook market, and that a computer reading an ebook aloud constituted a violation of copyright. Amazon conceded, and it gave publishers the option to opt-out of TTS. Publishers took advantage of this and removed this feature from a huge swath of books. And so, the doors to the collective digital library slammed shut on the blind and print impaired once again. "Blind people, when we ask for accessibility, we're not doing it because we want anyone's charity," Chris told us. "We want equal access to the same information that anyone else could have access to. We have the mental capacity to compete on equal terms in education and in the workforce and in any other areas of life with our sighted counterparts. In order to do that, we are just asking for a very simple request from developers and engineers and institutions of higher education: and that is make sure that we have access to information that we need. We'll take care of the rest." The situation has improved since Chris made his appeal to Amazon two years ago. TTS features have gotten more prevalent-but there are still critical accessibility gaps that need filling. "Among the three main ebook distributors-Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, text-to-speech support is limited. While Apple's iPad has built-in text-to-speech functionality that works well with most formats of ebooks, including Apple's own iBooks format, most Kindle devices do not," Reid's team explained. "Only the Kindle Fire has text-to-speech functionality, which can be (and often is) blocked by individual ebook publishers using DRM. Also, it is often difficult for readers who are visually impaired to determine which Kindle books have text-to-speech functionality disabled before purchase." DRM, or digital rights management, is a genteel term for digital handcuffs; it's used to control access to copyrighted material. In ebooks DRM stops pirates and profiteers from making thousands of copies of something like Tina Fey's autobiography and then selling them for cents on the dollar. Fair enough. But, when it comes to accessibility, DRM becomes a barrier that can stop a reader with disabilities from listening to a good book. Hacking for the Right to Read That's not to say that locks can't be picked. Over the years the print impaired have found viable workarounds-hacks to pry open the doors to their digital library. If a tablet doesn't have a text-to-speech feature, you can modify it: root the tablet and install a TTS app not sanctioned by the manufacturer. More commonly, though, people just strip the DRM off ebooks they buy. Then the ebook can be uploaded to and read through an e-reader's existing TTS feature. The problem is that both those workarounds are technically illegal under an esoteric clause in US copyright law. Here's why: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a 1998 law designed to protect digital content from infringement. Under Section 1201 it's illegal to break a technological lock that protects copyrighted content-like an encryption over a tablet or DRM over an ebook. So, it's not just a voided warranty that would-be readers have to worry about: Web- connected e-readers are essentially tablets, and you can't legally root or jailbreak a tablet-even if you just want to trick it out with a cool app that extends the device's accessibility or functionality. Breaking the DRM on an ebook is also technically a violation-but the Librarian of Congress granted an exemption for people who are visually impaired or have a print impairment. But the ruling is interestingly idiosyncratic: it's legal for someone with a disability to strip DRM from ebooks, but it's not legal for developers to create programs or apps that strip DRM. And the exemption isn't permanent. Every three years advocates have to request the Librarian of Congress to extend his previous exemptions. Which means that people with disabilities are, essentially, legally mandated to ask for permission to read a book once every three years, which is what they've done for more than a decade. And now it's time to ask again. Reid's team at the University of Colorado submitted, in conjunction with the American Foundation for the Blind and the American Council of the Blind, the petition to renew the current exemption. "In a seemingly endless loop that calls to mind the dilemma of Bill Murray's character in the movie Groundhog Day, we, our colleagues, and our pro bono counsel have poured hundreds of hours of work into a lengthy bureaucratic process that requires us to document and re-document the accessibility of copyrighted works," said Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind during a congressional hearing into the DMCA, "and argue and re-argue the rarely-disputed premise that making books and movies accessible to people with disabilities does not infringe or even remotely threaten the rights of copyright holders." Advocates narrowly procured the exemption for ebook DRM over the objection of the register of copyright when they applied in 2010. This year it's anyone's guess-and that's part of the problem. Copyright law is taking away our rights. It means that developers are afraid of writing applications to help the blind. It means that consumers are afraid of repairing and tinkering with their things. And it means people with visual impairments like Chris don't know if they'll be able to keep listening to some of their books. "For me if I could describe text-to-speech in one word, it would be liberating," said Chris, now sixteen and a junior in high school. "It's a kind of freedom. I, as a blind person, don't have access always to most kinds of information that sighted people have access to. It's a kind of freedom when I know that I have access to that information." Reading is a basic human right, and no one-not the Library of Congress and not corporate copyright lobbyists-should have the power to take that away. ---------- The Battle for ATM Accessibility Continues From the Editor: We have been working for most of a dozen years to get Cardtronics to make its machines independently usable by blind people. We have had advances, setbacks, promises, missed deadlines, and sanctions by the court against the company for a failure to comply with previous agreements. Hopefully we are nearing the end of this battle. Below is a document which we are reprinting because it offers blind people a chance to weigh in on this matter. While the contents lack the punch of a good legal thriller, we believe the text is sufficiently clear to speak for itself. Here is the proposed settlement: NOTICE OF PROPOSED AMENDED AND RESTATED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AND HEARING TO BE HELD ON MAY 7, 2015 TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE NATIONWIDE CLASS CERTIFIED BY THIS COURT TO INCLUDE BLIND PATRONS OF AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINES ("ATMs") OWNED OR OPERATED BY EITHER CARDTRONICS, INC. OR CARDTRONICS USA, INC.: On December 4, 2007, this Court granted final approval of a class action settlement agreement ("Settlement Agreement") entered into between Plaintiffs, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the National Federation of the Blind ("NFB"), and several individual blind persons, and Defendants, Cardtronics, Inc. and Cardtronics USA, Inc. (collectively "Cardtronics"), concerning, among other things, the accessibility of ATMs owned or operated by Cardtronics to blind patrons under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Massachusetts state law. The class certified by the Court consists of patrons of ATMs owned or operated by Cardtronics who have total blindness or central vision acuity not to exceed 20/200 in the better eye, with corrective lenses, as measured by the Snellen test, or visual acuity greater than 20/200, but with a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of not greater than 20 degrees (the "Class Members"). The parties subsequently had a number of disputes concerning performance of the Settlement Agreement by Cardtronics. The parties ultimately resolved these disputes through a revised agreement called a Remediation Plan, which was granted final approval by the Court on November 3, 2010. The Remediation Plan extended some of the deadlines in the Settlement Agreement and also obligated Cardtronics to install customized voice-guidance software on the vast majority of its owned machines by December 31, 2010. On July 29, 2011, and again in August 2012, Plaintiffs moved for contempt sanctions, alleging that Cardtronics was not in compliance with the Settlement Agreement and Remediation Plan. On March 21, 2013, the Court issued an Order finding that contempt sanctions against Cardtronics were warranted, but stating further that the extent of Cardtronics' violations remained to be ascertained. After extensive negotiations, and with the assistance of a Court-appointed Special Master, the parties have now entered into an Amended and Restated Class Action Settlement Agreement ("Amended Agreement") to resolve all remaining disputes concerning Cardtronics' alleged noncompliance with the Settlement Agreement and Remediation Plan. This Amended Agreement is subject to approval by this Court. THE PARTIES BELIEVE THAT THE AMENDED AGREEMENT WILL GIVE THE MEMBERS OF THE CLASS EVEN GREATER ACCESS TO CARDTRONICS' EXPANDING NATIONWIDE FLEET OF ATMs. As a general summary of the Amended Agreement, Cardtronics has agreed to develop and install enhanced voice-guidance software for its fleet of ATMs-both owned and operated-on or before March 31, 2017. The parties have also agreed to new, NFB-approved Braille signage. The Amended Agreement also provides for a robust field inspection and testing program, as well as comprehensive compliance reporting. The Court-appointed Special Master will serve as "Arbiter" during the term of the Amended Agreement to determine, through a rigorous software approval process that will include testing by a NFB-approved blind consultant, whether the enhanced software satisfies the parties' agreed-upon voice-guidance standards and to certify Cardtronics' compliance with those standards. Cardtronics has agreed to pay the reasonable fees and expenses incurred by the Arbiter and the consultant during the software testing and approval process. Cardtronics has also agreed to pay $1,250,000 to the NFB and $250,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to be used to promote or to fund other programs or initiatives that promote equal access for Blind persons. Cardtronics has further agreed to pay the reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses incurred by class counsel in connection with negotiating the Amended Agreement and obtaining final approval of the Amended Agreement by the Court. The attorneys' fees and expenses incurred by class counsel through October 31, 2014, total $307,093.80. These payments will not detract from Cardtronics' obligations to provide accessible ATMs to the class. Under the Amended Agreement, Class Members will release Cardtronics from all claims concerning Cardtronics' compliance with the Settlement Agreement and Remediation Plan. Class Members (other than the named Plaintiffs) will not release claims for monetary damages except for those related to Cardtronics' alleged noncompliance with the Settlement Agreement, Remediation Plan or prior Court orders. A full copy of the Amended Agreement is available on Cardtronics' website: and the website of the National Federation of the Blind, Inc.: . YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of this Court dated December 2, 2014, and as thereafter amended, that a Final Approval Hearing will be held on May 7, 2015, at 2:00 PM, before this Court in the United States Courthouse, One Courthouse Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02210. The purpose of this Final Approval Hearing is to determine whether the proposed Amended Agreement should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate, whether class counsel's application for attorneys' fees and costs and the payments to the NFB and the Commonwealth should be approved, and whether the contempt proceedings should be dismissed on the merits and with prejudice. The date of the Final Approval Hearing may change without further notice to the class. Class Members are advised to check the Court's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at to confirm that the date of the Final Approval Hearing has not been changed. Class Members who wish to object to the proposed settlement must provide notice of and explanation of their objection in writing to the Court at the address above, with copies to Counsel at the addresses below, no later than April 2, 2015. Only Class Members filing timely objections may request to present their objections at the Final Approval Hearing. Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General Attn: Genevieve Nadeau, Esq. Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108 (617) 727-2200 Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP Attn: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, Esq. 120 E. Baltimore Street Suite 1700 Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 962-1030 Cooley LLP Attn: Douglas P. Lobel, Esq. One Freedom Square/Reston Town Center 11951 Freedom Drive Reston, VA 20190 (703) 720-7000 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, VISIT OR CONTACT COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFFS: Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (617) 727-2200, OR Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, (410) 962-1030, EXCEPT AS INSTRUCTED IN THIS NOTICE, PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT. Dated: December 8, 2014 By Order of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: David sits in a chair playing an acoustic guitar.] The San Fernando Valley Chapter Reviews a Year of Progress by Racquel Decipeda From the Editor: Admittedly, February is not usually a month in which we are still talking about Christmas, but this item was submitted at the end of December and was too late to be included in the January issue. Congratulations to the San Fernando Valley Chapter, not only for the projects they mention here, but for taking the time to share this nationally: The San Fernando Valley Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of California is celebrating another wonderful year, particularly two of our most successful events: the Best in Tech Conference and the Adopt A Child Project. Our chapter, in collaboration with the Center for the Partially Sighted in Los Angeles, put together the Best in Tech Conference in 2009 with the intent to provide a much-needed service to our community, as well as to help increase awareness about our respective organizations. We just had our sixth annual event on November 22, 2014, which was bigger and better than ever. Best in Tech offers a great opportunity to those who are interested in learning about the latest innovations in assistive technology for the blind and partially sighted. It is a free, annual event for our community, where some of the biggest and most well-known manufacturers and vendors of assistive technology gather with about three hundred blind and low-vision attendees including students, teachers, department of rehab counselors, and ordinary folks who are interested in learning about the best and most helpful assistive technology solutions of the year. In December we hold our annual chapter holiday party, where our chapter members and their families and friends gather together to share and enjoy the spirit of the holidays. In 2012 the SFV chapter decided to enhance our holiday party by embarking on a new project, the Adopt a Child program. Our chapter members felt that Christmas is the time to give back and share the blessings we have received throughout the year and throughout our journey as blind and low-vision individuals. Once again we reached out to our local community and partnered with the Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind in Reseda, California (TLC), to help us find families of blind children who could use a little holiday cheer. We were all so touched and overwhelmed with joy at the outcome that this has now become a highly- anticipated yearly tradition. That first year we adopted a child named Hizela, and in 2013 we had Kobe and Alejandra. These children and their siblings were showered with gifts from all of our chapter members, and they joined us in our annual holiday dinner party, along with the staff from TLC. In 2014 the chapter decided to adopt David Sandoval, who is a thirteen-year-old blind child with microphthalmia/anophthalmia. David is a student at Irving Middle School. He is gifted with a love of music and attends the Primary Academy of Music. David performed for us before dinner and played a Christmas carol with his flute and sang "Treasure," a song popularized by Bruno Mars. Of course, the highlight of the evening was surprising David with his gifts. The chapter made it possible for David to get one of the things on his wish list: an electric guitar. All of us were happy seeing the big smile on David's face as he eagerly unwrapped his shiny new guitar, including everything that came along with it: the carrying case, amplifier, and accessories. It was such a pleasure to see and hear David's mother, Maria Acosta, joyfully experiencing her child's excitement, happy and thankful for the blessings they've received this Christmas. It is a true blessing and pleasure to give and share with others. This is one project we will continue in future years, and we hope that other chapters will be similarly inspired. We also see this as a great opportunity to convey an important message: that being blind is not a hindrance in achieving your hopes and dreams. You can live the life you want with the proper tools, education, resources, and information. In other words, we are committed to extending a warm welcome to the Federationists of the future. Editor's Note: Along with this article we were sent a copy of the letter written by Ms. Acosta to thank the chapter for the gift it gave to her son. Here are a few gems from what she said: I just want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for making my son David so happy. We had so much fun this year. You all made us feel like we were part of your NFB family and that you really wanted to get to know David. He loved, loved, loved his guitar. He has been asking me for one for a long time, and fortunately the National Federation of the Blind was able to help with this gift. The smile on his face is unforgettable. You are all amazing people who understand the need of a child. As soon as he got home, David couldn't wait any longer, and he started playing the electric guitar. I am pretty sure our neighbors will enjoy the music! Once again, thank you so much for my son's guitar and for inviting us to your holiday party. I hope this will not be the end of our journey with the NFB and that we will be part of this family for a long time. Maria Acosta David Sandoval's mom ---------- The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund by Allen Harris From the Editor: Allen Harris is the chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Fund Committee and was one of the people who came up with the idea of honoring our former president and longtime leader by establishing a program to promote attendance at the national convention, where so much inspiration and learning occur. Here is Allen's announcement about the 2015 Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Program: Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the world. The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay all the costs. Last year most of the sixty grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per individual. We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the amazing experience that is convention week. Who is eligible? Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply. How do I apply for funding assistance? 1. You write a letter giving your contact information, and your local NFB information, your specific amount requested, and then explain why this is a good investment for the NFB. The points to cover are listed below. 2. You contact your state president in person or by phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the president when to expect your request letter by email, and mention the deadline. 3. You (or a friend) send your letter by email to your state president. He or she must add a president's recommendation and then email both letters directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee. Your president must forward the two letters no later than April 15, 2015. Your letter to Chairperson Allen Harris must cover these points: Your full name, and all your telephone numbers and label them - cell phone, home, office, other person (if any). Your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. Your state affiliate and state president; your chapter and chapter president, if you attend a chapter. Your personal convention mentor and provide that person's phone number. Your specific request: Explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself. The body of your letter should answer these questions: How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to attend a national convention? What would you receive; what can you share or give? You can include in your letter to the committee any special circumstances you hope they will take into consideration. When will I be notified that I am a winner? If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter with convention details which should answer most of your questions. The committee makes every effort to notify scholarship winners by May 15, but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen. 1. Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your own to reduce the cost.) 2. Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by May 31. 3. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and advisor. 4. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not win a grant this year. How will I receive my convention scholarship? At convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card will be listed in the letter we sent you. The committee is not able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you win a scholarship and to pay your treasury back after you receive your debit or credit card. What if I have more questions? For additional information email the chairman, Allen Harris, at or call his Baltimore, Maryland, office at (410) 659-9314, x2415. Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first convention on the national level and join several thousand active Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We hope to see you in Orlando. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes have been submitted by the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. [PHOTO CAPTION: Kim Diggs stands with her husband Parnell and their son Jordan.] Sausage Cheese Dip by Kim Diggs Kim Diggs is the wife of Parnell Diggs, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. Ingredients: 1 pound hot sausage 1 large jar of thick and chunky salsa 16 ounces cream cheese Method: Brown sausage. Remove grease. Keep on low heat. Mix in cream cheese and salsa. Serve hot on chips of your choice. ---------- Potato Casserole by Kim Diggs Ingredients: 1 32-ounce package frozen hash brown potatoes 2 cans of cream of potato soup 2 8-ounce packages sour cream 2 cups grated sharp cheese 1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese Method: Thaw potatoes. Mix all together. Put in greased 9 x 13-inch dish. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. ---------- Dirt Dessert by Kim Diggs Ingredients: 1/2 stick butter or margarine, softened 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 4 cups milk 2 large packages instant vanilla pudding 1 12-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed 2 20-ounce packages Oreos Method: Cream butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar in large bowl. In another bowl mix milk, pudding, and whipped topping. Combine mixtures. Crush Oreos (not too fine). Put 1/3 of crushed Oreos in bottom of foil- lined clay pot or plastic sand pail. Add 1/2 pudding mixture. Layer 1/3 crushed Oreos and remaining filling. Top with remaining crumbs. Can garnish with plastic greens, flowers, or gummy worms to serve. ---------- Orange Fluff Jell-O Salad by Kim Diggs Ingredients: 1 large package Cook and Serve vanilla pudding (4.6 ounces) 1 large package orange Jell-O (6 ounces) 2 cups water 16 ounce container Cool Whip 1/2 bag mini-marshmallows 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits (drained) 22 ounces mandarin oranges (drained) 2 or 3 bananas, sliced (optional) Method: Mix together pudding, Jell-O, and water over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate until mixture has thickened (about an hour). Beat until creamy. Fold in Cool Whip, marshmallows, and fruit. Chill for about an hour before serving. If desired, top with sliced bananas just before serving. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Shelley Coppel with her husband Frank] Salmon P?t? by Shelley Coppel Shelley is the president of the NFB of SC Blind Seniors Division and the wife of NFB of SC first vice president, Frank Coppel. Ingredients: 1 can salmon, drained 1/2 small pkg. frozen salad shrimp, thawed and drained (approximately 1 cup) 1 12-ounce bottle seafood cocktail sauce 1 small bunch green onions, finely chopped 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup bacon bits (real ones preferred) 5 to 6 Ritz crackers, crushed Method: In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir well to thoroughly mix in the cocktail sauce and cream cheese. Put into a container and refrigerate. Can divide up and save it for later; this recipe freezes well. Serve with raw vegetables or on crackers. Serves a bunch! ---------- Impossible Quiche by Shelley Coppel Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups cooked breakfast meat, chopped 1 cup shredded cheese 1 1/2 cups milk 1/4 cup margarine, melted 3 eggs 1/2 cup Bisquick 1/2 cup chopped onion (optional) Method: Place the breakfast meat in the bottom of an 8-by-8 baking dish or a pie plate and cover this meat with the shredded cheese. Combine melted butter, milk, eggs, and Bisquick in a mixing bowl. Pour this egg mixture over the meat and cheese in the baking dish. Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees. No need to grease the dish because of the butter in the mixture. Notes: You can use eight cooked slices of bacon or some kielbasa as the breakfast meat. I have also used raisins instead of meat and cheese. I eat gluten free and have substituted gluten free Bisquick and had it work just as well as the original. ---------- Tortilla Rollups by Shelley Coppel Ingredients: 1 package eight-inch flour tortillas 8 ounces pre-made dip (any of the type found in the dairy case of your grocery store) 8 ounces grated cheese 1 small can chopped black olives 4 green onions, chopped Method: Mix all of the ingredients except the tortillas. Spread the mixture onto the center of the tortillas. Roll up the edges of the tortillas. Refrigerate them until they set up. Cut them into one-inch circles and serve. This mixture can also be used as a chip dip. ---------- Crock Pot Smothered Steak by Shelley Coppel Ingredients: 2 pounds round steak, cut into strips 1/3 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 large onion, sliced 1 green pepper, sliced 1 1-pound can tomatoes 4 ounces mushrooms, drained 2 tablespoons molasses (optional) 3 tablespoons soy sauce 16 ounces French-cut frozen green beans Method: In bowl, stir together flour, salt, and pepper. Dip the steak strips into this mixture and place into the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients into crock pot. Cook on high four to five hours, or on low for eight hours. ---------- Collard Greens by Darlene Houck Darlene Houck is the wife of David Houck, the director of the Federation Center of the Blind in Columbia, South Carolina. It is better to get your collard greens from a farmer's market or a local produce stand. Make sure each bunch is a good size and that the leaves are fresh, not discolored or bug-eaten. First, cut the leaves off the stems and wash them in water. Then place a few leaves flat on a clean surface and cut them into small pieces (two to three inches square). Place the cut leaves into a saucepan with melted butter and saut? until softened. Then place them in a pot. Once you have completed the process, you can place the pot on the stove and boil the greens in water for about thirty minutes; then they are ready to serve. The leaves should not taste bitter. If you have more than you expect to use after they are saut?ed, you can place the extra in one gallon freezer bags and freeze until needed. When frozen, place into water and let boil for thirty minutes before serving. This goes well with black-eyed peas and cornbread, especially for New Year's Day! ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Dawnelle D. Cruze Passes: Dawnelle D. Cruze, sixty-one, of Virginia Beach, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, December 17, 2014. She was the daughter of the late Doris D. Cruze. Dawnelle was an excellent advocate for the blind in many areas. She was a longtime member of the advisory committee for the state library for the blind. She was a founding member of the Tidewater chapter of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and served as its president for several years. Dawnelle graduated from Mary Washington University, where she received a BA in sociology and also received a master's degree in sociology from VCU. She was a supervisor at the Norfolk Red Cross working for military families division and retired there after twenty seven years. Dawnelle also served as a field instructor at Norfolk State University, School of Social Work. She served many years on the board of directors for the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia and was a member of the National Association of Social Workers. She was active in the NFB on both the state and national levels. She served as the second vice president on the state level, and was president of the affiliate's diabetic division. The NFB gives thirty college scholarships annually, and Dawnelle has served on the national committee to choose the recipients of these. Dawnelle was a loving and caring sister, aunt, and a loyal friend. She always put the needs of others before her own and was always the person with the biggest smile in the room. She was a faithful member of St. Benedict's Parish Catholic Church for many years. New Guide Dog App Warmly Received: When the National Association of Guide Dog Users launched the NAGDU Guide & Service Dog Information & Advocacy mobile app on September 17, 2014, our goal was to have the app downloaded at least one thousand times by the end of 2014. It was an ambitious goal; however, the NFB is known for its ambition to ensure every blind person has the opportunity to live the life he/she wants! We are pleased and excited to announce that we have not only met our goal, but exceeded it! As of midnight on December 31, 2014, the NAGDU app has been downloaded by 1,039 users. And we are not finished! The app is continuing to be downloaded, demonstrating the value of the information we are providing to guide and service dog users, as well as to the general public. We are working to enhance the app with new features suggested by our users, including location tracking, sharing options, more streamlined access to the information, guidance for other industries, and an Android version. If you or someone you know has not yet downloaded the app, please help us continue our progress by going to the App Store, searching for "NAGDU," and downloading this incredible free app. Doing so will help the National Association of Guide Dog Users improve the app and enhance the other work we do on behalf of guide dog users. Once you download the app, please browse through the information, and send us your feedback. You can do this directly from the app by using the "send an email" feature. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to raise the expectations of the blind in the United States so we can live the lives we want. Performing Arts Scholarship Available: In remembrance of one of our leaders, Mary Ann Parks, who served as the secretary of the Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind, a scholarship program was established in 2008. She was first elected in 2005 and helped oversee the division as it experienced great expansion. As one of the leaders of the division, she worked to manage the summer conventions, kept valuable records, and assisted in promoting and producing our first "Sound in Sight" album, which was released in 2007. In addition to working with the Performing Arts Division, Mary Ann also held the post of secretary of the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia. On August 25, 2007, due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident, Mary Ann passed away. She will always be remembered as a positive, upbeat, and strong-willed person, and she is greatly missed by all who knew her. At the 75th anniversary convention of the National Federation of the Blind in July of 2015, the division will award a scholarship to recognize achievement and offer support to a legally blind individual interested in pursuing a degree in the performing arts. The scholarship will be available for high school seniors through grad students who are currently pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time post-secondary course of study in a degree program related to the performing arts at an accredited institution in the United States. Each applicant will be considered based upon performing arts- related achievements, aspirations, and goals; academic excellence; and community service endeavors. The scholarship winner will attend the National Federation of the Blind's seventy-fifth anniversary convention to be held in Orlando, Florida. The scholarship will be presented at the annual talent competition on Thursday, July 9, 2015. In addition to our scholarship program, we have also established a subsidy program which will, through a short application process, assist legally blind individuals with funding for performing arts projects, travel- related expenses incurred as a result of performing arts projects, and other related needs that may arise. Each application will be carefully reviewed, and stipends will be awarded based upon demonstrated need. Please consider making a donation to the Mary Ann Parks Performing Arts Scholarship program as well as our new subsidy program; all donations are tax-deductible. You can make a check payable to the National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division and send it to: 8259 Harcourt Road, Suite 127, Indianapolis, IN 46260. Please write Scholarship Program or Subsidy Program in the memo line as appropriate. No amount is too large or too small. Each donation will be greatly appreciated. If you need more information, please call us at (317) 643-1890, or send us an email at . Division Looking for New Members: Greetings Fellow Federationists: Time has a way of really flying by, and before we know it we will be attending our seventy-fifth convention of the National Federation of the Blind. I am in search of new members for our National Association of Blind Automobile Enthusiasts Division, formally known as the CARS Division. Dues are only five dollars, and you can have a lot of fun being part of a division where you can learn about cars, build them, and display your car at a show. You don't have to know how to drive; lots of blind people work on cars, and they also own them for show. If you have a love for the automobile, come on down, join us, and have lots of fun. For more information, please call Dave Hutchins at (816) 942-3233. See you in Orlando. ---------- In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Acclaimed Narrator to be Honored: Mitzi Friedlander, a Talking Book narrator at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), is retiring. During her extraordinary career, which spans over a half century, she has recorded more books than any other Talking Book narrator in the nation. The Talking Book program, administered by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress, provides recorded literature to 500,000 blind, visually impaired, and physically impaired Americans. The National Library Service (NLS) contracts with the American Printing House for the Blind to prepare these Talking Books. Her fans, locally and nationally, will celebrate her accomplishments at a retirement ceremony that will take place February 5, 2015, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM at APH. Those who want to share their thoughts with Mitzi may send them to APH, c/o Roberta Williams, 1839 Frankfort Ave., Louisville, KY 40206 or email them to . A well-known figure in Louisville's theatrical world, Mitzi earned the first master's degree in theater arts given by the University of Louisville. She has performed with Actor's Theatre of Louisville, the Louisville Ballet, the Kentucky Opera Association, and the Louisville Children's Theatre. She has also taught theatre arts at the University of Louisville and at Indiana University Southeast. The versatile actress, who has recorded over two thousand titles during her fifty-plus years at APH, has lent her voice to nonfiction pieces, works of fiction, scientific publications, and children's literature. Through her work as a narrator in the APH studio, Mitzi became the first recipient of the Didymus Award for narration of one thousand Talking Books for the Library of Congress. She is familiar to over half a million people in the listening audience as the voice of such classics as Gone with the Wind, Charlotte's Web, and several of Sue Grafton's "alphabet" series of detective novels. In 1993 this nationwide audience selected her as one of their favorite Talking Book voices, honoring her with the Alexander Scourby Award for excellence in the narration of nonfiction titles. To hear a sample of Mitzi Friedlander's work, visit: . Free Service Animal Eye Exams: American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) is gearing up for the 8th Annual ACVO/StokesRx National Service Animal Eye Exam Event this May. The goal of this event is to provide as many free screening exams as possible to eligible service animals across the U.S. and Canada throughout the month of May. Service animals include guide, handicapped assistance, detection, military, search and rescue, and certified-current registered therapy animals that all selflessly serve the public. This year's event is sponsored by ACVO? and Stokes Pharmacy, as well as several generous industry sponsors, volunteer ophthalmologists, and staff. Participating doctors volunteer their services, staff, and facilities at no charge to participate in the event. To qualify, service animals must be "active working animals" that were certified by a formal training program or organization, or are currently enrolled in a formal training program. The certifying organization could be national, regional, or local in nature. Owners/agents for the animal(s) must first register the animal using an online registration form beginning April 1 at . Registration ends April 30. Once registered online, the owner/agent will receive a registration number and will be allowed access to a list of participating ophthalmologists in their area. Then they may contact a specialist to schedule an appointment, which will take place during the month of May. Times may vary depending on the facility and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so clients should try to register and make appointments early. Distinctive Greeting Cards Available: The many styles, materials, and textures used set our cards apart from all of the rest! These uniquely original and tactile cards come with options for your customized Braille messages, with the first forty-two cells being free. Whether you simply need one to say "Hello!" or want a five-pack of all occasion cards, invitations, other special orders, or you choose any of our "greener" options, the recipients will certainly be delighted, no matter their age or gender. We can also integrate your gift card (in a pocket/envelope) into the design of the card and mail it directly for you when completed. The cards come in two sizes: 5.5 inches by 4.25 inches (A2) and 4 inches by 6 inches (A6), and are put in a plastic sleeve for protection and display. They range in price from $3 to $8. The "greener" option is like a postcard, with one decorated side instead of a photo. The other side will have a designed area where we can Braille or write your personal message. In this way we can create two cards rather than one from the same piece of paper! Please contact us using email at and use the subject "Cards." Alternatively, you may call A Touch of Thoughts at (419) 283-9000 between the hours of 2 and 6 PM, Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday, and from 1 to 4 PM on Saturday. The cards are created in a smoke-free environment. Our mascot, Bubby the English bulldog, helps keep us on track, as well as bringing plenty of comic relief, so we are not canine-free. We look forward to creating something special just for you and would be grateful for any and all feedback about our products! ---------- Monitor Mart The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. Four-Track Tape Recorder Wanted: I am looking to purchase a working four-track tape recorder that can read books produced by the National Library Service. I am also interested in learning about services that still exist to repair such units. If you have one to sell or information about where older recorders can be repaired, please contact David using email at or by calling (337) 264-3785. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Sun Mar 1 20:22:52 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Sun, 1 Mar 2015 20:22:52 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, March 2015 Message-ID: <201503020422.t224Mq5x027032@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 3 March 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return label enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Centre Hotel] Orlando Site of 2015 NFB Convention The 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 5-10, at the Rosen Centre Hotel at 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Rosen Centre staff only. Call (800) 204-7234. The 2015 room rates are singles, doubles, and twins, $82; and triples and quads, $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before June 1, 2015. The other 50 percent is not refundable. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2015, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. Guest-room amenities include cable television; in-room safe; coffeemaker; hairdryer; and, for a fee, high-speed Internet access. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site spa. The Rosen Centre Hotel offers fine dining at Executive Chef Michael Rumplik's award- winning Everglades Restaurant. In addition, there is an array of dining options from sushi to tapas to a 24-hour deli. The hotel has first-rate amenities and shuttle service to the Orlando airport. The schedule for the 2015 convention is: Sunday, July 5 Seminar Day Monday, July 6 Registration Day Tuesday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day Wednesday, July 8 Opening Session Thursday, July 9 Business Session Friday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND National Convention Preregistration Form Please register online at or use this mail-in form. Print legibly, provide all requested information, and mail form and payment to: National Federation of the Blind Attn: Convention Registration 200 East Wells Street Baltimore, MD 21230 Please register only one person per registration form; however, one check or money order may cover multiple registrations. Check or money order (sorry, no credit cards) must be enclosed with registration(s). Registrant Name _____________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________ City ____________________________ State _____________ Zip ___________ Phone ___________________ Email ____________________________________ ___ I will pick up my registration packet at convention. or ___ The following person will pick up my registration packet: Pickup Name ______________________________________ Number of preregistrations x $25 = ____________ Number of pre-purchased banquet tickets x $55 = ____________ Total = ____________ PLEASE NOTE: 1. Preconvention registration and banquet sales are final (no refunds). 2. All preregistration mail-in forms must be postmarked by May 31. Vol. 58, No. 3 March 2015 Contents Illustration: Relationships Old and New on the Hill To Learn, to Read, and to Work: TEACH, Treaty, Time, and the 2015 Washington Seminar by Gary Wunder Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans: Priorities for the 114th Congress, First Session Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act (HR188) Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled ("Marrakesh Treaty") Daring to Be All We Can Be by Paul Gabias A Troubled State of Accessible Voting by Lou Ann Blake Ethel Ulysses Parker, Jr. by Peggy Chong Access Technology: Spreading the Word and the Knowledge by Anne Taylor Recipes Monitor Miniatures Relationships Old and New on the Hill [PHOTO CAPTION: Members of the Colorado affiliate talk with Senator Cory Gardner] [PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre and members of the Colorado delegation talk with Representative Mike Coffman] [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono, Congressman Pete Aguilar, and Marc Maurer chat during the Congressional Reception] Anil Lewis, one of our most thoughtful and energetic leaders, has made the observation on many occasions that "it is all about relationships." One of the reasons Congressman Gregg Harper agreed to consider supporting the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act, now the Transition to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act, was that his friend Sam Gleese, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Mississippi, asked him to do it. As year after year we come to the capital and use the time between visits in DC to talk with our members of Congress in the districts where we live, we build these relationships; we build trust; we create a climate that promotes and results in positive change. This is what we did on Capitol Hill, and this is what we do every day as we continue to educate the public about what it really means to be blind. Whether in lunchrooms, libraries, or the halls of Congress, we continue to tell people that our biggest problem in dealing with the world is not our lack of eyesight but the reaction to it that gets in our way. It is through relationships that the statements become more than just words and allow us to show that with love, hope, and determination, we and our friends and supporters transform dreams into reality. To Learn, to Read, and to Work: TEACH, Treaty, Time, and the 2015 Washington Seminar by Gary Wunder The slogan of the United States Postal Service and its commitment to deliver the mail are strikingly similar to the commitment of the blind to appear annually before the Congress of the United States of America to discuss the hopes, dreams, and rock-solid commitment of blind people to their full and complete participation on terms of equality with the sighted. So, when winter came to the East, dumping several feet of snow on New York, Boston, and other major cities, many wondered whether we would still travel by the hundreds to visit with the newly elected Congress. But come we did, visit we did, and educate we did. Certainly the weather stopped some from coming, and a few had to leave early, but, once one was in DC, the weather was more a topic of discussion than a deterrent to doing the business we came to do. The weather was chilly, but we were spared the snow and ice that paralyzed much of the East. Inches of snow and bitterly cold temperatures, like many other events in our lives, seemed as though they might make our participation difficult or impossible, but the reality was something quite different. It was more a nuisance than a handicap, and it had no bearing on our ability to do what was demanded. Events started on Saturday evening as the legislative coordinators from each state gathered at the Jernigan Institute to discuss our issues, strategies for best communicating them, and roleplaying to prepare for the questions we would likely encounter. After a day and a half of training, the coordinators came to the Holiday Inn Capitol, where these students became the teachers: briefing those of us who were just arriving or who had been in other seminars on Sunday and Monday. The National Organization of Parents of Blind Children hosted the Bolotin Award-winning Parent Leadership Program at the 2015 Washington Seminar. New and returning parent leaders heard from many Federation leaders, including President Riccobono, Pam Allen, Gary Wunder, Parnell Diggs, Gabe Cazares, Jim Antonacci, Anil Lewis, and Natalie Shaheen. NOPBC President Carlton Anne Cook Walker, NOPBC Second Vice President Kim Cunningham, and NOPBC Director of Programs (and former NOPBC President) Carol Castellano led the seminar, and former NOPBC President (and current Louisiana POBC President) Laura Bostick also shared Federation philosophy and leadership principles with the parent leaders. In this two-day seminar the group focused on topics such as the philosophy and policy of the Federation, the nuts and bolts of forming a group, the value of planning an activity of the month, ways to plan a seminar for first timers, and the art and science of leadership. At the National Association of Blind Students annual winter seminar, students from around the nation gathered to be inspired; to be informed; and, perhaps most of all, to prepare to take our message of equal opportunity for the blind to Capitol Hill. As President Sean Whalen reports, "Leaders from our various state divisions shared their successes during the past year, and NABS committees updated everybody on the work currently underway. President Riccobono called upon us to take the enthusiasm home and work in our chapters and affiliates to advance the agenda of the Federation, and Scott LaBarre armed students with the facts about our legislative agenda so that we were ready to make our case to our elected representatives. We were pleased to have so many students in attendance at the Washington Seminar and hope that even more students will make the trip to DC to push for legislative change in the years ahead." [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono opens the Great Gathering-In] At 5:00 PM on Monday evening, January 26, 2015, a new but familiar voice rang out to open the Great Gathering-In meeting. President Riccobono said, "We come despite the blizzard of 2015. The blind have come to Capitol Hill. We have come to speak for ourselves, and in our seventy-fifth year we come with diamonds on the tips of our canes. We have come to assert our right to equal pay; we have come to assert our right for an equal opportunity in education; we have come to assert our right for equality in accessing the world's knowledge and for the right to read. We bring with us our experience, our knowledge about blindness, and our firm conviction that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us. We want those in the halls of power to know that not only do we demand our rights but we intend to fulfill our responsibilities as first-class citizens to make this the greatest country on earth." When the President asked the crowd whether it was up to the challenge of taking our message to the policymakers of America, the response was enthusiastic and unequivocal: we were, and we did! President Riccobono announced that Diane McGeorge, the longtime coordinator of logistics for the Washington Seminar, was not with us but was recovering from a severe sinus infection that resulted in doctor's orders that she not fly. The crowd sent out a cheer for Diane that found its way to Denver through many phone calls from those sending their wishes for her speedy recovery and ensuring she knew everything she would've wanted to know, were she present. Always one for managing in great detail, Diane asked if the hotel had peanut butter pie, and yours truly inquired and then consumed a piece in her honor. Before addressing the issues that would be taken to Capitol Hill, the President suggested we review some recent victories: Last year the Maryland Board of Elections offered an online-ballot- marking tool and said they would make it available in the election. After working with constituents to make sure that this tool was accessible, the board decided that it would not take a vote to certify the ballot. The National Federation of the Blind demanded to know why, but the board declined to give a reason. Since we consider the right to vote independently to be a fundamental right of citizenship, we took the state of Maryland to court. The state told the judge that blind people have access to the polls and that the state had already made 98 percent of the polling places in Maryland accessible. They argued that blind people who wanted to vote using a secret ballot should go to the polls and that nothing in the law required that all options a voter might use should be accessible. Since any person in Maryland has the right to vote using an absentee ballot, we argued that this right should be extended to the blind, the court agreed, and the blind were able independently to cast an absentee ballot in the 2014 election. A new subscription service called Scribd now makes available more than 40 million titles through its online web interface. It also allows subscribers to publish their own works. Scribd is not accessible to the blind, so, standing in solidarity with a blind parent from Vermont, we have sued Scribd, for we are determined to see that the blind of America receive an equal education and access to the reading materials offered to those who can see. The higher education community often tells us that it has accessibility under control, but despite its assurances we find we must challenge educational inequality on many campuses throughout the country. Although we have negotiated successful agreements with Penn State, the University of Montana, Florida State University, and others, many other colleges and universities continue to discriminate against blind students by not providing accessible technology. Our latest settlement is with Maricopa Community College in Arizona. As a result of this agreement Maricopa Community College will procure electronic and information technology that is accessible to blind students. This will include making changes to its website, the school's library website, the learning management system used by the school, and the personal response systems used in classrooms. This agreement even goes so far as to require that the automated teller machines be accessible. Recently the Federation has concluded an agreement with the United States Department of Education which will make its student loan services accessible to all students, including the blind. This agreement binds not only the department but all loan servicers with which they do business. Some people work hard to get out of their student loans, but our effort is to see that blind people have the ability to get a good education, to borrow the money required to do it, and to pay back that money. President Riccobono spoke briefly about Pedro Martinez, a blind parent who resides in the state of New York and who was trying to gain custody of his child after she was placed in foster care in California due to her mother's inability to care for her. A California court asked officials in the New York child protection agency to do an evaluation of Mr. Martinez to determine whether he would be able to care for his child. The New York agency praised him for his independence, his personality, and his blindness skills; but they recommended to the court that custody not be granted because Pedro Martinez was not only blind but poor. When we asked our lawyers to look into this report, they concluded that it was shockingly discriminatory. Accordingly, we intervened, and, with the energy and imagination of the National Federation of the Blind behind him, Pedro Martinez got training in the parenting classes that would help him become a better parent, the New York agency did a second assessment, and a California court has now awarded him custody. As President Riccobono said, "Both we and Pedro know that things aren't going to be easy, but he and his daughter already have a pretty big family to help them out." That family, of course, refers to his family and to the National Federation of the Blind. President Riccobono concluded his discussion of legal cases by reviewing our recent settlement with Cardtronics, the largest deployer of non-bank ATMs in the world. Our settlement requires that the full fleet of Cardtronics ATMs be accessible by March 31 of 2017. The settlement also includes a significant financial contribution by Cardtronics to the National Federation of the Blind, 1.25 million dollars. Beyond ATM accessibility and the financial settlement to the Federation, Cardtronics has agreed to establish a Center of Excellence, and this they have done. Ron Gardner is serving as an expert on accessibility and as our representative in dealing with the company. "We started with litigation with Cardtronics, but I think that, going forward, we are going to find some extremely fine partners who push the ATM industry in accessibility farther than we've ever seen," said President Riccobono. Randy Rice, a vice president at Cardtronics and the head of the Center of Excellence, was present and was acknowledged through applause for his commitment to accessibility. President Riccobono remarked, "Although we don't always start on the same side of the table, it's great when we can link arms, join our expertise, and change the world. That's what we're here to do with Congress." We then moved from highlighting some of our legal victories to an introduction of prominent guests in the audience. President Riccobono welcomed representatives from each affiliate; the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind; our immediate past president, Marc Maurer, and his wife Patricia; and Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan. He also introduced the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, Ms. Taryn Mackenzie Williams; the Honorable Bill Zeliff, former member of Congress from New Hampshire; and Paul Cambon, an associate who has worked with us on legislative affairs for a long time. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeannie Massay] Jeannie Massay, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma and the cochairman of the 75 Days of Action Committee, was introduced to talk about our recently completed campaign and our commitment to recruit 750 new members this year. Jeannie welcomed everyone to the Washington Seminar, noting that it is sometimes called the midwinter family reunion of the National Federation of the Blind. She reminded us that we are all Federation-builders and that our goal of 750 new members will be substantially achieved if each one of us attending the Great Gathering-In recruits one new member. She welcomed Federationists who want to play a significant role in reaching this goal to contact her through email using the address or by phone at (405) 600-0695. President Riccobono briefly mentioned our 2015 BELL Program, which will be hosted by more than half of our state affiliates; our NFBEQ (engineering quotient) program, in which we will be assisting in the design of advanced placement courses for engineers; and an internship program at the Jernigan Institute, which will run from June 1 to August 7. More details about this program can be found at the Voice of the Nation's Blind blog at , and applications will be accepted until March 13, 2015. [PHOTO CAPTION: Marion Gwizdala presents Mark Riccobono with a donation from the National Association of Guide Dog Users] Marion Gwizdala, the president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, came to thank the National Federation of the Blind for an Imagination Fund grant that helped to establish the NAGDU Information and Advocacy Hotline. Along with the new iPhone application that was made available on September 17, 2014, it has helped thousands of blind people in finding, reading, and sharing information about the laws, rights, and responsibilities of guide dog users. In recognition of the significant contribution made by the national body and in support of the unity that characterizes our work, the National Association of Guide Dog Users presented a check for $25,000 to President Riccobono for the national treasury. [PHOTO CAPTION: Edward Shaham presents Mark Riccobono with a donation from the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut] Edward Shaham, the newly elected president of the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut, addressed the assembled and said how happy he was to be at his third Washington Seminar. In keeping with the traditions of the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut, half of all bequests made to the Connecticut affiliate are shared with the national treasury, and President Shaham presented President Riccobono with a check for $82,722. These donations, which came from generous bequests, will do a great deal in furthering the work of the organization. [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] Immediate Past President Maurer was greeted with enthusiastic applause when he was introduced. He came to talk about the tenBroek Legacy Fund, a program through which Federationists can make a contribution to the work of the organization by including us in their wills. He also talked about the latest incarnation of the KNFB Reader and asked that we think about and submit to him suggestions for what features should appear in subsequent releases of the product. We believe this is the best handheld reading machine on the market, but our goal is always to make it better, faster, and cheaper. [PHOTO CAPTION: John Par?] The executive director for advocacy and policy of the National Federation of the Blind, John Par?, was next introduced to begin discussion of the three issues we would take to Capitol Hill. He emphasized that, while our focus for the next few days would be on these three, the fact is that we follow and support many issues. One of particular interest is the Space Available Program, and we have every reason to believe that it will be passed this year. Another issue we are monitoring is legislation recently proposed to block all transfers of funds within the Social Security Administration. Since funds are routinely transferred, and because the Social Security Disability Insurance Fund has only enough money to sustain it through 2016, this is a major concern and one we will be asked to address as the proposal moves through the Congress. [PHOTO CAPTION: Aleeha Dudley] Each of the three issues we took to Capitol Hill was then spiritedly summarized and will be covered in detail in the fact sheets that follow this article. Rose Sloan was introduced to talk about the Transition to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act. She emphasized that this affects the lives of thousands of people with disabilities, and we must ensure that they receive at least the federal minimum wage. Lauren McLarney discussed the Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act and asked that Aleeha Dudley offer a few words of support as a current student. Aleeha eloquently articulated the plight of many blind students who come to higher education with lofty goals and find them frustrated, and in some cases obliterated, by the lack of access found in the technology used by the higher education system. She said that we need guidelines so that the technology that is used doesn't become yet another voice telling us that our dreams are unrealistic and our career goals unattainable. [PHOTO CAPTION: Congressman Steny Hoyer] Congressman Steny Hoyer, the Minority Whip in the United States House of Representatives, was introduced and cleverly began his remarks by observing that, if he was speaking at the Great Gathering-In, he certainly must be addressing the "in crowd." He went on to say, "Over the next three days you will be visiting nearly every House and Senate office on Capitol Hill, sharing your personal stories, and advocating for policies that promote equal access and equal opportunity. You will be effective, and the reason you will be effective is that you will be able to speak as this young student has spoken: you will be speaking about your experiences, not something you read about or heard about or were told about, but something that you have experienced. You will be able to convey this to members of Congress who may not have had similar experiences. ... Our Constitution and our system of laws espouse the principle of equal justice. We must continue our efforts to ensure that our nation is also a beacon of equal opportunity. That, of course, is what the Americans with Disabilities Act is all about. ... The American dream must always be open and accessible to all of us because, if it is not accessible to all of us, we all lose-we lose the contribution of those challenged by disabilities but who are willing and able to participate effectively in so many ways." [PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre] Scott LaBarre had the unenviable task of following Congressman Hoyer, but he did a commendable job in explaining why we need the Marrakesh Treaty, or what is also known as the Books Without Borders Treaty. Ratification of this treaty will require that two-thirds of the Senate support it, so it is important that we emphasize what ratification will mean to us: both materials we can get that have previously been recorded by English-speaking countries, and those we can get from countries where the native language is not English and the materials we need for the study of foreign languages are not available to us through resources in this country. [PHOTO CAPTION: Catherine Lhamon] President Riccobono next introduced Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary for civil rights in the United States Department of Education. In her remark she said that "It is my job and the job of my 600-person staff to ensure that the federal civil rights laws are respected in schools both K-12 and in higher education. ... Just last month we resolved two cases with two universities in Ohio with a very strong impact in this area. With Youngstown State University in Ohio, which serves 13,000 students, and with the University of Cincinnati, which serves 42,600 students, we entered into resolution agreements ensuring that their websites will fully comply with our federal civil rights laws, requires that they develop and publish a notice of nondiscrimination, that they implement a plan to ensure web accessibility and to train staff in webpage development and content development, and that they ensure access to computer labs, especially regarding the provision of assistive technology that is available for all of their students. ... I'm very delighted to be working arm in arm in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind to make sure that we secure the rights for all of our students, including those who are blind." [PHOTO CAPTION: Jim Gashel] Jim Gashel told the attendees at the Great Gathering-In that we must take advantage of the opportunity to reward agencies and organizations who are doing outstanding work on behalf of the blind. The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee is now soliciting applications and will do so until March 31. This award provides the National Federation of the Blind an opportunity, not only to recognize and highlight the most innovative thinkers and programs in the country, but to contribute to the financial support of their work. President Riccobono reminded us to register for the 2015 convention and said that it would be hosted by the seven original affiliates that came together in 1940 to form the National Federation of the Blind. Ever Lee Hairston cochairs the committee coordinating the work of these founding affiliates, and she said that at the convention there would be a door prize worthy of our seventy-fifth celebration. It will be $7,575, so this is yet another incentive to attend the most dynamic meeting of the blind that will occur in 2015. Jim Antonacci, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, announced that the affiliate would be holding its annual convention in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at the same hotel where the NFB was founded. The hotel will be the Genetti Best Western, and reservations can be made by calling (570) 823-6152. Anyone wishing to go should make reservations immediately. The hotel has only seventy-two rooms. With the business of the Great Gathering-In meeting concluded, members went off to find dinner, coordinate appointments, and discuss the finer points of the proposals they would take to Capitol Hill. On Tuesday morning the hotel lobby was filled with Federationists proudly displaying the beautiful white tote bags we would use to carry the packets that would be given to each member of Congress. Taxis were in high demand, but many decided to start their day with a brisk walk to the Capitol. The pace was hectic as we made our rounds, meeting with senators, representatives, and their top aides. [PHOTO CAPTION: Congressman Pete Aguilar] On Tuesday afternoon a reception was held at the Rayburn House Office Building to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind. The master of ceremonies for the event was Immediate Past President Marc Maurer, and the first speaker called on to make a presentation was the newly elected representative from the thirty- first District of California, Congressman Pete Aguilar. The Congressman was particularly honored to be asked to speak at our event because his grandfather went blind as a result of retinitis pigmentosa, and under the Randolph-Sheppard Program he managed the cafeteria at the San Bernardino courthouse. Representative Aguilar's job was to work in that facility, and in the early 70s one of his primary responsibilities was to empty the ashtrays. He said that in this job he learned about the value of hard work, a good attitude, and the cultivation of trust between human beings. When his grandfather was active in business, the talking scale had not yet been invented, but his customers would honestly and consistently tell him what they had purchased, how much it weighed, and the denomination of the bills they were giving him. Because of his experience, Representative Aguilar understands the importance of rehabilitation, education, and advocacy. He supports our work and believes that, not only can blind people be good workers, but, with the proper opportunity and training, we can become job creators, and this he pledges to help us become. [PHOTO CAPTION: Congressman Gregg Harper] Our champion in the House of Representatives to see that blind people are paid at least the federal minimum wage is Congressman Gregg Harper of Mississippi. Congressman Harper has refiled the bill that will phase out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and that new bill is HR 188. "You know, this is something we've been working on together, and we're not going to stop until Section 14(c) is repealed. Meaningful work deserves fair pay, and to say that someone can be paid less than the minimum wage is pretty insulting. We believe we can do better. Now some organizations take advantage of the special wage-I understand why they're doing that-but there are some groups that, if they would join with us, could create a lot of goodwill. We have work to do, we're not going to stop, and together we will make great gains to make life better." President Riccobono addressed the celebratory gathering with these remarks: Thank you, Dr. Maurer, members of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind, honorable members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, Congressional staff, friends from government and nonprofit agencies, and my fellow Federationists. E pluribus unum has been a motto for our nation since the time of the Revolutionary War. The traditional meaning of this phrase for America was: that out of many states (or colonies) emerges a single nation. Today the motto is often used to provide a broader, more individualized meaning: that out of many diverse people-of different races, religions, languages, and backgrounds-a single nation is solidified. This phrase could also be used to characterize the National Federation of the Blind. We are a unified, powerful force that is made up of many diverse people striving for those sharing the characteristic of blindness to be recognized as first-class citizens in our great nation. It is fitting that we have come to celebrate our seventy-fifth year here in the halls of Congress. A number of federal programs established by the United States during the 1930s accelerated the urgency to have a national organization that could unify the work of many state-based organizations of the blind and bring a collective voice to Washington, DC. Since 1940 we have sought partnership with the members of Congress. Just as blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future, we have never let the politics in the halls of power define those who share our common interest in improving the status of the blind. It has sometimes been difficult to find leaders with the courage to take on the difficult issues, it has sometimes been tricky to articulate the complexities of policy changes, and sometimes our issues have gotten caught in the middle of technical issues or political battles having nothing to do with the blind. Yet more often than not, we have found courageous friends in the Congress, like Congressman Harper, who recognize our expertise on blindness and the legacy we have built over the past seventy-five years. We, the blind of this nation, have been successful in advancing a meaningful policy agenda because we bring the largest disability-run event to Capitol Hill every year in the form of our Washington Seminar; because we follow-up when we are back in our hometowns; and because many of the members of Congress have stood with us through the years. As we celebrate the seventy-fifth year of our organization, we should also celebrate the friends we have had in Congress and the partnerships we can look forward to nurturing in the decades to come. Recently we have been cheering our work on by saying, "Let's go build the Federation." Inasmuch as our work helps to make the United States a better place for the blind and other citizens, let us say together today: Let's go build the USA. With those remarks and the applause that followed, the crowd began to chant "USA, USA, USA." [PHOTO CAPTION: Representative John Sarbanes] President Riccobono was followed to the microphone by Representative John Sarbanes, who represents the third district in Maryland, where the Jernigan Institute is located. Though the Congressman was being pressed to get back to the House floor for a vote, he said, "It means a tremendous amount when you come to the Hill, when you walk the halls of Congress, when you go into members' offices and you make the case for the contribution that you and others can deliver to our communities and to our country. I like that mantra `build the USA.' That's what you are doing every single day with your commitment; and I know that, when the National Federation of the Blind is at the forefront of an issue or concern, it is something I need to be educated on and something I need to spread the word to my colleagues about. Thank you for being here today, thank you for the great work you do, and thank you for the contributions that you make every single day in our communities all across the United States." These were the formal remarks at the reception, but they only begin to capture the excitement we felt about the work that had been done over the last seven decades and the work that still remains for us to do. Wednesday and Thursday were filled with more appointments on the Hill, but, as each of us packed up and left the Holiday Inn Capitol, we did so with a heightened sense of our shared history, a greater understanding of the challenges we face today, and a stronger sense of optimism about the future we intend to make for blind people in this country. The blizzard of 2015 will be but a brief note in meteorological history, but the work of the National Federation of the Blind and its visit to Congress will be much more. It will change the present, enhance the future, and make better the lives of blind people everywhere. ---------- Legislative Agenda of Blind Americans Priorities for the 114th Congress, FIRST Session The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind people. We represent the collective views of the 1.3 million blind people throughout the US. All of our leaders and the vast majority of our members are blind, but anyone can participate in our movement. The NFB's three legislative initiatives for 2015 are: . The Transitioning to Meaningful and Integrated Employment Act (HR 188) Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage because of the false assumption that they are less productive than nondisabled workers. This antiquated provision breeds low expectations and discourages disabled Americans from reaching their full potential. HR 188 responsibly phases out the use of the 14(c) Special Wage Certificates, ending the era of segregated, subminimum wage work. . The Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act Electronic instructional materials have replaced traditional methods of learning in postsecondary education, but the overwhelming majority of ebooks, courseware, web content, and other technology is inaccessible to students with print disabilities. The law requires equal access in the classroom but fails to provide direction to schools for how that applies to technology. The TEACH Act creates voluntary accessibility guidelines for educational technology to improve blind students' access to course material, stimulate the market, and reduce litigation for schools. . The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled Despite the ability to convert print books into accessible formats like Braille, large print, audio, and digital copies, over 300 million blind and otherwise print-disabled people are excluded from accessing 95 percent of published works. The Marrakesh Treaty calls for contracting parties to add exemptions and limitations to domestic copyright laws to permit reproduction, distribution, and cross-border exchange of accessible works. Blind Americans, rights holders, educators, and other stakeholders will benefit from this treaty, and Congress should ratify it promptly. The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. These priorities will remove barriers that stand between blind people and our dreams, which often include meaningful employment, equality in the classroom, and access to published works. We urge Congress to remove these barriers by supporting our legislative initiatives. ---------- Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act (HR 188) Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities from reaching their full vocational and socioeconomic potential. Written in 1938, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows the Secretary of Labor to grant to employers Special Wage Certificates, which permit them to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages. The original intent was to incentivize for-profit businesses to hire people with disabilities, but the provision has failed to achieve this outcome. Today, less than 5 percent of all certificate holders are for-profit businesses, and a complex network of 2,500 plus nonprofit, "charitable" businesses capitalize on this loophole.[i] Section 14(c) is based on the false assumption that disabled workers are less productive than nondisabled workers. In reality, the subminimum wage business model is what is unproductive, not workers with disabilities. Successful employment models, such as supported or customized employment, prove that with the proper training and support, people with disabilities can be productive, valuable employees.[ii] Some former 14(c) entities have already transitioned and found that they are more efficient than they used to be.[iii] Research shows that the subminimum wage model costs more but actually produces less and that people with disabilities have to unlearn the skills they adopted in subminimum wage jobs.[iv] 14(c)-certificate-holding entities encourage Americans with disabilities to rely on government benefits rather than achieve self-sufficiency. Over four hundred thousand Americans with disabilities are being paid subminimum wages-some mere pennies per hour.[v] Instead of paying taxes, almost all employees who are paid subminimum wages must rely on government assistance such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Currently, 95 percent of people with disabilities who are paid subminimum wages never obtain the competitive integrated employment they strive for.[vi] Subminimum wage employment undermines taxpayer investment in job training. Taxpayers invest billions in vocational rehabilitation, money that should be dedicated to helping people with disabilities discover their full potential using reasonable accommodations. This investment is undercut when people with disabilities are stuck doing mundane, repetitive tasks that do not improve their skillsets. Many 14(c) entities (SourceAmerica) are already receiving preferential federal contracts and public and charitable donations-they should not be allowed to pay people with disabilities subminimum wages. The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act: Discontinues the issuance of new Special Wage Certificates. The Secretary of Labor will no longer issue Special Wage Certificates to new applicants. Phases out the use of Special Wage Certificates over a three-year period. Using the following schedule, entities will be able to transition to the proven model of competitive integrated employment: . Private for-profit entities will have one year to transition; . Public or governmental entities will have two years to transition; and . Nonprofit entities will have three years to transition. (These entities make up 95 percent of the Special Wage Certificate holders.)i Repeals Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Three years after the law is enacted, the practice of paying disabled workers subminimum wages will be officially abolished. This will result in the elimination of segregated, subminimum wage workshops and in the development of integrated and meaningful employment opportunities that encourage people with disabilities to reach their full vocational and socioeconomic potential. REMOVE BARRIERS TO REAL TRAINING AND MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT. Cosponsor Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act (HR 188) For more information contact: Rose Sloan, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2441, Email: rsloan at nfb.org To cosponsor, contact: Scot Malvaney, Policy Director, Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS) Phone: (202)-225-5031, Email: scot.malvaney at mail.house.gov For more information visit: www.nfb.org/fair-wages ----------------------- [i]United States Department of Labor. "Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPs) List" Last modified November 1, 2013. http://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/CRPlist.htm. [ii] United States Department of Labor. "Customized Employment Works Everywhere." Last modified October, 2009. https://www.hdi.uky.edu/setp/materials/vignette_v3_blue_508_FINAL.pdf. [iii] Melwood. "Cari DeSantis: Fair Pay for Workers with Disabilities." Last modified November 28, 2014. http://www.melwood.org/articles/articles/view/127. [iv] Cimera, Robert E.; Wehman, Paul; West, Michael; & Burgess, Sloane. "Do Sheltered Workshops Enhance Employment Outcomes for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder?" Autism. 16 (2012): 87. [v] Government Accountability Office. "Centers Offer Employment and Support Services to Workers With Disabilities, But Labor Should Improve Oversight" Report to Congressional Requesters. 01-886 (2001): 18. [vi] Government Accountability Office. "Centers Offer Employment and Support Services to Workers With Disabilities, But Labor Should Improve Oversight" Report to Congressional Requesters. 01-886 (2001): 4. ---------- Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act Until colleges and universities have accessibility guidelines for technology, blind college students will be denied access to critical course material. Technology has fundamentally changed the education system. The scope of instructional materials used at institutions of higher education has expanded. Curricular content comes in digital books, PDFs, webpages, etc., and most of this content is delivered through digital databases, learning management systems, and applications. The print world is inherently inaccessible to students with disabilities, but technology offers the opportunity to expand the circle of participation. And studies have found that, of the six million plus students with print disabilities in the system, the number who go on to pursue postsecondary education is growing.[vii] Blind students are facing insurmountable barriers to education. Instead of fulfilling the promise of equal access, technology has created more problems than the print world ever did. Data show that students with disabilities face a variety of challenges, including matriculation failure, solely because colleges and universities are sticking with the ad-hoc accommodations model instead of embracing accessibility.[viii] Schools deploy inaccessible technology and then modify/retrofit another version for blind students, usually weeks into class, creating a "separate-but-equal" landscape with nearly impenetrable barriers. With only a 20 percent employment rate,[ix] blind students should not be denied access by the very thing that could have ensured full participation. Institutions of higher education need help to identify accessible material and comply with nondiscrimination laws. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act require schools to provide equal access, and in 2010, the US Departments of Justice and Education clarified that the use of inaccessible technology is prohibited under these laws.[x] In the five years since, over a dozen institutions have faced legal action for using inaccessible technology[xi], and complaints are on the rise. Most litigation ends with a commitment from the school to embrace accessibility, but that commitment does little in a vast, uncoordinated higher education market[xii] that mostly forgets about blind students. Accessibility solutions are available, but guidelines are sorely needed to guide the market. Equal access requirements have no criteria for accessibility that schools can use when selecting technology. Innovations in text-to-speech, refreshable Braille, and other accessibility features are widely available, but developers and manufacturers will incorporate only solutions that are demanded by the market. Accessibility guidelines are needed so that schools can streamline demand, stimulate the market, and better identify accessible material. If schools seeking to avoid litigation embrace this voluntary path to compliance, blind students will truly attain equal access. Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act: Develops accessibility guidelines for instructional materials used in postsecondary education. A purpose-based Commission is tasked with developing accessibility criteria for instructional materials and the delivery systems/technologies used to access those materials so that schools and developers can identify what makes a product usable by the blind. Provides incentive for institutions of higher education to follow the guidelines. Institutions of higher education that use only technology that conforms with the guidelines will be deemed in compliance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act that pertain to schools' use of technology. Offers flexibility for schools while reiterating that pre-existing obligations still apply. Colleges and universities are permitted to use material that does not conform to the guidelines as long as equal access laws are still honored. Compliance with the guidelines is only one path to compliance; schools can pursue a different path, but will forfeit the safe harbor legal protection. REMOVE BARRIERS TO EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM. Cosponsor the TEACH Act For more information contact: Lauren McLarney, Manager of Government Affairs, National Federation of the Blind Phone: (410) 659-9314, Ext. 2207. Email: lmclarney at nfb.org To cosponsor in the Senate, contact: Katie Neal, Legislative Assistant, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Phone: (202) 224-5251. Email: katie_neal at hatch.senate.gov, or Louis Katz, Legislative Correspondent, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Phone: (202) 224-4543. Email: louis_katz at warren.senate.gov For more information visit: www.nfb.org/teach ---------- The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled ("Marrakesh Treaty")[xiii] An international copyright treaty will give blind Americans access to millions of published works and improve the distribution of books across the globe. 300 million blind and print-disabled people around the world, including Americans, are denied access to published works.[xiv] Despite the ability to convert print books into accessible formats like Braille, audio, and digital copies, over 95 percent of published works are unavailable to people with print disabilities.[xv] Literacy and equal participation in society are critical elements of a fulfilling and independent life, but until uniformity is built into the international copyright system, blind Americans will be excluded from accessing works. A blind student seeking to learn Spanish will likely struggle to find an accessible format;[xvi] a work printed in English may have already been converted into an accessible format overseas, but because copies are not exchanged across borders, domestic publishers might need to make a duplicate copy or just might deny access altogether by failing to reproduce the work. A coordinated legal approach to modifying the international copyright system is needed. Unlike the United States, where copyright code includes the Chafee Amendment and other exceptions,[xvii] two-thirds of the world's nations do not have domestic copyright laws that permit making copies for the blind, limiting the number of works available in an accessible format. Moreover, many countries consider distribution of accessible copies an infringement as well, and even amongst nations that permit distribution, limitations vary. Instead of exchanging books across borders, works are needlessly duplicated, and circulation is significantly limited. The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to achieve this goal. On June 27, 2013, a diplomatic conference convened by WIPO in Morocco adopted the Marrakesh Treaty with outspoken support from the US delegation. The treaty, signed by the US on October 2, 2013, currently has eighty-one signatories and has been ratified by five countries.[xviii] Because the treaty calls for contracting parties to adopt copyright exemptions similar to those found in US law, the administration is developing a ratification package that should call for only a sleek, narrow set of modifications. The Marrakesh Treaty has broad stakeholder support. Blind people should have full and equal access to all works that enrich lives, further education, and share critical information, and the treaty balances this priority with the interests of rights holders. WIPO's adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty was supported by American-based companies,[xix] the international publishing community,[xx] legal experts,[xxi] and blindness advocates.[xxii] The treaty will have tangible benefits for all involved. The Marrakesh Treaty calls for contracting parties to provide in their national copyright laws for a limitation or exception that allows for the: Reproduction of works, by an authorized entity, for the purposes of converting them into accessible format copies exclusively for beneficiary persons. Distribution of accessible format copies exclusively to beneficiary persons. Export of accessible format copies, for the purposes of making them available to a beneficiary person in another country. Import of accessible format copies, for the purposes of making them available domestically. REMOVE BARRIERS TO ACCESS OF PUBLISHED WORKS. Support Ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty For more information contact: Lauren McLarney, Manager of Government Affairs, National Federation of the Blind Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2207 Email: lmclarney at nfb.org To support ratification, please contact: Les Munson, Majority Staff Director, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Phone: (202) 224-6797, Email: lester_munson at foreign.senate.gov ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Paul Gabias] Daring to Be All We Can Be by Paul Gabias From the Editor: Paul Gabias was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1952. He attended his first NFB national convention in 1973. He graduated with a BA in psychology from Concordia University in Montreal in 1975. In 1988 he received his PhD in experimental psychology from New York University with a specialty in perception. He has held numerous leadership positions in the Federation. He was elected president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users and served in that position from 1992 to 1998. He also served as the editor of its publication, Harness Up, from 1996 to 1998. For the last ten years Dr. Gabias has traveled with a white cane. Here is what he has to say about autonomy, independence, and the need to get to know competent blind people and the techniques they use in their daily lives, and, equally important, what he has to say about the belief in the public to understand our message and to act on it: As I write this article, I am sitting outside in a very comfortable garden swing in my back yard. It is a warm, sunny September day. There isn't a cloud in the sky. Choruses of birds sing overhead. In the distance I hear the voices of children playing, the sound of lawn sprinklers, and a faint sound of a propeller plane in the sky. Our guide dogs are frolicking in their own separate enclosure. There is the occasional barking of neighborhood dogs. In short, life is quite good this morning. I have a wonderful arrangement with my reader. She sits in her home at the keyboard, wearing a special binaural headset so that her hands are completely free to type. I dictate to her over a cordless telephone. At the moment life couldn't be better, except for the dogs next door that bark too much. As I think of things to discuss for this issue of The Canadian Monitor, I feel somewhat at a loss. How does one communicate to others that it can feel perfectly normal to be blind; that blindness is simply a characteristic; that life need not be significantly changed by blindness; that, when you are blind, life can be easy and pleasant; that blindness need not make life a tortuous path filled with constant struggle; that in life, despite blindness, there is still beauty and poetry and zest and vivaciousness and splendor and human dignity? How do I communicate all of this without seeming miraculous and extraordinary? How can I communicate a simple truth which seems to be so difficult for most people to fathom? In an attempt to do this, I offer you recollections of my childhood. Perhaps you can relate to some of the experiences there enough to give you some vicarious knowledge of the basic truth that, all other things being equal, blind people have the same potential for success and mastery of the environment as sighted people. In the end it is all a question of desire and opportunity. My mind turns back to when I was a child of about four or five. It's hard for me to remember exactly what that felt like, so some of this musing may be reconstructive. However, I believe that many of these recollections will be fairly accurate. From what I know of child psychology, play is an important part of growing up. Children play at being adults to prepare themselves for the roles they will need to take on in later years. When children play, they model themselves after their parents, teachers, older siblings, and other significant adults in their lives. This roleplaying starts early, probably by the age of three. As a young child I had no significant blind adult role models in my life. At the school for the blind there were some blind teachers, but I did not think of them as role models, probably because they didn't think of themselves in that way either. As far as I can recollect, I don't remember anything about blindness or being blind until the age of five. It was simply not discussed. As far as I was concerned, I was like any other child. In the area of child development a psychologist named Eric Erickson is famous for a proposed series of eight stages of psycho-social development. The first stage is the sense of trust. This means that children are born with the capacity to become trusting if the parents and caretakers act in a way that is trustworthy. Children become trusting when their needs for shelter, food, love, attention, and security are met. According to Erickson, the development of trust is the foundation for all the other stages. The degree to which the environment fosters a sense of trust in the child directly affects the development of the next psycho- social stage, which is the stage of autonomy. Autonomy means taking charge of one's own life, in other words, the drive for independence. Erickson suggests that, if the child has developed a complete sense of trust in his environment, the need to become autonomous will develop in proportion to the degree of trust which was fostered in the first year. If a child does not trust in the environment, she will be afraid to follow the blueprint of autonomy which is her birthright. I use the word "blueprint" deliberately. A strong pursuit of autonomy is supposed to develop in children if they have achieved a sense of trust. This is supposed to happen in all children, whether they are sighted or blind. From the beginning of life you have probably developed a very strong sense of trust if you can say to yourself without equivocation the following statement: "From as far back as I can remember, I know that my parents always loved me and were always there to fulfill my every need." From as far back as I can remember, my parents were like that, particularly my mother. My mother's mother thought that my mother used to cater too much to her children. In an attempt to protect her daughter, she used to say to us: "You are going to drive your mother to her grave." She was not exactly what you'd call a doting grandmother. I must have developed a strong sense of trust because, from the earliest that I can remember, I always had a very strong sense of autonomy, much as my own children have. Because my sense of trust was so strong, my sense of autonomy could develop, unfettered by blindness and unfettered by people's negative attitudes toward blindness. My mother was told, early on and in no uncertain terms, when her help was not necessary. It is the same for us with our own children, who are sighted. As they grow, we parents come to understand, if we're smart enough, when we are needed and when we are not. My parents were very good at protecting me from the unwanted concerns of other people. I remember they taught our relatives and family friends to behave toward me the way they would have around a sighted child. I was allowed to explore people's houses and the grounds around their houses to my heart's content, provided I was careful with their possessions. I remember my mother telling me that I was impossible to go shopping with. She told me that, by the age of three, I was no longer content to sit in the shopping cart while she wheeled me around the store. Being a normal three-year-old, I wanted to walk around the store and explore. My need to run was not diminished in the least by blindness. If I thought the coast was clear, I ran. I remember that, on the way to our grocery store, we had to walk through a lane. I thought the lane had a wall on each side of it. But on one side the lane was bordered by a dug-in driveway that sloped down toward the garage door. There was a verge, maybe a foot high, between the lane and the driveway, which was parallel to the lane. As you walked along the lane, the driveway paralleling it got deeper and deeper. This meant that, although the verge was a foot high, the drop-off to the driveway became deeper as you moved along the lane. I did not know that a veritable precipice developed on the right side of the lane as you walked along, just beyond the verge. One day during the summer, just after my fifth birthday, I got the brilliant idea that it would be fun to run down the lane. I did not tell my mother what I was planning to do for fear that she would say no. As soon as my mother and I got to the beginning of the lane, I yanked my hand away from hers and tore down the lane, but I didn't make it to the other end. I fell into the driveway and bruised my collarbone. I didn't know what had hit me, except that something had gone very wrong. I had a deep fear of hospitals, and I was much more frightened by the trip to the hospital and the emergency room than by the actual fall. If I remember correctly, I had to wear my arm in a sling for a while. I don't remember which arm it was, but I do remember telling myself that I had to be more careful in the future. It was also during my sixth year that I broke my arm. I was fascinated with heights. We lived in a two-story home, and I remember liking to throw things out the second-story windows. My father's alarm clock was a favorite projectile. I suppose I loved to hear objects fall because it gave me a way of assessing how high the second floor actually was. It is surprising that I retained this fascination with heights, because I am told that as a crawling toddler I actually fell out of a window. There was a window on the landing between the first and second floors of our home. It was about a foot above the landing. For reasons that I don't understand, that window was open with no screen. The window faced the backyard. They told me that I must have climbed up the stairs and crawled out of the window. I fell onto the cement patio six feet below. My mother said that, responding to a little cry in the backyard, she found me there on the cement. My sister, who is older than I am, tells me that she couldn't look. She thought I was dead. Apparently I was fine, just a little shaken. Continuing with my undiminished fascination with heights, I remember that on one fine Sunday morning my brother and I decided we were going to play heaven. My brother was two, and I was five. The idea was that we were to climb on the highest piece of furniture we could find. Since I was older, I would get the higher one. In my parents' bedroom upstairs, there was a ladies' dresser and a men's six-drawer chiffonier. My "heaven" was to be the chiffonier. It was so high that I needed a stool to help me climb to the top. My parents were cooking Sunday dinner downstairs. It was around noon. My idea of heaven was to jump up and down on top of the chiffonier as high as I could. I had no idea that I would move as I jumped. I thought that, as long as I jumped up and down in the same place, I would be safe on top of the chiffonier, in heaven. Suddenly my parents heard a crash on the second floor. Heaven had come to an end, and hell was about to begin, not only for me, but for my brother. Of course, I had to endure an itchy cast on my left arm for forty days and forty nights. But my brother had to endure being hit with it. You might think that my fascination with heights would have diminished some. Of course I learned to be more careful, but I was not cured. At age six I attended first grade at the French school for the blind in Montreal, L'Institut Nazareth. In the schoolyard they had a set of monkey bars. In French they called it a trapeze. I had heard of the "Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze." As I walked through the schoolyard, I discovered a post, and I heard a whole bunch of older boys on top of the post. I was fascinated. How could people be on top of a little tiny post? It was hard for me to get the appropriate explanation because I didn't understand French yet. All I knew was that the boys were high up above the post, and I wanted to be there too. I tried climbing the post, but I wasn't strong enough. By and by, I discovered that the posts-there were in fact two of them-were posts you could use to slide down from the highest part of the monkey bars. If you were strong enough to climb on top of the monkey bars, you could crawl along the bars and go up a ramp to the top level, and there you could be, sitting right above the posts. There was a good deal of space between the top rung of the ladder on the monkey bars and the actual set of horizontal bars along the top. At six I was too short to climb onto the top bars. I couldn't wait until I was tall enough to climb to the top. What a day that was when I succeeded! I was the king of the monkey bars and king of the sky. For a long time the monkey bars provided me with a great deal of enjoyment. I learned to hang upside-down, and I developed the strength to move along the structure from bar to bar, hanging by my hands. Not satisfied with that, I learned to stand up on the main longitudinal bars. Having mastered that, I imagined what fun it would be to be able to walk along the longitudinal bars from one end of the structure to the other. I could not do that very far along on the monkey bars at the school because there was a ramp that led to the elevated part of the structure. The angle of the ramp was too great, and I had no intention of falling. But the monkey bars in the playground near my house were level. Routinely I gave the park keepers apoplexy by standing up and walking along the bars. They screamed for me to get down, and, the more they screamed, the more I enjoyed it. Maybe it was my way of getting back at all the sighted people who were afraid that I would have trouble going up and down a simple flight of stairs. As a child I enjoyed climbing trees. I would climb as high as the branches within reach permitted. On St. Helen's Island near Montreal, there was an artificial tree especially designed for children to climb. I climbed all the way to the top. Climbing up was always much more fun than getting down. On the way down you had to search for good places to put your feet. If you can't see where those places are, you have to hang on to the branch above you and search with your feet until you find a secure spot. You need to have strong arms so that you can take the time to search properly. As you might imagine from this history, I was fascinated not only with heights but also with speed. I loved roller coasters and Ferris wheels that turned you upside-down. The faster we could go in the car, the better it was. I remember on the way to the boarding school for the blind on Sunday nights, my father would allow me to press the gas pedal of the car while he did the driving. I was not more than six or seven, but he must have had an incredible trust in me. I knew all about the perils of crashing, and I knew that my father would tell me when to stop pressing on the pedal. This must have been a way to make the drive to the school more pleasant for me. I hated going back to that school and being away from my parents for the whole week. It was difficult for my parents too. They gave me chips and chocolate bars to ease the pain until I got too fat. My father and I had developed a wonderful trust in each other. When I was five or six, we went to the ocean on Virginia Beach. He used to take me into the ocean with him, into deep water, way over our heads. My father would warn me of big waves coming toward us. He would say, "Here comes a lulu!" The waves would push us around and suck us under. I would hold my breath and wonder if we would ever come up. I trusted my father. I knew he would not let go of me, and I knew that eventually we would come up. Of course we always did, and I felt perfectly safe with him. Despite all of these experiences, things could have been so much better for me if my parents had known about the National Federation of the Blind. For all my feelings of autonomy, even though I learned to travel alone from my house to my parents' friends in the neighborhood and some stores nearby, I walked quite slowly compared to sighted children my age. Any time I was out with my parents, I held the arm or hand of one of them. Sometimes I walked with my sister, and sometimes I walked with my younger brother. I should have been walking on my own whenever I could. But my parents did not know enough to introduce me to the long white cane. Had I used a long white cane from early childhood, I might have avoided falling into the driveway along the lane. I would have had a chance to explore my environment to a greater extent than I had, and I probably would have known that there was a huge drop-off beside the lane. I could have run in perfect security. Parents and blind children today are more fortunate. The National Federation of the Blind has pioneered the concept of cane travel for very young children. Canes are available for toddlers. They can be purchased from the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. The Federation also has a number of excellent books and articles which deal with teaching cane travel to young children. Blindness is no more than a characteristic. The white cane must not be regarded as a symbol indicating the need for help. It must be regarded as a tool for opportunity. Learning to use the long white cane is much more than learning how to handle a long stick. In the public mind there is a very strong stigma of helplessness associated with the white cane. In Canada, white cane week is associated with raising money to help the blind. The white cane has been used as a symbol for raising money for the helpless blind, instead of being promoted as a badge of independence for the industrious blind. When I was growing up, parents with a sense of decency and respect for their blind child would not permit their child to be connected with the fundraising and pity racket associated with the white cane in Canada. Being a part of the same social fabric as the rest of the people in my society, I too learned that the white cane was for pitiful blind people who tapped their way through life, needing help at every corner or every turn. Money had to be raised for them because they couldn't work or live independently without the help of the agency for the blind or their close relatives. The agency for the blind could help to ameliorate the condition of blindness, to diminish the challenges of blindness, to help the blind live more independent lives. But, when all was said and done, blind people would always require looking after to some degree, even in the best of circumstances. I do not mean to imply that money does not need to be raised to improve the well-being of blind people in our society. We need for people to be generous toward the blind, but not for the purposes espoused by many of the agencies. We need money to provide training and opportunity for people so that they can truly come to believe that blindness is no more than a characteristic. The white cane must not be regarded as a symbol requesting help. It must be regarded as a tool for opportunity. It must be regarded as the foundation for independence. It is not to be used to raise money from the wellsprings of pity but from the wellsprings of pride and achievement. The kind of training for blind people which instills pride, achievement, industriousness, self-reliance, and a competitive edge does not exist in Canada at this time. Something must be done about that, and we intend to do it. A 90 percent unemployment rate for educated blind people between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five is simply unacceptable. Society would not tolerate it if they knew better. Through public education we will make sure that society knows better so that people of goodwill will no longer tolerate the intolerable. Capable people are living empty lives of desperation with no hope, just because they are blind. For them there is no training and no opportunity. We will no longer permit this to continue. The travesty has gone on long enough, and we know that our Canadian social conscience will rise to the occasion and help where help is needed. We need money-lots of it-to teach the sighted public what they are only too glad to know when they truly come to understand. We need money to teach society that the blind are normal people like the rest of sighted society. We come in all shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of intelligence and aptitudes and moral development, with varying degrees of physical capacities. What we are saying in the National Federation of the Blind and the Canadian Federation of the Blind is that, with training, opportunity, and motivation, blindness need not be an additional significant negative factor toward the pursuit of happiness, fulfillment, and productivity. You can make it all come true by working with the Canadian Federation of the Blind. I welcome your support and thank you for it. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Lou Ann Blake] The Troubled State of Accessible Voting by Lou Ann Blake From the Editor: Bringing a truly secret ballot to the blind has generated tremendous excitement for those who value voting but have felt reluctant to disclose their voting preferences to poll workers or whomever they bring with them to the polls. The Help America Vote Act provided federal funding for the purchase of machines, and all of us who have used them have opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of whatever machines have been purchased. In the February 2014 issue we ran an article about the discontent of people in New Mexico with their secretary of state's failure to involve them in the selection process and with the machines purchased. In an attempt to explain how new machines are certified and the reasons for the delay blind people see in the incorporation of state-of-the-art text-to- speech and nonvisual navigation, Lou Ann Blake, HAVA project manager and Law Symposium coordinator at the Jernigan Institute, has written this article. Lou Ann is both thorough and interesting-a dream writer for any editor. Here is what she has to say about the difficulty in implementing HAVA: The passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, which requires at least one accessible voting system in each polling place for all federal elections, has enabled many voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently as never before. However, surveys of blind voters conducted by the National Federation of the Blind show that the percentage of blind voters who were able to cast a private and independent ballot on an accessible voting system declined from 86 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2012, and 83 percent in 2014. What has happened in the last six years so dramatically to thwart the promise of HAVA? The answer to this simple question is actually fairly complex, because there are many factors and forces at work that affect the ability of blind and other disabled voters to vote with the same privacy and independence as nondisabled voters. Background In addition to requiring accessible voting systems for all federal elections, HAVA also created the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC). HAVA mandates the EAC to develop voting system standards and to establish the first federal voting system certification program. To fulfill its HAVA mandate, the EAC created the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) to work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop voting system standards. The standards developed by the TGDC and NIST consist of specifications and requirements for testing a voting system to determine if it provides all of the basic functionality, accessibility, and security necessary to be used in an election. In 2002 the EAC adopted the Voting System Standards, which were replaced in December 2005 by the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG). Under HAVA, states may elect to adopt these standards in part, in full, or not at all. Currently thirty-nine states have included the 2005 VVSG as part of their voting system certification process. Accessibility guidelines in the 2005 VVSG address the design of voting systems for use by voters with a broad range of disabilities. For voters who are blind or low vision, the guidelines address features such as the audio-tactile interface (ATI), font size, color, and contrast. For example, the 2005 VVSG requires that the audio system allow the voter to control the rate of speech throughout the voting session, that the range of speeds supported shall be 75 to 200 percent of the normal rate, and that the pitch of the voice not be affected by adjusting the speed. The VVSG also addresses the quality of the audio presentation of verbal information with requirements such as proper enunciation, normal intonation, and the requirement that candidates' names be pronounced as the candidates intend. In addition to developing the accessibility guidelines that are included in the 2005 VVSG, the EAC also created the nation's first voting system certification program. As mandated by HAVA, the EAC accredits laboratories to test voting systems for compliance with the 2005 VVSG. Those systems that are found to be in compliance are certified by the EAC. When any changes are made to a certified voting system's software or firmware, or a hardware change is made that will change or has a reasonable potential to influence the system's operation or compliance with the VVSG, it must be resubmitted for certification of the modification. The EAC's full accreditation and certification program became effective in January 2007. Currently two laboratories are accredited to perform voting system certification testing. Trouble at the EAC HAVA authorized the EAC to administer $3.9 billion in grants to the states, so they could replace outdated lever voting machines by January 1, 2006, with either direct-recording electronic (DRE) touchscreen voting machines or an optical-scan system that included an accessible ballot- marking device. These first generation accessible voting systems included the Diebold AccuVote, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) AutoMark, and the Sequoia Edge. Once the EAC had provided grants to the states to replace lever voting machines, adopted the 2005 VVSG, and completed the implementation of the voting-system-certification program, a number of Republican members of Congress no longer considered the EAC to be necessary. This resulted in an inability of the Senate to confirm EAC commissioner nominees and in attempts by members of the House to pass legislation abolishing the EAC. In addition the EAC's staff has been cut almost in half and its budget reduced by over $6 million since 2009. The budget cuts, the lack of a quorum of commissioners since 2010, and vacancies in all four seats since 2011 have meant that certification standards have not been updated since 2005, and states have not received grants to improve the administration of elections and purchase new machines. Fortunately this situation may be about to change as three new EAC commissioners were confirmed by the Senate during the waning moments of the 113th Congress. The vacuum that has been created by the absence of EAC commissioners for four years has had a negative affect on accessible voting in the United States. Because of the lack of federal grants, many of the first-generation accessible voting machines purchased with HAVA grants prior to 2006 were still in use during the November 2014 election, even though these machines have reached the end of their useful life. The end result is that since 2008 an increasing number of blind and visually impaired voters have not been able to vote privately and independently because there was no working accessible voting machine in their polling place. In addition the lack of updated certification standards has caused a great deal of uncertainty among the developers and producers of voting systems and the states and counties that purchase them. While the state of the art in voting technology has changed since 2005, the certification standards have not. For example, voting system vendors such as ES&S, Everyone Counts, Dominion Voting Systems, and Scytl have developed online ballot delivery systems, but there are no design or testing standards to certify these systems. The result of this lack of standards is that recent testing for the city of Toronto, Canada, of online ballot delivery systems developed by Dominion, Everyone Counts, and Scytl found that these systems did not meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards and were not accessible. Challenges at the State and County Level Many states and counties have put off purchasing new voting machines because they do not have the money to purchase them and/or because of the limited number of voting systems that have been certified under the 2005 VVSG. With the slow economic recovery that is continuing in the United States and the lack of federal funding from the EAC, many states have delayed purchasing new voting systems. In 2010 Maryland put off purchasing a new voting system until 2015 because of inadequate funding and a lack of accessible voting machines that were certified under the 2005 VVSG. In Florida the legislature has delayed until 2020 the replacement of the first generation DRE voting machines, which are now used only by voters with disabilities while all other voters use an optical scan system. The lack of an adequate selection of 2005 VVSG certified-accessible voting machines has also made it difficult for states to replace their first-generation systems. The first system to be certified under the 2005 VVSG was the Microvote EMS in 2009, followed by the Unisyn OpenElect in 2010. Both Microvote and Unisyn are minor players in the arena of voting systems vendors, and they do not market their systems on a national scale. It was not until 2012 that a VVSG-certified machine was available nationally, when Dominion Voting Systems' ImageCast Evolution (ICE) received its certification. A fourth accessible voting machine, the ExpressVote developed by ES&S, the largest vendor of election systems in the United States, received 2005 VVSG certification in 2014. In addition, two other major players, Hart InterCivic and Everyone Counts, currently have accessible voting systems in the certification testing process. Why has there been such a delay in getting new accessible voting systems certified under the 2005 VVSG? A significant contributing factor to this delay has been the trend of states moving away from the use of DREs to a system that produces a voter-verifiable paper record. In 2003, shortly after many states had begun implementing voting systems based on a DRE voting machine, computer security experts at Johns Hopkins University performed a security analysis of DRE voting systems that revealed security vulnerabilities. This analysis was followed by others that also raised security concerns, and nervous state legislators started following the lead of the Nevada legislature, which passed a law in 2004 requiring a voting system that produced a voter-verifiable paper record. At the time that HAVA was passed in 2002, eliminating the use of mechanical lever voting machines, the future of voting was all electronic. However, that future was changed by virtually all of the states requiring a voter-verifiable paper record in response to the security concerns surrounding DREs. At about the same time that the states were passing laws requiring a voter-verifiable paper record, the EAC was in the process of adopting the 2005 VVSG. The result of this perfect storm was that voting system vendors had to develop new systems that would be tested and certified for functionality, accessibility, and security under new guidelines. Another contributing factor to the dearth of 2005 VVSG-certified voting machines is the duration and rigidity of the certification process. Certification testing of the ES&S ExpressVote System took seventeen months, and the Hart InterCivic Verity has been in certification testing since December 2012. In addition to the initial certification testing, a voting system must be resubmitted for certification testing following any modification to the software or firmware and following a modification to the hardware that will alter or has the potential to alter the system's reliability, functionality, and operation. Since the initial certification of the ES&S system, it has been resubmitted twice for testing of modifications. The first modification testing took four months and the second seven months. While the EAC certification testing program helps to ensure that voting systems are secure and accessible, it also contributes to the high cost of these systems and delays the introduction of new systems. Perhaps what is more critical is that it delays improvements to existing systems. Finally, poll worker training on the operation of accessible voting machines continues to be a problem in all states. According to surveys of blind voters conducted by the National Federation of the Blind, following the 2008, 2012, and 2014 federal elections, untrained poll workers are the primary reason why blind voters are not able to cast a private and independent ballot on an accessible voting machine. Of the blind voters surveyed in 2014, 29 percent said that poll workers had problems setting up or operating the accessible voting machine as compared to 33 percent in 2012 and 19 percent in 2008. With many states converting from a DRE voting system, where everyone uses the same machine, to an optical scan system, where only voters with disabilities use a machine to mark their ballot while the majority of voters hand mark their ballot, it is even less likely in future elections that poll workers will know how to operate the accessible voting system. What's a Blind Voter to Do? The commitment to guarantee an electronic secret ballot for blind people in America currently confronts many challenges. The replacement of worn out first-generation accessible voting machines with new 2005 VVSG- certified machines has been slow. Consequently, the number of blind voters who were able to cast a private and independent ballot on an accessible voting machine has declined from 86 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2012 to 83 percent in 2014 due to machines that do not work or the absence of an accessible machine. The ongoing problem of untrained poll workers continues to make it difficult for blind voters to take advantage of existing machines when they are available. In states that have implemented new 2005 VVSG-certified systems, the process has not always been smooth. New Mexico and Iowa, for example, selected new voting machines without first consulting with members of the disability community. In addition, voters, poll workers, and election administrators must always negotiate a learning curve whenever a new voting system is put into use. While blind voters are able to vote privately and independently on the four systems currently certified under the 2005 VVSG, none of these systems are perfect, and the incorporation of improvements is slowed down by the certification testing requirements and process. With all of these challenges, what can blind and visually impaired voters do to ensure that we are able to vote privately and independently just as the nondisabled do? The most important thing a blind voter can do is file a HAVA complaint with her local and state elections officials if she is unable to cast a private and independent ballot at her polling place during a federal election. Filing a HAVA complaint is the most effective way blind voters can be sure that problems are brought to the attention of elections officials and the US Department of Justice, which has authority to enforce HAVA. Because there is no private right of action under HAVA, it is imperative that blind voters who are not able to vote privately and independently at their polling place during a federal election file a HAVA complaint so that the Justice Department has a true picture of the problems that voters with disabilities are experiencing. By working directly with local and state elections officials, members of the National Federation of the Blind can develop a relationship to achieve more accessible elections through improved communications. There are many ways this can be accomplished: invite election officials to a chapter meeting or your affiliate convention, attend board of elections meetings, testify before legislative committees and boards of election on issues that affect voters with disabilities, and participate on your local or state disabled voter advisory committee. If your local or state board of elections or secretary of state's office does not have an advisory committee of voters with disabilities, work with these officials to establish one. At the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, we are using our HAVA grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to work with voting rights advocates, elections officials, and election technology developers to improve the accessibility of the election process. Recently NFB staff worked closely with Maryland State Board of Elections (MDSBE) programmers to ensure that the state's online ballot delivery system is accessible, and we advised MDSBE's selection team on accessibility during the selection of a new voting system that will be used statewide starting in 2016. We have also assembled a working group of developers and users of online ballot-delivery systems to develop guidelines to ensure that these systems will be accessible. In addition, every two years we bring election technology researchers and developers to our National Center for Nonvisual Election Technology to introduce them to topics such as the incorporation of personal access technology into voting systems and accessible apps. These are just a few examples of the many services we provide under our HAVA grant to improve the accessibility of the election process for blind voters. As blind voters we have faced and continue to face many challenges to the exercise of our fundamental right to vote privately and independently since the Help America Vote Act became law in 2002. We cannot let tight budgets, rigid bureaucratic processes, and lax enforcement erode this long- delayed right which belongs to us as citizens of this country. We did not do that work simply to watch our newly won right slip away. With firm and persistent advocacy, the members of the National Federation of the Blind will continue to ensure that voters with disabilities exercise their right to full and equal participation in our democracy. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ethel Ulysses Parker, Jr.] Ethel Ulysses Parker, Jr. by Peggy Chong Ethel Ulysses Parker, Jr., E. U. to his friends, was a strong-voiced, determined, and kind human being, whom many people in the Federation had the privilege to know during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. He will long be remembered in the Federation for his strong, no-nonsense presence and the opportunities he helped to create. We know him as the founder of the preauthorized check plan, and his legacy lives on in the national scholarships awarded each year to blind students in his name and in the name of his wife Gene. Yet, with all we know, very few of us really knew who he was outside the Federation. He spoke passionately on many subjects that were important to blind people during the time he was most active, and he was always in the forefront of promoting up-and-coming people he saw as having talent and energy that they could give to this cause we share. I was fortunate to have had a chance to meet and talk with E. U. when I was younger. He graciously took the time to meet with me and other younger Federationists to get to know us. It was easy to feel comfortable with E. U. right off the bat; we felt like he was an interested grandfather, willing to listen to us despite our youth. He had a nice laugh and a gentle speaking voice in a small conversational group, but in a formal meeting, on the convention floor, or in legislative hearings, he had a strong, powerful, and persuasive voice and presence that left no doubt that he was a competent authority on the topic at hand. One of the first things E. U. told me about himself was what his initial stood for and how to say his name. Ethel was easy to pronounce, but Ulysses was to be pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, and he made a point of saying that this was not to be pronounced the way that the former general and president of the United States pronounced his name. I thought that researching this larger-than-life man would be an easy task. Everyone in my circle of friends knew him. But it turns out we did not really know him but knew only that we liked knowing him. He left a thin paper trail, and there was little on the internet from which I could draw. Ethel Ulysses Parker, Jr. was born on March 18, 1922, in Bay Springs, Mississippi, to Ethel Ulysses and Lula Mae Parker. He was the middle of three surviving children born to the couple. Mr. Parker, Sr. and his wife ran a grocery store in Bay Springs and were the owners and operators of an icehouse business. They did well in their small community. By the age of seven Ethel Jr. began to lose his eyesight. By the age of nine he was totally blind. Mr. and Mrs. Parker decided to send their son to the school for the blind in Jackson, Mississippi. Each Sunday his mother would drive her son more than sixty miles to Jackson, and every Friday she would drive him back to their home to spend the weekend with the family. This was during the depression of the 30s when family incomes were tight, and such a drive represented a significant cost in gas, not to mention wear and tear on the car. It was hard for Lula Mae to send her son away to school, but she knew this was important for him if he was to succeed in life. At the school for the blind E. U. did well as a student and was active in his school's Boy Scout troop. After graduation he attended Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi in Oxford. It is doubtful that any financial assistance for E. U. was granted by his state agency for the blind, but he pursued a higher education anyway. One must assume that a significant amount of financial support was given by his parents. His older sister Doris also attended college and graduated from Ole Miss, showing the commitment to education held by the family. Again his mother would pick him up on many weekends and bring him back to school on Sunday evenings. He left Ole Miss in his senior year without finishing. This was late in the Second World War, many men were off fighting in the military, and women had joined the workforce. E. U. found it harder to recruit readers at the school, and this made it difficult for him to keep up with his classwork. When he left school, he still needed a career to support himself, so he decided to go to San Antonio, Texas, where he attended chiropractic school. On completing this part of his education, he was encouraged by his parents to come back to Bay Springs and open his chiropractic business, even though there was an established chiropractor already in this small town. His brother-in-law and best friend, Joe, was off fighting in the military during World War II, leaving an empty house in Bay Springs. E. U. moved into the vacant house and set up his practice. Business was good, so he hired a secretary, Miss Imogene Price (known to many of us as Gene) a girl five years his junior. It was her job to take care of the growing paperwork and to manage other office duties while he was seeing patients. He must have found more than just her work satisfactory, because he married Miss Price on November 30, 1945, just after her eighteenth birthday. The couple had three daughters: Dixie, Teresa, and Genie. After eight years as a chiropractor, E. U. wanted to change careers and became a State Farm insurance agent in Bay Springs. Soon after, the family moved their business to Laurel, Mississippi, a town on a major highway, which benefited business significantly. With E. U.'s personality and perseverance, he became one of the first seven State Farm agents in the state of Mississippi and was soon regarded as one of their top agents. Like all new businessmen, he needed to establish himself. This meant going door- to-door to sell insurance. Again Gene helped out with the paperwork, acting as his office manager and reader. Keep in mind she was doing this at the same time she was raising their children. E. U. often hired high school students to work for him as drivers when he made his calls. It is a credit to his investment in young people and his judgment in hiring that two of the young men who drove for him stayed on after high school to become part of his staff. One retired from the business after working there for twenty-five years. A State Farm agent is an independent contractor with his own office. Over the years E. U. hired additional staff to work in his business. As his business grew, he spent less and less time going door-to-door and relied more on traffic coming to his office. As an ambitious agent E. U. did everything he could to promote himself, even if it cost him a bit of money. One promotional item he had tailored for his firm was a tin box to hold valuable documents such as one's State Farm policy. He gave one to each of his customers and was generous enough to give them to most people in the community. Such a box was useful, not only for retaining personal possessions, but as a way of keeping his name in front of the families who were or could potentially be his customers. As was the custom in those days, he also had ashtrays made for his State Farm business customers, along with pens, calendars, and other traditional giveaways, which he changed each year. Each morning advertisements for E. U.'s insurance agency would air on the local radio station about 7 AM, and, when his youngest daughter would get up for school, one of the first things she would hear on the radio was her father's commercials. She remembers this fondly and says that it shows just how much her father did everything he could to promote his business. But in the Parker family it was not all work and no play for this energetic agent. Family was important to him and Gene. When their daughter Dixie was still small, the Parkers would go out to the lake nearby to picnic and swim. Gene was not a swimmer, so E. U. would take their young daughter and lead her into the lake. As Dixie grew older and the other children came along, he continued to swim with the girls. Even with the assumption on the part of the public that the children of blind parents are the real caretakers-one that is frequently communicated to their offspring-- she notes with pride that, when E. U. came along, she never felt that she was the one leading or watching out for her blind father or her siblings. Along with a good sense of direction and confidence in himself, he was definitely "daddy in charge." One of the many responsibilities E. U. took on as a State Farm agent was to host an annual picnic for agents in Mississippi. They would come to Laurel and stay at local hotels, and the Parkers would host a big cookout at their home. This was usually followed by a swim party at one of the establishments they had taken over for the Fourth of July weekend. Later in life, when the doctor told E. U. that he needed to get more exercise, it was his love of swimming that found him putting a swimming pool in his backyard. Becoming active in the community was also important to the couple. Knowing the movers and shakers in the community was important if E. U. was to bring in new business. Since he considered scouting to be a formative part of his childhood, he became active in the Boy Scouts, even though his three children were girls. He believed in the program and actively worked to help it raise money. He also made himself available whenever asked to do volunteer work for the organization and was honored with the Silver Beaver award for his participation and exceptional character. E. U. was also an active member of the Rotary Club of Laurel, Mississippi, serving for a time as its president. In the late 1960s this outgoing man ran for the Mississippi State Senate. He spoke at many clubs and rallies while campaigning. Dixie, his oldest daughter, drove him to many of these and says that she learned a great deal about her dad by listening to him speak. On their many trips to Jackson, the state capital, E. U. would direct his daughter and other drivers around the city, since he knew it much better than they did. E. U. did not win a seat in the Mississippi State Senate, but he did a great deal to raise the visibility of blind people in the state and to redefine for many of them what blind people could aspire to do. In the early 1970s E. U. learned about the National Federation of the Blind and attended the annual national convention held in Houston, Texas, in 1971. At that convention he was so impressed with the spirit and activism of the organization that he decided he wanted to bring the Federation to Mississippi. As usual E. U. jumped in with both feet and became one of its most active leaders and members. He helped organize the new affiliate, trying to get names out of the state agency for the blind in order to offer them the opportunity to join fellow Mississippians in improving conditions there but to no avail. At that time the agency was closely allied with the American Council of the Blind, and at times agency officials were cold and hostile to the creation of a Federation affiliate in that state. In the early 70s employment opportunities for the blind were quite limited. There was a sheltered workshop, Mississippi Industries for the Blind, and, while it paid better wages than some shops around the country, not much opportunity existed for advancement. The state ran a vending program for the blind, but most of its facilities were limited to the selling of snacks and soda. It was E. U.'s dream that bringing the National Federation of the Blind to Mississippi would serve to increase the opportunities blind people would have for other jobs and thereby increase their chances of making a good living. With or without the support of the rehabilitation agency, he and other blind friends went about making their lists-friends telling friends, churches referring fellow church members, local clubs talking about the blind they had helped. Leaders from other states arrived just after the new year in 1972. They, along with others from Mississippi, began calling on people across the state. All told, a team of members from eleven states arrived in Jackson to work those lists and build new ones. On January 15, 1972, a meeting was held at the Downtowner Motor Inn in Jackson to organize the affiliate. President Kenneth Jernigan and board member Don Capps were on hand to meet, greet, and get to know the more than seventy Mississippians who came to learn about the National Federation of the Blind. During the week of the organizing two of the team members were refused accommodations at the Ole Miss Hotel in Oxford. The refusal to accommodate them was based on the fact that they would have no sighted person to accompany them, that the hotel had steps to get to and from sleeping rooms, and that the hotel had no restaurant on-site and would not be responsible for their safety when they traveled the streets of Jackson to find nearby restaurants. Tackling this issue was the first goal on the new organization's agenda, and that day they voted to take to the Mississippi legislature the Model White Cane Law that would allow blind people the same rights to public places and accommodations enjoyed by those with sight. At that first meeting E. U. was elected as the first vice president and continued to serve on the state board in many capacities over the next quarter century. For a time he was the Mississippi affiliate's president, and for many years he was elected to serve as the official delegate to the national convention of the National Federation of the Blind. It didn't take long for E. U. to be recognized as a national leader. Soon he was serving on the board of directors of the Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund and was invited to attend the National Federation of the Blind's board of directors meeting held over the Thanksgiving holiday. Gene came along with him, and all who partook of the Thanksgiving meal realized she was a great cook and remembered with fondness her corn casserole and the seasoned oyster crackers she brought to share. Through the years many Federationists had the pleasure of staying at the home of Gene and E. U. Gene was every bit as committed to the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind as her husband, and it is encouraging to see this kind of commitment in a person who is sighted. In the fall of 1974 E. U. approached the Federation with a fundraising opportunity that he thought could raise a lot of money for the organization. The State Farm insurance company had begun collecting payments for insurance premiums through fund transfers that assured that payments would be on time and trouble free. E. U. believed that we could do this organizationally, and all of us are familiar with the PAC plan. Though its name has changed and the options for doing those funds transfers have increased, the concept is the same, and it continues to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to the organization each year. This successful businessman and community activist made significant contributions to the organization through his work on the Resolutions Committee, and, when the Federation decided to establish a low interest loan program for adaptive technology, E. U. was one of the first three committee members to serve. As a businessman he observed that banks and credit unions were reluctant to make loans for specialized equipment because the collateral that equipment would represent would be harder for them to sell than cars, boats, houses, and more traditional items. One of the benefits of this program was not just that it made money available but that it also offered expertise about the kind of technology that would be most useful for the client who was applying for the loan. Although some of the new technology was foreign to E. U., he was certainly comfortable using the technology of his day, and his family remembers how he made it a habit to tape-record family discussions with his girls or catch them singing at unexpected moments. These recordings were his way of remembering, the role that pictures play in the lives of so many who can see. E. U.'s involvement in organizations extended well beyond the National Federation of the Blind. He served on the Mississippi public welfare board, and he and Gene were one of thirteen family members who founded the Franklin United Methodist Church in the 1950s. At first the congregation met in a tent, but E. U. and Gene helped to raise money for a building and eventually a second building that was used as a youth center. For years E. U. served as a trustee of the church. E. U. loved history. The Civil War was his passion, and he read extensively on the subject and had many cassettes filled with Civil War music. With advancing age he developed significant back trouble. Even after surgery his pain was so severe that he could not climb steps. At times he used a wheelchair to navigate large buildings and packed convention halls. But his physical problems didn't retard his intellectual curiosity and his determination to remain involved in the things that were so much a part of his life's work. He continued to hire a reader who would come to his home each day to read the Wall Street Journal, weekly and monthly print magazines, and of course the daily mail. Sadly, E. U. did not live long enough to benefit from the NFB-NEWSLINE service that the PAC plan money he helped to bring to the organization played such a significant part in financing. E. U. died on April 7, 1996, in Laurel, Mississippi. His wife lived until December 30, 2012. Evidencing her strong commitment to the advancement of blind people, for many years after her husband's death Gene remained an active member, attending national conventions until 2008. Gene and E. U. are buried in Bay Springs, but they continue to live in the hearts of those who love them, in the statutes of the state of Mississippi, and in the history of the blind and our movement toward first-class citizenship. ---------- Consider a Charitable Gift Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time, talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the Blind . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB? . Am I giving the most appropriate asset? . Have I selected the best way to make my gift? . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift? . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor? . Have I talked to the NFB planned giving officer about my gift? Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated gifts . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other beneficiaries . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement cost Your Gift Will Help Us . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will educate blind people . Advance technology helpful to the blind . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind . Provide critical information to parents of blind children . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream! ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Anne Taylor] Access Technology: Spreading the Word and the Knowledge by Anne Taylor From the Editor: Anne Taylor is the director of Access Technology, supervises the work of the International Braille and Technology Center, and is in charge of the Access Technology Team. In this article she tries to give us an overview of all that she and her team do to help make existing technology usable and to work with developers so that soon-to-be products are released with accessibility as part of their design. Here is what she has to say: Many members of the NFB and others interested in learning more about blindness come through the doors of the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind (IBTC) every year to see what is available and what is new in technology for the blind. Much of the work that is done by the Access Technology Team, however, is not as visible to those outside the team as the equipment and the facilities of the International Braille and Technology Center. As the director of Access Technology at the Jernigan Institute, I want to share the big-picture view of what my team and I work on. Many of you have heard Kenneth Jernigan's 1992 speech on the importance of training and public awareness: "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of information which exist. If a blind person has proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to the level of a physical nuisance." His statement continues to represent the attitude and set the direction in the work my team and I do every day, as will clearly be evident from an overview of some of our recent activities. Perhaps the most visible program of the Access Technology Team, second only to conducting tours and instruction at the IBTC, is the Technology Resource List. This resource, available at , describes just about every piece of blindness technology available in the United States, and the team just finished a major overhaul of this most useful document at the end of 2014. It is a unique compendium of information on blindness technology and is unmatched in its scope and thoroughness. It is a great place to start for anyone wanting to familiarize him or herself with access technology; but it is equally useful in hunting up the latest and best in a given area, such as Braille displays or optical character recognition products. Our access technology blog and the access technology tips are two other valuable resources for anyone who wants to learn more about new access technology products. Both of these resources also provide much needed information for those who are interested in nonvisual access technology. In addition to creating and posting general information, the Access Technology Team continues to respond to questions on nonvisual access technology using email and the telephone. You can reach us by phone by dialing (410) 659-9314 and then choosing option 5 for the technology answer line, or you can email us at . In the area of access to the web, one very public aspect of what is so often the result of a lot of behind-the-scenes work is the Web Accessibility Training Day. This event, which the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute co-hosted with the Maryland Technology Assistance Program for the third time last September, is an opportunity for us to bring together some of the experts with whom my team and I have come in contact and have worked collaboratively with over many years and on so many projects. Attendees come from local and state governments as well as the federal government. They also come from higher education, business, and a number of other fields. We shared (and will continue to share at future events) advice from industry experts and our own knowledge of web accessibility in a series of general sessions in the morning, and technical and policy tracks in the afternoon. Topics for this latest iteration included enterprise implementation of accessibility, education implementation of accessibility, PDF accessibility in an enterprise setting, captioning and audio description, HTML5, government implementations of accessibility, and the Section 508 refresh. More information, session recordings, and materials are available to anyone looking to find out more about any or all of these at . On October 15 through 17, 2014, the team hosted the second run of its wildly popular Train the Trainer seminar. For this three-day event we brought together a group of forty access technology professionals from different backgrounds and from all parts of the country to try out a plethora of devices and software. The focus was on new developments and new technology. It was especially exciting to have a team from Google, as well as Chris Gallello from Microsoft, to discuss and demonstrate their company's work in accessibility. Laura Palmero, Roger Benz, and Lia Carrarri from Google brought Chromebooks and Android Nexus phones for all participants to experiment with, and gathered much feedback from attendees. They also showed participants the tremendous potential of Google products. Chris from Microsoft demonstrated Office Online with JAWS and provided a very honest assessment of its assets and shortcomings. Google and Microsoft were not the only guest stars to grace the podium. Our own Jennifer Dunnam and our friend and longtime technology expert Earle Harrison from Triumph Technology led sessions on the Duxbury Braille Translator and the Mac, respectively. Henry (Hoby) Wedler, a PhD student in chemistry at UC Davis, was as good an instructor and role model as we could ask for. In his talk about accessibility in math and science, he related his experiences as he has taken on the challenges presented by a rigorous program in science, related his difficulties, and shared the solutions that have helped him overcome these problems and flourish in his chosen field of study. The Access Technology Team did its part by covering a number of topics, including notetakers, tactile graphics, Windows 8, and low-vision tools. The attendees were as engaged as any group who has ever crossed our threshold, and it was a pleasure to spend these days with them. Because we do limit the size of the group to keep it hands-on, and because not everyone can travel across the country to attend a training of this kind, we do post the material presenters share at . A less well-known part of the work of the Access Technology Team is public awareness. In February I had the honor of co-presenting with three distinguished individuals: Towson University professor and former fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Jonathan Lazar; senior counselor to the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, Eve Hill; and disability rights lawyer Dan Goldstein from the firm of Brown, Goldstein, & Levy. Our broadly defined topic was "Frontiers in US Law: Equal Access to Info Tech for People with Disabilities," and we presented at Towson University. Specifically, we addressed captioning and legal ownership, accessible instructional materials in higher education, technology access for people with cognitive impairments, ebook access for people with print disabilities, access to courtroom documents and technology, and accessibility and open government. Even with the Department of Justice affirmation that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the web, many areas still exist in which the lack of access to information technology affects blind people, and much work remains to be done by lawmakers, technology experts, and other stakeholders. Recently standardized testing is an issue that has gained some traction in the press and with the public. My team and I are working collaboratively with test platform developers to ensure the accessibility of these tests. If the test platform developers adhere to our recommendations, then I am certain that the platforms will be accessible to the blind. We will not stop until every blind child is correctly evaluated based on what he knows about the subject matter and not on how accessible a given piece of technology is for his or her disability. Somewhere in between public speaking and training, you might find the Access Technology Team's many endeavors at CSUN, or, to name it in full, the Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. The acronym by which the conference, the largest of its kind, is usually known stems from the host, the California State University at Northridge, which has long been one of the leaders in the field of access technology. The topics we cover vary from year to year, but here is what we will be talking about this March: Personally, I will be taking on two sessions. The first is "Race to Accessibility," where I will share the stage with Pearson and a representative from the Maryland Department of Education to address the accessibility of high-stakes assessment. In the second session, "The Human Cost of Digital Barriers," I am co-presenting with web accessibility professionals from Deque and Knowbility as well as from Pearson in an open discussion about access to high-stakes, computer-based assessments for students with disabilities and the real-life consequences for students when the materials are not accessible. The rest of the team, a stellar group dedicated to our mission, will have their hands full with a presentation by Amy Mason on "Access Technologies for Blind and Low Vision Seniors," one which discusses a survey of tools and services available to blind and low-vision seniors for reading, identifying objects, and staying organized. This will be followed by Karl Belanger's demonstration of iWork accessibility in Mac OSX. This session will review whether the Mac and VoiceOver, paired with the iWork suite, is a viable productivity tool for a blind professional or student. The team's final session for the conference will be Clara Van Gerven's talk on the state of wearables for blind users. Wearable technology is one of the fastest growing areas in today's electronic landscape. It has the potential to provide unprecedented access to the world for blind people, but the question is how close wearables are to fulfilling that promise. I invite those who are coming to the CSUN conference to attend our sessions. Having members of the Federation participate actively in the audience is something that I always treasure. Whenever we are together in public, we show that the National Federation of the Blind represents a strong and united group who is determined to keep blindness or common misconceptions about it from stopping us. Your technology team always draws inspiration from your example, your participation, and your support of our presentations. Another joint effort that I want to mention is a survey. We have been working closely with the Therapeutic Research Foundation (TRF) to create a survey on health, mobility, and navigation. TRF is inviting blind and low- vision participants to take the survey to help them create the next generation of navigational tools. The data gathered will be used specifically to do research and development, so please consider taking the time to complete the questionnaire and help them build a device that will serve your needs. With well over three hundred responses in already, the survey promises to be a formidable source of guidance for the team. The link to the survey is . Finally, I want to conclude by emphasizing that it is through ongoing collaboration that we are able to draw the speakers and trainers that we do for our events and are able to work toward and bring about the delivery of more accessible hardware, software, and services. The effort we put into these collaborations is often hidden from the public due to the requirements of confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, but it shows clearly in the results. President Riccobono and I had a meeting not long ago with Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. He brought in many members of his management team, and the conversation that ensued promises many changes and improvements. My experience has given me ample evidence that, in making accessibility happen, there is no substitute for support and understanding at the top, and meetings like this one are vital to what we do. Such meetings come about based on the Federation's, the Jernigan Institute's, and the team's reputation as experts, advocates, and partnership-builders. Such meetings also happen because the National Federation of the Blind is known for its persistence, its dedication to equality of opportunity, and its constant search for partners who share our goal of full access. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes are offered by members of the NFB of South Dakota. Mike's Mexican Eggs by Mike Klimisch Mike Klimisch is the secretary of the NFB of South Dakota and also the president of the Falls Chapter of the NFB in Sioux Falls. He describes his cooking style like this, "When I cook, I tend to make my own concoctions and not follow recipes. Here are some recipes that I like. My wife tends not to want to eat many of the things I cook since I like to create some very strange combinations." Ingredients: 6 eggs 1/2 pound ground meat 1 cup salsa 2-inch thick slice Velveeta cheese Method: In a frying pan brown the ground meat and drain. In another pan, scramble the eggs. Once both eggs and ground meat are cooked, combine and add the salsa. Cut the Velveeta into small pieces so it will melt quickly. Stir all ingredients together and heat through. When cheese is melted, you will have an excellent breakfast for two. ---------- Macaroni Salad by Mike Klimisch Ingredients: 1 can sweet peas 4 cups macaroni 2 cans tuna Cheese (either Velveeta or shredded cheddar) to taste 1/4 cup chopped onions Salad dressing Mayonnaise Method: Place the noodles in a pot of boiling water and cook. When macaroni is fully cooked, strain macaroni, running cold water over it so the macaroni does not stick together. Strain the liquid from the cans of tuna and peas. Toss tuna and peas with cooled macaroni. Cut Velveeta cheese into small cubes or use shredded cheese. Mix in chopped onions for flavor. Next add equal portions of your favorite salad dressing and mayonnaise to taste. ---------- Homemade Mints by Mike Klimisch These mints are very easy to make, and there are many variations in the recipe. I've chosen one that uses sweetened condensed milk and one that uses cream cheese. Sweetened Condensed Milk Version Ingredients: 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 stick butter Powdered sugar Peppermint extract Method: Mix all three ingredients in equal portions, e.g., 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Add in liquid extract to desired strength of flavor. Once mixed, roll mint in sugar and roll into round patties or place in mold of whatever shape you prefer. Cream Cheese Version Ingredients: Cream cheese Powdered sugar Peppermint extract Method: Mix cream cheese and sugar in equal parts with mint extract to desired strength of flavor. Break into small pieces and roll the pieces in powdered sugar or place in mold to make decorative mints. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family The Braille Monitor Moves to UEB: Given the adoption of the Unified English Braille code by the Braille Authority of North America, the Braille Monitor will begin using the Unified English Braille Code in the January 2016 issue of this magazine. Although we were the first to contact the American Printing House for the Blind about embossing our magazine using the new code, they assure us that they are preparing for the change and will be ready in plenty of time to meet our January 2016 deadline. For those concerned about the changes that the UEB will bring, keep in mind that our 2014 National Convention Agenda was produced using this code, and most Braille readers had no trouble adjusting to the elimination of some familiar contractions and the addition of some new symbols. The Braille Monitor published a notice in the December issue about the availability of the McDuffy Reader: A Braille Primer for Adults by Sharon L. Monthei. In June of 2014 The Braille Authority of North America produced a document entitled UEB Reader, which describes the changes that one will see in current literary Braille and the Unified English Braille code. A course in UEB is also being offered by the Hadley School for the Blind. Our hope is that all of our readers who read this magazine in Braille have ample time to get ready for the minimal changes you will see and that this new code will improve our ability to communicate technical material and to do so more quickly than we have been able to do in the past. A New Service from the NFB Employment Committee: The National Federation of the Blind Employment Committee has started a Twitter account to provide yet another avenue to connect job seekers with opportunities. Job announcements posted on our email list are manually converted into tweets, which are concise, 140-character-maximum summaries of the job postings with contact information and/or links to full postings when available. We encourage individuals and organizations to tweet at us with job postings so that we can retweet them, which spreads the word to all of our followers. If you have a job posting or employment-related resource, please tweet it <@NFB_Jobs>; we'd love to retweet it because we know you can communicate your own ideas better than we can. We also tweet employment resources, such as useful articles, webinars, or job fairs. Be sure to follow <@NFB_Jobs> on Twitter! We need additional hands-on help to make this great service carry on indefinitely. If you have questions about this service or would like to volunteer to help keep the tweets flowing, contact us at . Living the Life We Want Through Exercise and Healthy Living: On Saturday, May 9, the NFB of Colorado Sports and Recreation Division and WE Fit Wellness will be breaking down barriers to exercise with a full day, high energy, and interactive seminar. The seminar will be held at the Colorado Center for the Blind at 2233 W. Shepperd Ave., Littleton, CO 80120. Whether you want to know more about exercise, competitive sports, or active things to do for fun, this is the seminar for you! From low impact to full throttle we have recreation and exercise solutions that are accessible, affordable, and achievable. Come ready to play. Activities include: goalball, dance, yoga, guided walk/run, full body any time workout, self-defense, tandem cycling, at-home exercise tools, beep ball, and a parents track. You can try it all. Each participant will also receive a complimentary, tasty, and healthy breakfast, lunch, and snacks as well as a take-home tool kit which includes healthy recipes, ready-made workouts, tips and tricks for staying healthy, and a guide to healthy options on the go: best fast food choices. No matter your age or ability level, you will leave with the confidence and practical tools that promote healthy living. Registration is $15 in advance or $20 at the door. In Colorado and across the nation, you can live the life you want through recreation, better choice in diet, and exercise. If you are from out of state or even outside the Denver Metro Area, we have made hotel arrangements with the Hampton Inn Highlands Ranch, which also provides free shuttle service to and from the conference and within a five-mile radius of the hotel. To register, reserve a room, or for more information, please contact Cheryl Gross at or call (866) 543-6808, extension 10. Senior Division Sponsors Conference Calls in 2015: The National Federation of the Blind Senior Division proudly sponsors the following conference calls on the topics listed below. Each conference call will be moderated by an active member of the NFB: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 Cane Travel-Can I truly be an efficient cane user as a senior if I've never learned before? Moderators: Jeff Altman, Nebraska; Maurice Peret, BISM, Maryland Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Braille: Can I learn Braille as a senior? Moderator: Shelley Coppel, South Carolina, secretary of the NFB Senior Division Wednesday, April 8, 2015 Organizing Paperwork-keeping track of banking, labeling, sorting and filing necessary documents Moderator: Ruth Sager, Maryland, president, NFB Senior Division Wednesday, May 13, 2015 Hobbies-Pursuing favorite hobbies and crafts Moderator: Marguerite Woods, Maryland Wednesday, June 10, 2015 Leisure Time-dining out, movies, museums, enjoying favorite pastime activities Moderator: Shelley Coppel, South Carolina All calls will be held at the times listed: 4:00 eastern standard time, 3:00 central time, 2:00 mountain time, and 1:00 Pacific time. The conference call number is (712) 432-1500, and the access code is 59633#. All calls will be recorded and put on the NFB Senior webpage, and directions for calling in to listen to missed calls will be given a few hours after the calls have taken place. In order to obtain the best possible sound for these calls, it is recommended that each caller, after dialing in, press *6, which puts you in a "mute" mode. You will be able to hear everything during the call, but background noise from your location will not disturb others listening in on the conversation. When you wish to speak and enter the discussion, press *6 once again, and you will be released from the "mute" mode and able to participate. It is also highly recommended that each person wishing to speak state his or her name and wait for the moderator to recognize you before speaking. The quality of our calls is diminished when we have too many people trying to seek the floor at one time; chaos is the result, so a little courtesy goes a long way in participating in an information-filled meeting. The moderators will do their very best to recognize as many callers as possible; however, they will determine the order in which speakers proceed. When finished with your comments, press *6 once again to go back into "mute mode." We are very pleased that you are interested in joining our conference call sessions, and we welcome your participation and input. We hope that you will then share what you learn with others, and encourage friends and colleagues to join you in participating in these calls. By the way, you do not have to be a senior to participate and join with us. Each call will be about one hour in length. Come join us, and learn to live the life you want. Investigating the Accessibility of H&R Block Services: The NFB is investigating the accessibility of the H&R Block tax-filing website and online documents . If you have recently experienced problems with this website, please send an email to as soon as possible. Please include the following information in the email: your name, your contact information, a brief description of the barriers you faced, and the approximate date when you accessed the site. Thank you for your assistance. New Opportunities for Careers in Rehabilitation of the Blind: Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) and Structured Discovery Rehabilitation have been demonstrated to be among the most innovative and effective forms of rehabilitation training for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Louisiana Tech University has operated its Orientation and Mobility program on this model successfully for eighteen years, with upwards of 90 percent successful employment and employer satisfaction rates. Louisiana Tech is excited to announce that, along with its O&M program, it has expanded its training and is launching a brand new concentration in Rehabilitation Teaching for the Blind. Scholarships are now available for qualified individuals seeking one of the following degree paths: Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with Concentration in Orientation and Mobility; Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance with Concentration in Rehabilitation Teaching for the Blind; or Orientation and Mobility Graduate Certification. Why Me? " The field of educating and rehabilitating children and adults who are blind is deeply rewarding and lif Why Me? .The field of educating and rehabilitating children and adults who are blind is deeply rewarding and life-changing. .The job market is wide open; currently, we receive four times the number of employer requests than we have graduates to provide. .Training occurs on campus in Ruston, Louisiana, and can be completed in as little as one year. .No prior background or experience in blindness is necessary-we'll teach you everything you need to know. .Scholarships are provided on a competitive basis to qualified persons and can cover costs for attending the university. .Scholarships also support travel to conferences, trainings, and field- based experiences at Structured Discovery training programs. Who Can Apply? Individuals must already possess a bachelor's (BA) degree from an accredited university, have a grade point average of 2.5, and obtain a minimum of 287 (Verbal and Quantitative) on the Graduate Records Examination (GRE). Individuals must also be willing to attend courses on campus in Ruston, Louisiana, on a full-time basis. What's the Catch? . Payback through service is required. Agreement to receive scholarship funding requires commitment for you to work in the field of rehabilitation for two years for each year of scholarship support you obtain. . Scholarships cover at least tuition and fees but may cover living and travel costs as well. . You have to move to Ruston, work hard, study harder, and have the heart to be an O&M or rehabilitation teacher of blind persons. Where do I get started? For program details, visit , send an email for more information to , or call Edward Bell to discuss your application at (318) 257-4554. Summer Job Opportunities at the Colorado Center for the Blind: The Colorado Center for the Blind is now accepting applications from positive blind role models to be residential counselors and instructors in our 2015 summer programs. We offer three programs for students: Summer for Success College Prep Program, Earn and Learn High School Program, and the Initiation to Independence Middle School Program. Staff must be available May 26 through August 7. Applicants must be good role models; competent in the skills of blindness; well rounded; flexible, excellent communicators, both oral and written; and willing to lead by example. Applicants also must be excited to work with blind students ages eleven through twenty. Challenge recreation is an exciting component of the job. Staff will go rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, white water rafting, attend martial arts classes, and much more. All staff and students will attend the National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Orlando! To learn more about our summer programs, please click the following link If interested, please contact Brent Batron at (303) 778-1130, extension 222 or by email at . Louisiana Buddy Program 2015 Come and join us for a summer of fun and learning! Since 1989 the Louisiana Center for the Blind has offered an innovative summer program for blind children in grades four through eight. This summer, the Buddy Program promises to be full of learning opportunities, new friendships, and fun- filled activities. Many blind children have misconceptions about their blindness due to the lack of positive blind role models and to the negative stereotypes about blindness in society. Unlike other summer programs for blind children, the Buddy Program is directed and staffed by competent blind adults. Classes in cane travel are taught to instill independence and self- confidence. The knowledge of Braille enables the blind child to compete on terms of equality with sighted peers in the classroom and provides a solid background in spelling and other grammatical skills. Computer literacy classes expose a blind child to available adaptive equipment. Classes in daily living skills promote equal participation in household duties such as cooking, shopping, and cleaning. In addition to learning valuable alternative techniques of blindness, children will enjoy participating in a wide variety of exciting activities such as swimming, camping, bowling, roller skating, and field trips. The combination of hard work and fun activities will provide a rewarding experience that children will cherish. Involvement in the Buddy Program helps blind children realize that it is not blindness that holds them back. Rather, it is the negative attitudes and misconceptions about blindness that may prevent blind children from reaching their potential. At the close of the program parents are required to attend a Parents' Weekend. This weekend will allow them to interact with other parents of blind children and to learn what their children have discovered about their blindness and themselves. Friendship, training, fun, growth, and interaction between blind children and positive blind role models is how the Louisiana Center for the Blind is "changing what it means to be blind." The Louisiana Center for the Blind will sponsor two sessions of the Buddy Program in 2015: from June 7 through 27 and from July 19 through August 8. Perhaps we will have the opportunity to work with your child this summer. We know it will be a memorable experience for both you and them. All interested families should visit for more details and to apply. Please also feel free to contact our director of Youth Services, Eric Guillory, before April 13. Please email Eric at or call (800) 234-4166. Due to limited space, we cannot guarantee that every applicant will be granted enrollment. Please note that the fee for students not from Louisiana is $1,000--which is all-inclusive save for transportation to and from the program. The fee for Louisiana students is $500. 2015 Summer Training & Employment Project (STEP) Program Striving For Success: Since 1985, the Louisiana Center for the Blind has been changing what it means to be blind for adults from across America. In 1990, a program was created to address the needs of blind high school students. The Summer Training and Employment Project (STEP) Program is designed to introduce blind teenagers to positive blind role models and to provide participants with summer work experience. The eight-week summer program will consist of two components. During the first part of the program, competent blind counselors will instruct the students in the alternative techniques of blindness. Classes in Braille, cane travel, computer literacy, and daily living skills will be taught by qualified blind instructors. In addition, seminars will be conducted in the areas of job readiness, job interviewing skills, resum? writing and job responsibilities. The second part of the program will continue all aspects of training and expand to include an employment dimension. Students will have the opportunity to work fifteen to twenty hours a week at a local business for which they will receive the federal minimum wage. The staff will attempt to meet the job interests of the students. Instructors from the Louisiana Center for the Blind will be available to provide on-the-job assistance as needed. The combination of work experience and blindness-related skills-along with fun-filled activities such as cookouts, swimming, and various other outings-will foster self-confidence and independence in young blind teenagers. During the week of July 5 through July 10, students will attend the national convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Orlando, Florida. This exciting conference will allow them to meet thousands of competent blind people from across the country. The students will also have the chance to participate in a wide variety of informative seminars. At the close of the program, parents will be required to attend a Parents' Weekend which will enable them to discover how much their children have learned throughout the summer. The STEP program is designed to provide invaluable work experience, friendships, opportunities for personal growth, and cherished memories. Training will begin June 14 and conclude August 8. Please visit to learn about more program specifics and to complete an application. Due to limited space, we cannot guarantee that every applicant will be granted enrollment, and applicants must have an open case with their state's vocational rehabilitation agency or other funding entity to cover program costs. Questions? Please call our director of Youth Services, Eric Guillory at 800-234-4166 or email him at . "Together, we are changing what it means to be blind." Check out STEP and find out how. Registration for the Minnesota Summer Buddy Program Open: Warm greetings from BLIND, Incorporated. It is once again time to start planning for our 2015 Buddy program! This three-week summer fun and learning program is for children ages nine to thirteen. The dates are July 18 through August 7. The Buddy Program offers an opportunity for blind children to make friends and have fun in a positive and secure setting. Students will learn and practice alternative techniques of blindness while building self- confidence. The training in alternative techniques includes instruction in reading and writing Braille, basic cane travel, cooking skills, and introductions to independent living skills. Students learn to pour liquids, carry a food tray, do laundry, follow a recipe, and much more as they build self-confidence and problem-solving skills. Students also participate in "talk time," where they discuss important issues about blindness with blind peers and instructors. This time gives the students a chance to discuss their feelings about blindness and their frustrations in dealing with uncomfortable situations, and helps them to problem-solve and develop a positive attitude about blindness and their abilities as blind students. In addition students participate in many exciting activities in the Twin Cities area such as visits to nature parks, Wild Mountain Water Park, and rock climbing. These activities allow students to develop their socialization skills. Activities are well supervised, and mentoring for the children is provided by active blind role models. Lifelong friendships begin during this brief summer experience. One of our goals during these recreational/educational activities is to teach our students the alternative techniques of blindness and help them gain the self-confidence that will allow them to return home and actively participate in other fun activities with their sighted friends. Activities are excellent opportunities to teach and reinforce a wide variety of alternative techniques as they apply to real life. These learning experiences are usually most effective when there is plenty of fun involved! If you have questions please call (612) 872-0100 (ext. 251), toll- free (800) 597-9558, or email . You may complete an application by visiting our website at . Registration for the BLIND, Incorporated Summer PREP Program Open: It is once again time to start making plans for your summer. This year the PREP, Post-secondary Readiness Empowerment Program, our eight-week program for blind high school students, will run from June 14 to August 7, 2015. This exciting summer program is for blind high school students and is designed to prepare them for academic, employment, and social success. The PREP curriculum is designed to empower blind youth with the alternative techniques of blindness they will need in order to be successful in the college and the career fields they choose and to give them the confidence and belief in themselves they need in order to find and keep a job. The core classes include Braille reading and writing; independent cane travel; adaptive technology; career exploration; and home/dormitory management, which includes cooking, cleaning, washing and labeling clothes, personal care, and daily living skills. Students also participate in regularly scheduled discussion groups designed to build confidence and learn from blind peers and adults. This program includes a three-week paid employment experience. Students will utilize the skills they have developed while earning minimum wage working approximately twenty hours per week in local businesses and agencies. PREP students live with fellow students and adult counselors. These counselors and instructors serve as successful and positive role models. Students shop for groceries, prepare meals, and clean their apartments as part of their home and personal management training. They begin to learn how to live independently while still in a supportive environment. They develop problem-solving skills and come to realize that they will be able to take care of themselves and take responsibility for their own futures. This program is based on a positive view of blindness: that if blind people are given proper training and opportunity, they can be successful in education, find meaningful employment, and live full and productive lives. Traveling to Orlando, Florida In July, PREP students will enjoy the exciting opportunity of accompanying BLIND, Incorporated staff and adult students as we travel to Orlando, Florida, to attend the weeklong National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind. During this convention, our PREP students will join hundreds of other high school and college students from around the country when attending the National Association of Blind Students seminar. Students will also attend other meetings, seminars, learn about new groundbreaking technology, and get involved in social and recreational activities. This annual convention is packed full of fun and great learning opportunities and experiences. Throughout the summer the PREP students will also participate in a variety of fun activities including going to Wild Mountain Waterpark, camping, rock climbing, shopping at various malls, etc. For more information or to complete an application, you can visit our website at or call (612) 872-0100, extension 251, or phone us toll free at (800) 597-9558. Alternatively, you may email us at . Federation Leader Presses for Educational Accessibility: The January 2015 issue of the Monitor focused strongly on accessibility in education with articles about the TEACH Act and the lawsuit the NFB got involved with against Florida State University. This month brings news of a long-time Federation leader working to bring equal accessibility in educational technology. Alpidio Rol?n filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE) asserting that the PRDOE's website is not accessible to individuals with visual impairments because the website is not fully compatible with certain assistive technology that converts text to speech. The OCR conducted an investigation, including having the Assistive Technology Team conduct a review of the PRDOE's website. The team tested the assistive technology that converts text-to-speech on the PRDOE's website by randomly sampling three webpages. The team concluded that all three webpages had accessibility defects that would prevent a screen reader such as JAWS or ZoomText from accurately conveying the information displayed on the webpages. During the course of OCR's investigation, the PRDOE communicated its willingness to voluntarily resolve the complaint prior to the conclusion of OCR's investigation. Accordingly, on October 24, 2014, the PRDOE voluntarily entered into a resolution agreement with OCR. OCR will monitor implementation of the resolution agreement. If the PRDOE fails to implement the terms of the resolution agreement, OCR will resume its investigation by requesting additional information and documentation, as well as conducting more extensive testing of the PRDOE's website. We will continue to follow this situation and keep Monitor readers informed as events develop. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. IRS Services for People with Disabilities: Hundreds of accessible federal tax forms and publications are available for download from the IRS Accessibility web page at . Visit and select the Forms & Pubs tab to access the Accessible Forms and Pubs link. You can choose from large-print, text, accessible PDFs, e-Braille, or HTML formats that are compatible when used with screen readers and refreshable Braille displays. The IRS also provides American Sign Language videos with the latest tax information. IRS Tax Return Preparation Help is Available People who are unable to complete their tax returns because of a physical disability or are age sixty or older may get assistance through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs. You can find a nearby VITA or TCE location by calling (800) 906-9887. Publication 907, Tax Highlights for Persons with Disabilities, explains the tax implications of certain disability benefits and other issues and is available at . Envision Seeking Blind Employees: Envision is proud to be a leading employer of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. At Envision we focus on ability, not disability. All Envision employees come to work driven by a sense of purpose in what they do, and they see their purpose in action through the employment opportunities, programs, and services which their work with Envision helps fuel. Each Envision employee has different roles and responsibilities, but everyone works toward the same mission: to improve the quality of life and provide inspiration for the blind and visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education, and research. For more information or to apply for an open position, please visit us at . We look forward to hearing from you. Braille and Talking Book Program Embraces New Braille Code: The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), part of the Library of Congress, next year will implement the Unified English Braille (UEB) code on Jan. 4, 2016-the 207th birthday of Louis Braille. "This is the first extensive change to the English Braille code, a major literacy tool, since the 1930s," said NLS Director Karen Keninger. "The new code will be especially beneficial to students and other users of technology. It resolves persistent translation errors that occur when, for example, a student's work is translated to print for a teacher to read, or when print material is translated to Braille." Those who use computers, smartphones, ebooks, and texting features will find it very useful. The code, which has been adopted by seven other English-speaking countries, brings the Braille code into the computer age. "UEB is not much different from the English Braille American Edition that we've been using," Keninger said. UEB uses the same six-dot cell pattern as the present code, but drops some contractions, uses different spacing rules, and allows for transliterating a wider array of symbols. The Braille Authority of North America (BANA)-which oversees the use, teaching, and production of Braille in the United States-adopted the code in November 2012. It then began preparing constituents for the change to ensure implementation in 2016. "Since many BANA members produce Braille or transcribe Braille, the NLS announcement will not be a surprise. They have already been preparing," said Judy Dixon, NLS consumer relations officer and NLS representative to BANA. Beginning January 4, 2016, all books added to the Braille collection will be produced in UEB. "Current patrons should make the transition easily as the new code builds on the old system," said Keninger. Existing Braille books will remain in the collection and be available. The UEB books are not expected to be available from the collection for at least six months. Patrons will not need to change their equipment. NLS administers the Braille and talking-book program, a free library service available to US residents and American citizens living abroad whose low vision, blindness, or physical disability makes reading regular materials difficult. Through its national network of libraries, NLS mails books and magazines in audio and Braille formats and digital audio equipment directly to enrollees at no cost. Music instructional materials are also available. Selected materials may be downloaded. For more information visit or call (888) NLS-READ (888) 657- 7323). New York State School for the Blind Reunion: The Alumni Association of the New York State School for the Blind will hold its annual reunion from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday June 14, 2015, at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia. The Clarion is conveniently located just off the New York State Thruway at 8250 Park Road, Batavia, NY 14020-1275. The phone number is (585) 344-2100. The bus companies that serve Batavia have agreed to provide front- door service for guests traveling from the east and west. For returning alumni who will be traveling from out of state, many of the buses that originate or are destined for Buffalo make stops at the Buffalo Niagara International airport. As always, this year's get-together will not lack in excitement with a trivia contest, a trip to a nearby museum, and our legendary banquet. We've recently changed the rules concerning membership in our organization, making membership open to more people than ever before. You won't want to miss our 2015 gathering. Room rates are competitively priced at $87 for standard rooms and $107 for suites. Our banquet choices of rib eye steak, salmon, and chicken and pasta primavera are priced reasonably from $20 to $25. The registration deadline is Friday, May 1, 2015, and in order to enjoy the hotel room rates as quoted above, you must register with treasurer Chet Smalley by that date. Chet can be reached by mail at 541 W. Gore Road, Erie, PA 16509-2329; by phone at (814) 866-3949; or by email at For more information contact our corresponding secretary, Diane Scalzi, at 21621 Briarcliff Street, Clair Shores, MI 48082-1299; by phone (586) 337-5226; or by email at . Warriors to Summits: Apply now for Warriors to Summits 2015 Expedition! We are thrilled to announce that on the heels of such success with Mission: Mt. Whitney, Wells Fargo has renewed their relationship with No Barriers USA to provide another incredible veteran program in 2015. This year's Warriors to Summits expedition will be to Gannett Peak, the apex of the entire Central Rockies. At 13,804 feet, it is located in Wyoming between Fremont and Sublette Counties along the Continental Divide. There will be two team trainings prior to the expedition launch, and the summit is planned for September 11th. We highly encourage all veterans and transitioning service members with disabilities to apply for the program. Applications will be accepted through March 31. Not a veteran? Do your part by nominating a potential applicant today. Learn more about Warriors to Summits by calling (877) 627-1425 or write to 224 Canyon Avenue, Suite 207, Fort Collins, CO 80521. Participants Wanted for a Survey on the Employment of the Blind: I am working on my thesis for my master's degree in management. The topic is the dismal unemployment rate for people who are blind or visually impaired and are of working age. This is a concern of mine both because I am blind and because I believe blindness is a disability requiring minimal accommodations. I have been involved in most aspects of the blindness system, from getting rehabilitation training to getting an undergraduate degree to doing job searches and working for sixteen years with a major air carrier. Due to office closures, I have gone back to the job search, but, while searching, I decided to further my education with a graduate degree in management, specializing in leadership. My hope is to get a clearer understanding of the problem of the unemployment of the blind in order to come up with solutions to the problem. I am doing this with a survey on surveymonkey.com. The link is below; however, I am open to simply having a dialogue with people who are blind or visually impaired who are successfully working, those who are looking for work, those who are under-employed, or those who are retired and have left the workforce. Since my specialization is in the leadership area, I hope to find meaningful information in order to take a step toward addressing a solution to the problem, no matter how small that step may be. The survey is at . You may contact me by writing to Monica Venesky at or by calling me at (712) 276-1456. Monitor Mart The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. Bookkeeping Services Available from Blind Entrepreneur: I am the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey and the owner/operator of Mackey Enterprises. My company offers its services to assist individuals and small businesses with their data entry and bookkeeping needs using Word, Excel, and QuickBooks. Projects will be undertaken and completed based on a negotiated hourly rate or as a volunteer contribution by the company if circumstances warrant. To learn more and negotiate a rate, contact Brian Mackey at (609) 953-6988, or email me at . ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Wed Apr 1 00:54:58 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 00:54:58 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, April 2015 Message-ID: <201504010754.t317swo3016966@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 4 April 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return label enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Centre Hotel] Orlando Site of 2015 NFB Convention The 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 5-10, at the Rosen Centre Hotel at 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Rosen Centre staff only. Call (800) 204-7234. The 2015 room rates are singles, doubles, and twins, $82; and triples and quads, $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before June 1, 2015. The other 50 percent is not refundable. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2015, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. Guest-room amenities include cable television; in-room safe; coffeemaker; hairdryer; and, for a fee, high-speed Internet access. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site spa. The Rosen Centre Hotel offers fine dining at Executive Chef Michael Rumplik's award- winning Everglades Restaurant. In addition, there is an array of dining options from sushi to tapas to a 24-hour deli. The hotel has first-rate amenities and shuttle service to the Orlando airport. The schedule for the 2015 convention is: Sunday, July 5 Seminar Day Monday, July 6 Registration Day Tuesday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day Wednesday, July 8 Opening Session Thursday, July 9 Business Session Friday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 58, No. 4 April 2015 Contents Illustration: 2015 Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Seminar The Deaf-blind Dilemma by Cathy Guillory Miller Accessibility at Microsoft: More Challenges than Victories by Curtis Chong Service Animal Laws Challenged in Arizona by Donald Porterfield South Carolina: An Affiliate with Treasures, Traditions, and Targets for Future Accomplishments by Gary Wunder Blind Bookie Caught in Braille Trap Maurer Devotes Career to Serving Blind Americans by Josh Stow A Review of Friendships in the Dark: a Blind Woman's Story of the People and Pets Who Light up her World by Donna W. Hill Dr. Joanne Wilson Retires: Another Jernigan Pioneer Enters a New Phase of Life by Jim Omvig Window into 1957: Pima County Club of the Blind by Anna Kresmer Local Author to Be Featured in ABA Journal The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund by Allen Harris Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Natalie Shaheen leads one of the participants in the Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Seminar in a cane travel exercise.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Booth instructs participants in the positions of a Braille cell.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Seminar participant uses a click ruler to measure a piece of wood.] 2015 Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Seminar For a few years now staff members of our National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute have conducted Transformational Seminars that are designed to recalibrate the expectations community leaders have of the abilities of the blind. The goal is to empower these leaders with education and a positive perception of blind people, with the hope that they will go back and spread this mindset with others in their community. The primary participants in these seminars have come from the members of the Greater Baltimore LEADERship group, an annual leadership training program that boasts Dr. Betsy Zaborowski, Rosy Carranza, and President Mark Riccobono as past graduates, and Anil Lewis as a member of the current class. The transformational experience begins with a human guide activity where the participants are led under sleep shades to the conference room where the seminar will take place. The goal of this is not to simulate blindness, but to make them understand that this activity can only give them the experience of losing sight, not the experience of living with the loss of sight. We briefly discuss their perceptions, their assumptions, their fears, and their altered self-concept. This is where we begin the transformation, substituting their fears with our experience. Over the next three hours participants are exposed to the training that would be essential for them to regain their independence: cane travel, Braille, access technology, home economics, and a simple woodshop experience. We stress that, in addition to skills development, our goal is to teach problem-solving skills and to build self-confidence. We describe our structured discovery and immersion approach to training and explain that our adult rehabilitation training programs usually last from six to nine months. The cane travel, home economics, and woodshop activities are conducted under sleep shades to demonstrate that it is possible to perform these tasks without sight. We do not use sleep shades for the Braille and access technology activities because we want the participants to gain a true understanding of the effectiveness of these tools regardless of their finger sensitivity or keyboarding proficiency. Each activity is conducted in a different location throughout the Jernigan Institute, providing the participants an opportunity to tour our world-class facility. Throughout the entire process we provide an education about the National Federation of the Blind, encourage candid conversations about blindness, and promote our philosophy of independence and full participation. We bring the experience to a close by providing lunch while facilitating a free flowing discussion about the experience and answering any questions they may have about blindness. [PHOTO CAPTION: Cathy Guillory Miller] The Deaf-blind Dilemma by Cathy Guillory Miller From the Editor: In the October 2014 issue we ran an article of particular interest to people who are deaf blind about the service iCanConnect. In trying to edit that article, I found that there was much I did not know about the deaf blind. I consulted with Joe Naulty, and he recommended that I speak with Cathy Guillory Miller. I wanted to understand more about the conventions regarding the words deaf blind and the reason or reasons why the words were written differently. Sometimes they were written as two separate words, sometimes they were hyphenated, and sometimes they were written in upper case, lower case, or a mixture. Was it simply a matter of preference, style, or was there something more important for me to know as I edited the article? The letter Cathy wrote to me explained so much that I asked her permission to run it as an article in the Braille Monitor. She gave her permission, and I offer this with the hope that it will be as helpful to our readers as it has been to me. As you read it, I think certain parallels will become obvious. Here is what she says: In the community we have a very rich history, including two distinct cultures which have been so severely separated from one another by their language that there doesn't seem to be any evidence they were even aware of one another's existence until sometime after the rise of the information age. First there is the Deaf-blind, with a capital D. These are folks from the Deaf culture who, for one reason or another, have become blind. They may have been born into deaf families and later experienced the loss of vision. People who self-identify as Deaf with a capital D consider themselves part of a relatively isolated nondisabled community. They are isolated by their language from the community at large. They often are able to communicate with members of the hearing community through various adaptive means but choose to maintain close association among themselves. Part of the reason for their choice to isolate themselves lies in the history of Deaf people in this country. At one time educators believed that using hand signs was a lower form of communication--not fit for humans. Hearing teachers at residential schools for the Deaf forced Deaf children to read lips and to practice using their voices. Deaf students spent long, weary hours working with speech therapists and were forbidden from using their language of choice. Because of this oppression, which continued for years, American Sign Language (ASL) was nearly extinguished. A whole generation of Deaf students kept the language alive by sneaking signs with each other at night in their dormitory rooms. If a student had any amount of residual hearing, he or she was forced to wear hearing aids. Hearing aid technology was not very evolved during this time; the devices were not very useful, plus they were highly uncomfortable. It was a tradition among Deaf children upon completing school to throw away their hearing aids in celebration of their new freedom. Because of all the oppression by the hearing educators, this generation of Deaf people learned to distrust the hearing community. That distrust continues today and is perpetuated by incidents such as the failure of institutions such as hospitals and the judicial system to hire qualified interpreters when serving a Deaf person, resulting in horror stories about wrongful incarceration, withheld medical treatment, etc. A common cruelty involves police officers restraining the wrists of a Deaf person, who then is unable to use his or her hands to communicate with an interpreter if one is present. Such distrust and animosity between the Deaf and hearing cultures extends to blind folks who, for various reasons, have lost their hearing. This group of deaf-blind people [deaf-blind being hyphenated but in lower case] do not naturally self-identify as deaf-blind. They have likely started to come to terms with their blindness through association with groups such as the NFB. The tragedy here is that, in the past, the true model of the independent vanilla blind did not include anyone who had "something else wrong with them." If one had a hearing loss, one might as well remain in an institution or on the street corner holding out a hat. The "hearing" deaf-blind person was not likely to speak out and self- advocate. The deaf-blind from the hearing culture were not seen any differently from the hearing population in general in the eyes of the Deaf and Deaf-blind from the Deaf culture. Furthermore, since the deaf-blind with a lower-case D did not learn to use ASL, communication between the two deaf-blind cultures was, for all intents and purposes, impossible. In rare circumstances, where the two groups were placed together, the result was extremely uncomfortable. Each group ignored the other. The act of ignoring was interpreted by the other group as snobbery. I am a deaf-blind person who is from the hearing culture. My hearing loss was so severe that I made the choice to study at a total immersion facility for several months in order to learn sign language. All my teachers were Deaf. Upon completing my course of study, I had regained the ability to communicate; yet I could still not communicate with anyone I had known before I began my study. Hence I would need to choose the culture to which I would belong. Should I say good-bye to all my friends and family? They were not about to learn to sign. I was very fortunate that, within two or three years of learning ASL, I was given the opportunity to qualify for cochlear implants. They were both successful, and I have my life back as a blind person. But most others are not so fortunate. So now we have two different groups of DB [deaf blind] folks who can't communicate with each other. They have the same disability. Both have a combined vision and hearing loss, both can benefit from an SSP [Support Service Provider], and both can benefit from Braille. There are some DB folks who cross over the culture line. We see them at our DB Seminar during our NFB Convention. We cannot ignore them. They cannot ignore us. They need the NFB philosophy. We need them behind us and with us when we go to Capitol Hill someday to ask for a national SSP Program. When I go to one of their meetings, because they know me as one of their supporters, they provide me with a voice interpreter. The NFB has begun providing interpreters for DB attendees who use ASL. The DB Division is agonizing over the cost of ASL interpreters. But relationships between these two groups are very difficult to forge. These relationships must be developed over time, with patience enough to allow the formulation of trust. As Pam Allen has said to me regarding the differences that set us apart, the key is education. We will not overcome the damage that history has done unless we first understand what will be required to heal the wounds. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong demonstrating tech at 2015 Alabama state convention] Accessibility at Microsoft More Challenges than Victories by Curtis Chong From the Editor: Curtis Chong is the president of the National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science, and in this capacity he is on the frontline when it comes to hearing about technical problems and being expected to offer some fix, work around, or political way to address problems that keep blind people from being as productive as they must in order to compete. Because most of the desktop and laptop market is dominated by Microsoft products, and because Microsoft has had more experience in dealing with accessibility issues than any other company, it is not surprising that the president of the computer science division hears frequently about user frustrations, lost jobs, and opportunities never pursued. Although we are currently engaged with Microsoft in a dialogue expected to result in some advances in accessibility, this article is appropriate in expressing the frustration that members and nonmembers alike have when they try to use products that are essential at home, at school, and in the places they work. Here is what Curtis has to say: There can be little doubt that Microsoft products are widely used today in almost every aspect of life. The majority of employers in this country require their employees to use programs from Microsoft (especially programs that are part of Microsoft Office) to accomplish the tasks they perform every day such as sending and receiving email, creating and editing documents, administering databases, managing projects, and so on. At home many people have personal computers that run the Microsoft Windows operating system and possibly Microsoft Office. At my doctor's office I cannot avoid the sound of the mouse clicking as my doctor reviews my medical chart using a computer powered by Microsoft Windows. While computers made by Apple arguably are gaining market share, Microsoft programs continue to maintain a highly visible presence in our lives. For those of us who are blind, access to Microsoft products is not just something that we would like to have. Rather, full nonvisual access to Microsoft products is essential if we are to have any hope of being able to compete in today's technology-driven labor market, let alone maintain parity with our sighted neighbors at home. For more than two decades the Microsoft Corporation has had a team of individuals responsible for promoting and assuring the accessibility of its various products to people with disabilities, including the blind. You might assume, therefore, that after more than twenty years of effort, Microsoft would stand out as a leader in the world of accessible software and that all (or at least most) of the programs it sells would be accessible to and usable by the blind. If so, you would be wrong! After twenty years of effort, Microsoft's accessibility team is still unable to serve as a gatekeeper to prevent Microsoft from releasing blatantly inaccessible products. The frustrating reality is that the accessibility effort within the Microsoft organization has not been given the power and influence it must have if the goal of ubiquitous accessibility is ever to be achieved. In other words a Microsoft product is accessible today-not because it is required to be so; it is accessible because the accessibility team was able to persuade a specific product group to do what is necessary to make its product work for people with disabilities. Today only a small percentage of Microsoft products are regarded by the blind as comfortable and intuitive to use. Examples include Windows Explorer (referred to as File Explorer in Windows 8), most of the Microsoft Office Suite, Internet Explorer, and several (but not all) functions of the Windows operating system. Even for these supposedly accessible programs, accessibility and efficiency have deteriorated as newer versions of software are released. Consequently, whenever we who are blind hear about a new Microsoft product, we feel a certain amount of skepticism about the ability of that product to work with our screen-access technology and are pleasantly surprised if, in fact, the product turns out to work for us. Below are seven examples of how Microsoft has fallen short of what seem like very realistic accessibility goals. As you consider these examples, bear in mind that this list represents a tiny fraction of the scope of the problem and that well over 80 percent of Microsoft products remain inaccessible to nonvisual users. . A concrete example of a product that simply cannot be used by the blind, but which is an integral security component used in employment situations, is Microsoft's BitLocker software, which provides full disk encryption. BitLocker requires the user to enter a PIN (personal identification number) before the full Windows operating system is started. While competing full-disk encryption programs have offered the ability to generate an audible tone that can be used to alert the blind user that information needs to be entered, BitLocker offers no such indication. Despite years of repeated entreaties by blind people for Microsoft to fix this problem, we have yet to see a version of BitLocker that addresses this issue. A blind employee who is required to use a computer with Microsoft BitLocker installed will be unable to turn the computer on and get it running-not to mention use it. . Microsoft SharePoint, a program used by many institutions (many of which employ the blind), is not fully accessible to the blind. SharePoint has been found to be so frustrating for the nonvisual user that a third-party vendor believes that it can sell an add-on solution to large enterprises (e.g., state or federal agencies) that costs as much as $12,000 for a single user license. If Microsoft's accessibility effort were working, a product that is as widely used as SharePoint would already be as convenient and effective for the nonvisual user as it is for everyone else. . There does not appear to be any user-experience research being conducted by Microsoft into improving efficiency for keyboard-only users, including the blind. This has already had a negative impact on keyboard-only users of the spell checker in Word 2013, which no longer provides accelerator keys to speed up the selection of options when spelling errors are detected. . Microsoft struggles to implement an API (application program interface) which makes it easier for screen-access software to get information about application states, messages, and controls. Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) and User Interface Automation (UIA), two examples of existing accessibility APIs, have existed within the Windows operating system for many years, but they have apparently not done much to solve the accessibility problem. While I applaud the fact that Microsoft has worked hard to ensure that Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 have worked with updated releases of screen-access software on the day they were released to the public, it must also be recognized that, in order for this to have happened, the screen-access software vendors (very small companies in relation to Microsoft) had to devote considerable resources to make this happen. It would be better if these relatively small companies could spend more time and effort coming up with innovations that improve the efficiency and productivity of blind users of their software. . For years Microsoft has left the blind with no access to Windows phones. Given that iOS and Android phones have had some form of nonvisual access for years, we find this frustrating, if not shameful. It is even more disheartening when we remember that, when Windows Phone was first released to the market in 2010, Microsoft made a very clear business decision not to include or support a screen reader for the Windows Phone platform. . Unlike its main competitors on desktop and mobile platforms, Microsoft has failed to provide built-in support for refreshable Braille displays to be connected to and used on its various platforms. This is particularly vexing for users who are both deaf and blind for whom refreshable Braille displays are the only way to interact with computer software. The Apple Macintosh and the Apple iPhone support a variety of refreshable Braille displays without requiring the customer to install device-specific drivers, and these products entered the market well after Microsoft began working on accessibility. . The maintenance, setup, and recovery of Microsoft Windows continue to be inaccessible to the blind. Consequently, there is an added cost in time and/or money to the blind user, who has to bring in (and often pay for) sighted assistance to install, upgrade, or repair a Windows system. This situation is unacceptable-especially given the fact that Apple OS X and iOS operating systems incorporate accessibility tools that enable the blind computer user to perform maintenance, upgrade, and recovery tasks without sighted assistance. Moreover, this problem curtails the ability of the blind to accept Windows system support jobs in information technology. Year after year, the National Federation of the Blind and the Microsoft Accessibility Team engage in active and ongoing communication, and year after year, we have communicated our frustrations and concerns to this team. I and other leaders of the NFB in Computer Science have met at many national conventions with Rob Sinclair, the head of Microsoft's accessibility team. Although our meetings are very positive and our relationship with Mr. Sinclair extremely collegial, the reality is that we see far more accessibility challenges with Microsoft products than victories. Perhaps this is because, at Microsoft (as with too many other companies), accessibility continues to be a matter of education and persuasion and not something that everyone within the company is required to achieve. How different the situation would be if Microsoft had in place a policy which required accessibility instead of merely encouraging it. As Microsoft products move from the desktop to the cloud and as its corporate customers move in this same direction, it is vital that nonvisual users be able to move with them; our jobs and our independence demand it. Now, the $64,000 question is, how can we get Microsoft to deliver ubiquitous accessibility and usability to everyone-including the blind? ---------- Service Animal Laws Challenged in Arizona by Donald Porterfield From the Editor: Donald Porterfield is the first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona and serves as its legislative director. Recently he found out about a proposal to eliminate protections for service dogs, including guide dogs for the blind. Here is an email he distributed in late February, supplemented by an interview I had with him: On Tuesday, February 17, 2015, the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona and other disability groups were alerted that an amended bill was scheduled for a committee hearing in the Arizona House of Representatives at 9:00 AM on the 19th. The bill (HB 2179) included a "Strike all" amendment, meaning that the original language of the bill would be replaced with new and unrelated language. If the bill were passed out of committee and subsequently passed into law, it would have fundamentally altered Arizona's service animal law (A.R.S. ?11-1024). Proposed changes would have: . Required that individuals who use service animals obtain a permit from the Arizona Department of Health Services in order to take their service animal into a public place and that such permit be renewed on a regular basis . Required that, as part of the permit process, an individual be required to apply to the Arizona Department of Health Services and provide documentation from a medical professional certifying the applicant has a disability . Required that a service animal wear a vest, also issued by the Arizona Department of Health Services, at all times when in a public place and that this vest display permit information . Allowed restaurants to block access for persons with service animals in order to meet local and/or state health code regulations . Required the Arizona Department of Health Services develop a sign for restaurants to display indicating that service animals are not permitted and that a separate sign for other public businesses not serving food be created that indicates service animals are allowed . Required the Arizona Department of Health Services to petition the United States Department of Justice requesting that the Americans with Disabilities Act be updated to comply with state law. The National Federation of the Blind of Arizona (NFBA) and several other disability groups reacted quickly and organized an effective response to the proposed legislation. NFBA has an active legislative committee, and, along with members from the Tucson, Phoenix, and East Valley chapters, all of us appeared at the Arizona State Capitol building prior to the start of the meeting in order to register as many people as possible to speak against the bill in the committee hearing. In addition, the NFBA legislative committee appealed to affiliate members who could not personally attend the meeting and asked them to email the committee chair and other committee members urging them to vote against the legislation. We were able to send out approximately thirty emails before the committee hearing started. During the hearing the committee chair made it clear that his intent was not to pass legislation that imposed greater restrictions on persons with disabilities who require the use of service animals. He said that he intended to craft a bill that punished "bad actors," or those individuals who masquerade their pets as service animals for the sole purpose of taking them into places that prohibit pets. This intent was not evident in the wording of the bill. The impetus for this legislation, according to the representative, was a constituent recounting his visit to a restaurant where someone was accompanied by a small dog and the constituent's family member was sneezing and alleging that he had an allergy to dogs. The representative never inquired about whether the dog was a service animal. The customer doing the sneezing never complained to the restaurant. The restaurant never questioned whether the animal it had admitted was a service animal. The representative admitted that it was not so much the specifics of this incident that caused him to act but his conjecture that this kind of abuse might be occurring somewhere in his state. Do we now base major changes in state law on hypotheticals and what ifs? Are we no longer motivated by the expressed concerns of our constituents but by our intuition that we should act on their behalf whether or not they have the good sense to ask us? Should we act on behalf of businesses we perceive to be aggrieved even though they have made no request of the Arizona General Assembly? Many members of the NFBA and the other disability groups testified in opposition to the bill. All testimony given by the public indicated that the stated intent differed from that of the actual bill and that, as written, this bill violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Testimony suggested that, rather than advance a bad bill, a bill should be written that focused on the "bad actors" rather than persons with disabilities. At one point during the hearing the process became so confused that the sponsor of the bill thought it had been passed by a vote of two to zero. So disturbed were committee members by the confusion and the supposed vote that the Speaker of the House entered the hearing room, talked with the chairman, and observed as the vote was once again taken. Due to effective grassroots advocacy by the NFBA and other disability groups, this bill was defeated by a unanimous vote of eight to zero. The committee members who commented on their votes cited the testimony given by the public as strongly influencing their votes. My thanks and gratitude go out to everyone who participated in the committee hearing, sent emails, and made phone calls. Sometimes we are asked why it is important to be a part of an organization of the blind and whether such organizations really have any influence in the halls of power. Both of these questions were answered at a House hearing in Arizona, and all of us, guide dog or cane users, are the better for our diligence, commitment, and ability to mobilize and articulate our position in a way that is both credible and understandable. ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Frank and Shelley Coppel] South Carolina: An Affiliate with Treasures, Traditions, and Targets for Future Accomplishments by Gary Wunder From the Editor: President Riccobono mentioned on a recent release that we would like to highlight programs of our affiliates and asked that information be sent that we could use for this purpose. Here is the first in what we hope will be a series of miniatures and articles that bring to light affiliate treasures that should be shared nationally. On Thursday, December 11, 2014, I had the pleasure of traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, to visit with members of the National Federation of the Blind. I was met at the airport by Parnell Diggs and his niece and within the hour met two strong Federationists, Frank and Shelley Coppel, who acted as my hosts while in Columbia. What a pleasure it was to attend the Christmas party celebration of the Columbia Chapter. This was not a unique experience for me since I belong to the Columbia Chapter and have attended many a Christmas party, but my Columbia is in Missouri, and this one was farther south and has traditions that predate the chapter I love in the Middle West. Not only do tremendous spirit, warmth, and love typify the Christmas season, but these three words accurately sum up what I found at the chapter meeting on this Thursday evening. I was privileged to sit at the head table with President Diggs and the former president of the South Carolina affiliate, Dr. Donald Capps. One cannot help being impressed with the work these two men have done. The record of Dr. Capps's longtime commitment to his affiliate and our Federation is evident in the Federation's Columbia office, in the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of the Blind (RBRCCB), and in his tenure over many years on the board of the National Federation of the Blind. Similarly one cannot but be impressed with the work of President Diggs, whose work to carry on in the tradition of his mentor and teacher is evident, as is his commitment to move the Federation forward in the twenty- first century. President Diggs is now a member of the national board, and his work in supporting the work of our national body philosophically, financially, and legislatively speaks for itself. Not only is this president gifted with political skills, but he is quite the musician, as all who were at the Christmas party can attest. Parnell had attended four chapter meetings in the week that witnessed our dinner meeting. This is all the more amazing given his role as husband, father, and head of his own law firm. No doubt his accomplishments mean that he practices what he preaches, that he is a man of action, and that he is living the life he wants. But back to the meeting and the genuine love and warmth I felt there: Being a part of this gathering was certainly one of the highlights of my Christmas season and will be an event I will long remember. On Friday morning members of three important boards were on the road to the RBRCCB. With a meal stop it took us about five hours to make the journey, but that time wasn't wasted in boredom or in counting the passing miles. All of us took turns asking questions about one another, expressing our views about the traditions of the Federation statewide and nationally, teaching one another little tips about our technology, and sharing some of our favorite music thanks to the magic of the internet and our iPhones. I had a captive audience while I shared some of my favorite folk singers and even got people to join with me in celebrating the life and music of Glen Campbell. Going to Rocky Bottom is a test of one's faith in physics, engineering, and the design of the motor vehicle while van and luggage trailer first climb a mountain and then steeply descend into the valley. Whether this turbulent ride is due to the incline of the terrain or the bumpy ride one would expect in a time machine, I cannot say, but soon we are taken from the twenty-first century and the civilization familiar to those of us who work in the information age as our cell phones read zero bars, our phone service is gone, the internet belongs to the rest of the world, and the familiar chime that indicates a newly received text message goes silent. In their place we find ourselves in a time that permits us to enjoy the silence, engage in reflection, and revisit times in our lives when conversations between human beings sharing a parlor took center-stage and opinion and fact could be uttered without constantly trying to verify them through Bing or Google or by asking Jeeves. It was what my grandparent would have called a typical front porch evening, and it was fantastic. Saturday morning began with some exercise as we walked from our cabin to the cafeteria. Those hills that tested our brakes the evening before now tested our leg muscles as we climbed our way to the first meal of the day. The volunteers who made our meals did us proud, and no one went away hungry. Gathered around a conference table, coffee well within reach, we settled in for the first of three board meetings that would occur before the work was over and another party would begin. This meeting was for the board of directors of the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of the Blind, and it was chaired by Former President Capps. The Rocky Bottom facility was secured by the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina in 1978 and came as a direct result of a good turn by Dr. Capps for one of his company's insurance customers. This customer suffered a loss while at a mental hospital when someone shut his hand in a door. While technically his policy denied coverage when one was receiving medical care, Dr. Capps reasoned that the accident had nothing to do with being in this hospital and everything to do with an accident that could have happened anywhere. He authorized payment of the claim. He did write a letter noting that, according to the policy, the company assumed no liability but was paying the claim because it was the right thing to do. Later that satisfied customer looked up Dr. Capps, expressed his admiration for what he had done, and offered him an opportunity to take his family to a place Capps had never heard of before, Rocky Bottom. Feeling it would be inappropriate for him to take advantage of a vacation opportunity that came from the settlement of a claim, Capps thanked the customer but said he could not ethically take advantage of the offer. Not easily dissuaded, the man went to the president of the company who, after hearing his story, not only told Capps he should take advantage of the vacation opportunity but commended him on his moral courage and decision-making as one of its senior officers. Capps fell in love with the facility and visited it for more than a decade. But as fine as the countryside was, little effort was being made to maintain the facilities, and the county found itself on the verge of condemning the property. Seeing an opportunity for the Federation to start a project that would benefit the blind, Capps made a proposal to the county commissioner and later the full commission, committing to restore the buildings if the county would give the property to the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. This was done in 1978, and the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center has been serving the blind ever since. Following a splendid lunch, a meeting of the Federation Center of the Blind board was conducted by Chairman Frank Coppel. The center building is located in Columbia and traditionally was the property of the Columbia chapter. It has for some time been the state office of the Federation, so its board has now been expanded to include members in addition to those living in Columbia. The Federation Center not only serves as the statewide office for the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina, but is used for various meetings of the blind, including the Columbia Chapter. It also has a contract with the South Carolina Commission for the Blind for the teaching of technology. Sometime ago the Federation Center for the Blind was damaged, when a vehicle driven by a drunk driver crashed through a wall and destroyed a significant part of the conference room. Some irreplaceable portraits were irreparably damaged and office chairs and tables were destroyed. A good inventory and the legal skills of President Diggs have resulted in a settlement that will cover those things that can be replaced, the loss of revenue in not being able to rent the building for other activities, and the Federation's cost in having to relocate its meetings to other facilities. Determining the true cost to the Federation also had to include the increased cost of utilities during the coldest months of the winter, given that the insulation and one of the walls were destroyed. The last formal meeting of the day was held by the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. Much of the agenda was devoted to a discussion of activities surrounding our seventy- fifth anniversary convention and the efforts the affiliate would make to get people to Orlando. Issues to be covered at the Washington Seminar were discussed, as was our work on branding and the messages associated with it. Like every conscientious affiliate, the NFB of South Carolina is concentrating on building its membership, which involves reaching out to new people and then establishing the human connections that make them feel a part of what we do and cement their desire to remain involved. Since these meetings fell in the middle of the holiday season and Christmas was close at hand, we concluded our evening with a banquet, and those who prepared the food received a rousing round of applause, and many thank-you messages found their way into the evening's festivities. [PHOTO/CAPTION: David and Darlene Houck] After three inspiring but long and tiring meetings, many in the group left the banquet and immediately fell into-no, not bed, but party mode. The comradery was wonderful. No report concerning the NFB of South Carolina would be complete without mentioning the name of David Houck. He works for the affiliate and heads its office. He serves in several capacities on behalf of the Federation Center's board, manages the building, and oversees many of the fundraisers, grant applications, and publications that get distributed for all three entities discussed here. He has worked for the NFB of South Carolina for more than thirty years and, when asked about his job, says, "If I wore any more hats, I'd have to get a set of antlers." As Parnell Diggs wisely observes, his job as the president of the affiliate is to preserve the traditions that have made the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina what it is, while at the same time ensuring that it has the vision and exercises the judgment to meet the needs of the blind in the second decade of the twenty-first century. "We have many programs that other affiliates don't have, but we can't let this stop us from embracing new ones, especially national ones. We are enthusiastic about BELL, and we want to be a part of every national program sponsored or supported by the national body. Just as the Federation must be an agent for change in work with the blind, I must be an agent for change in our affiliate-treasuring our past, managing our present, and planning for the future-and I am honored that members of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina have entrusted me with leading our effort. I will do my best to make them proud in the tradition of those who have come before, and I will do my best to see that we remain as vibrant and as relevant as we were when we were founded. I know that, with the help of my brothers and sisters here in South Carolina and across our great nation, we will make life better for the blind than it has ever been before." ---------- Blind Bookie Caught in Braille Trap From the Editor: Last year we ran an April Fool's joke about training hawks to serve the blind. It was received with mixed results. Some people thought it was innovative, some thought the Jernigan Institute had no right to start a new program without at least discussing it with the membership, some saw it for the gag it was, and many gingerly asked their friends "What was that thing about the hawk?" So here we are, April once again, and you are no doubt wondering what nod we will make to April fools. No doubt with a little creativity we could try to throw you Monitor readers another curve, but sometimes what they say about fact being funnier than fiction is true. See what you think. This article originally appeared in Inside News, Washington, DC, January 1967 and was reprinted in the April 1967 issue of the Braille Monitor: The cops had been trying for three years to get the goods on Paul "Big Boy" Pugh, forty-eight, a suspected bookie who was blind. But though they raided his apartment several times over the years, they never found anything upon which to build a case. Then an alert rookie cop discovered that Pugh-who has been blind since birth-was recording bets in Braille, the written language of the blind. Arrested with Pugh in a raid on his New York apartment were twenty- eight-year-old Danny Brookes and thirty-year-old Bing Goff. Both of the men were charged as accomplices in what police say was a $100,000-a-year illegal betting operation. Pugh, police charged, was the mastermind, kingpin, and top dog in the ring. He allegedly took bets on everything from horse races to elections to the weather. The cops had been onto him for years but, without definite physical proof, they were powerless to put him out of circulation. Each time they raided his apartment, all they found were several books with their pages punched in Braille. Thinking these were innocent reading matter, the cops ignored the books, turning the premises inside out in search of recognizable betting slips or other records which could be used as evidence in court. On each occasion, no luck. Then, Patrolman Frank Stevens, twenty-three, joined the raiding party. Stevens, who had just become a member of the force a year ago, was told that the raid was just a routine harassment procedure. "This guy's too cagey to leave anything lying around," said a veteran officer, "so don't expect to find anything." While the blind bookie sat solemnly by, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips, the cops went through the motions of searching the place, knowing in their hearts they'd leave empty-handed. But this time, thanks to rookie Stevens, they were in for a pleasant surprise. Stevens, who had once been a volunteer worker at the local rehabilitation center for the blind, began rifling through one of the Braille books on Pugh's desk. And his trained fingers, which were able to read the Braille impressions, discovered that the books were full of betting records. Instead of keeping slips in the conventional manner, Pugh simply purchased bound books with blank pages. At the top of each page, in Braille, was the date of the entries. The bets themselves were recorded in Braille below. Released after posting $5,000 bail, Pugh complained to reporters: "These cops are just picking on me because of my handicap. All I was trying to do was make a decent living. What did they expect me to do-spend the rest of my life selling pencils?" ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Young Marc Maurer] Maurer Devotes Career to Serving Blind Americans by Josh Stow From the Editor: This article about Immediate Past President Marc Maurer is reprinted with the kind permission of the Notre Dame Alumni Association. A link to their newsletter can be found at . Here is the well- deserved tribute: How on earth was a blind young man going to grill burgers for his new friends? That's the question Marc Maurer (class of 1974) pondered after he was asked to cook after a meeting for blind people. He'd dealt with his lack of sight since birth, but he was about to learn just how little it limited him. Kenneth Jernigan, who would become his mentor, showed him how to grill. First, Maurer learned to pour lighter fluid and drop a match on the coals. After they were hot, he pulled on a pair of fireproof gloves and gently stirred them to distribute the fire. Now he was ready to cook dinner. "I found out there's lots to blindness I didn't know. The limitations are much less if you know how to handle them," Maurer says, recalling how that moment with Jernigan changed his life. "He told me, 'Lots of people will tell you that you can't do things, but you'll find out that you can, if you'll just learn the techniques.'" That moment cemented Maurer's relationship with Jernigan, who would lead him to Notre Dame and help him grow into a leader who offered hope and opportunity to countless others as president of the National Federation of the Blind. A Sense of Possibility Maurer, who was born prematurely, became blind shortly after birth when he was overexposed to oxygen. He grew up in Boone, Iowa, in a family of six children, where money was tight, and he and his siblings held odd jobs to help make ends meet. He began by baking bread and selling it around the neighborhood, then opened a business selling garter belts designed to help pregnant women wear stockings more comfortably. He became involved with the Iowa Commission for the Blind, where members encouraged Maurer to think about further education, even arranging for him to take the college entrance exam in Braille. Grilling burgers was just the start of his hands-on, can-do education. In a group-sponsored shop class, he learned how to overhaul a car engine. "I did it because the guys at the program told me, 'if you want to do something, we'll help you learn how to do it,'" Maurer says. He first considered attending St. John's University in Minnesota after a parish priest urged him to visit. But Jernigan suggested he consider Notre Dame and helped him find a scholarship when he was accepted. Embracing the Power of Ideas Maurer, who lived in Sorin Hall, was used to navigating city streets with a cane, but, after arriving on campus, he had to learn his way around all over again. "It was magnificent fun and also scary as all get-out," he recalls. "I got some people to tell me where things were some of the time. I had to wander around quite a bit to figure out where I was going." Initially he planned to study mechanical engineering, but a talk with Jernigan after the first semester nudged him in another direction. "He told me, 'You can be an engineer and you can build things and they'll be good, but if you really want to change the course of society, you need to study the Great Books,'" Maurer says. So Maurer enrolled in the General Program (now the Program of Liberal Studies), exploring a variety of academic fields with his classmates. "The people in the program were fun, they were curious, they were challenging, many of them had read quite a bit," he says, "and the books were of a wide enough range that you got the idea that one discipline isn't enough, that you needed to develop a comprehensive view of the world." This perspective, he says, helped him believe that he could create change, paving the way for his work as a civil rights attorney and his role with the National Federation of the Blind. Learning to Lead After graduating from Notre Dame and earning a law degree at Indiana University, Maurer handled a variety of cases dealing with employment law, including some that dealt with discrimination based on blindness. The National Federation of the Blind sometimes hired him to handle cases, and Jernigan, who had become the organization's leader, convinced him to join as legal counsel. Over time Jernigan helped Maurer hone his leadership abilities and invited him to consider serving as president. He was elected in 1986 and set a record by leading the organization until 2014. During his tenure he oversaw construction of the Jernigan Institute, which offers education, services, and products for the blind. He tackled a variety of other initiatives such as putting a blind driver in a car on the Daytona Motor Speedway-memorable experiences in a long career of service. "When do you do something like that?" Maurer says. "You can't try everything all at the same time, when do you need a new challenge, and how do you bring the resources together to make this challenge happen? These are the things you need to learn how to do if you're going to run an organization." Beyond managing multiple projects and priorities, Maurer drew on the power of ideas to help drive change. "The president has to figure out how to put together dramatic, challenging texts that say to people, 'there's something you don't know that we can do together to make the world a better place than it's been so far, and here's how we'll get there,'" he says. Now, as he reflects on his work to help the blind, Maurer credits Notre Dame with inspiring him to make a positive impact. "There were lots of us when we got to college who wanted to change the world. We wanted it to be different, we wanted it to be better," he says. "In my life I've done that. The inspiration I got from the university was part of it. I learned not to give up on the notion that we can build a world that is more interesting and fun and accepting, and that includes a belief system that supports people. "Blindness is often a hidden matter. People who become blind often don't want to tell people. They don't know what to do with their lives and what the future can be. Tell them to get in touch with us, because we can help them. We're in the business of hope." ---------- Giving a Dream One of the great satisfactions in life is having the opportunity to assist others. Consider making a gift to the National Federation of the Blind to continue turning our dreams into reality. A gift to the NFB is not merely a donation to an organization; it provides resources that will directly ensure a brighter future for all blind people. Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or beneficiary . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first-class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB planned giving officer. ---------- A Review of Friendships in the Dark: A Blind Woman's Story of the People and Pets Who Light up her World by Donna W. Hill From the Editor: This book review was initially published on Goodreads and to Donna's blog at . Donna Hill is a member of our affiliate in Pennsylvania, and Phyllis Campbell is a member in Virginia. Here is Donna's review: When you read the subtitle of Friendships in the Dark, what do you think you'll be getting? Stories about great people? Great animals? If so, you would be correct; this book has awesome dogs, cats, and people in spades. It's an excellent read on so many levels-not the least of which is that it gives us a glimpse into the world of America's "Greatest Generation" from the perspective of someone who witnessed its realities as a child. Each chapter begins with a quote-always a crowd-pleaser for me. My favorites are: one, "No one ever gets far, unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day," by Elbert Hubbard. Two, "Hope against hope, and ask till you receive," by James Montgomery. Three, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall," by Confucius. If you stumbled over the part about a "blind woman," however, you may be wary, worried that you just don't want to read something that makes you feel sorry for someone's problems or that, whatever compensations that may have come into this woman's life, you would find small comfort in them. If that's the case, my sympathies, because you are woefully off base. "I have never felt cheated of the rich beauty the world has to give," writes Campbell, who was born totally blind, "For as long as I can remember, I have reached out to the world around me, giving and taking all the good things life has to offer." Friendships in the Dark is the story of exultant joy in the midst of life's challenges, the power of dedicated teachers, humor, and a casual honesty brought to life for the reader by a master writer. Campbell's prose is playful, happy without being sappy, poignant without being morose, a perfectly balanced view into the best of family, community, and the triumphant splendor of the human spirit. Phyllis Campbell was a child living on a Virginia farm during WWII, the youngest of four children. It's a home filled with love, concern for a brother going off to war, and the determination of a mother that her girls were going to be successful and independent, despite what the neighbors think. Yes, Phyllis wasn't the first blind kid in the family. Seven years her senior, Inez was also blind, and she teaches Phyllis Braille and awakens in her a love of reading that would guide her throughout her life. When it's time for Phyllis to join her sister at Virginia's residential school for the blind, their older sister Fay gets a job there to be with them. Six-year-old Phyllis falls ill and experiences the problems that faced children needing procedures at a time when the doctors were overseas. Soon her father leaves the farm he loves and takes a job in town so the family can be closer. The cows and horses can't come, but can her parents bring young Phyllis's beloved dog and cat? Campbell shows us dogs and cats like no one else can-how they interact differently with blind and deaf children, how they befriend mentally ill patients at the hospital where her father works, and how they purr and wag their way into even the most reluctant hearts. This is the story of a young girl growing into a mature, loving, talented, and independent woman; the story of how music, flowers, and a dog bring that woman and the love of her life together; and the story of countless improbable but true ways that dogs and cats play vital roles in the lives of their people. It is also the story of how a guide dog named Leer gives a woman independence even as she loses sight of its true meaning. There is sadness, but Phyllis is optimistic and confident from the beginning, largely protected from the humiliation, despair, and isolation many blind people experience. Her story is a reminder to those who have experienced it and an awakening to those who haven't of the incredible joy which is possible when we reach out to one another as equals, embrace family and community, and are reassured that, whether or not our prayers are answered, they are always heard. Phyllis Campbell, a member of the NFB Writers' Division who writes two bi-monthly columns for the Our Special magazine (National Braille Press), serves as organist at Faith Lutheran Church in historic downtown Staunton, Virginia. She teaches piano and voice, specializing in Braille music. Born in Amherst County, Virginia, Phyllis moved to Staunton at age seven. She is a graduate of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind and went on to study at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Dunsmore Business College in Staunton. She took further courses from the Hadley School for the Blind (Winnetka, Illinois). In 1989 she received their Lifelong Learning Award. She has worked as a music teacher, peer counselor, computer tutor, and as youth transition coordinator. Phyllis has been writing since the 60s. Her first novel was Come Home My Heart (Avalon Books, 1986). Friendships in the Dark (Brett Books, 1996), her memoir about growing up blind, was picked up by St. Martin's Press (1997) and translated into Chinese (Sea Breeze, China, 1998). Who Will Hear Them Cry? and A Place to Belong were self-published in 2012. Her most recent release is the suspense novel Out of the Night (2014), available from Smashwords as electronic downloads in a variety of file types including .mobi (Kindle), .epub (Apple, Nook, Sony, etc.) and .rtf (accessible for readers with print disabilities): . Or, find it on Amazon at . Come Home My Heart and Friendships in the Dark are available on BARD. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Joanne Wilson] Dr. Joanne Wilson Retires Another Jernigan Pioneer Enters a New Phase of Life by Jim Omvig From the Editor: Joanne Wilson is one of the finest Federationists I've ever known. She is friendly, outgoing, energetic, and inspirational. Her brains and her energy have served the Federation well, and it is fitting that a friend such as Jim Omvig take on the task of sharing a little about Joanne in these pages. But before we get to Jim, the first memory I have of meeting Joanne was on a convention elevator. Almost every Federationist who attends a national convention has an elevator story, but the elevator Joanne and I shared stopped between floors, and one of the passengers was quite upset and scared. My job was to calm him down and to work on using the telephone in the elevator to get us help. Now I wasn't the first Federationist to hold Joanne's new baby (more about her in Jim's article), but I bet I was the first person other than Joanne to hold her while on a stuck elevator. Such is my claim to fame. Here is what Jim has to say about a wonderful person who has blessed us with so much of her time, talent, energy, and enthusiasm: Dr. Joanne Wilson of the Federation's National Center staff in Baltimore retired as of December 31, 2014. Newer members of the Federation, newer Monitor readers, newer chapter members, or newer state or national convention attendees are more than likely familiar with her recent life as a National Office staff member but probably not with her earlier years. Newer readers may not think of her as one of the Jernigan Pioneers. She joined our national staff in March of 2005 and among other things has served as head of our Affiliate Action unit; as a leader of many seminars both in Baltimore and at national conventions; as a presenter about Federation philosophy and training at various functions around the country; as an advocate with US congressmen and senators at many of our Washington Seminars; and as one of our national representatives at many state conventions through the years. All would agree that she is a wonderful woman and a fine leader. This all sounds terrific, doesn't it? But there's more, much more. So, now, as Paul Harvey used to say, "I want to tell you the rest of the story." This is what one might call a teachable moment. I urge those of you who are newly blind, parents of a blind child, or the friend of someone who has not adjusted effectively to his or her blindness, to dig in your mental heels and read and re-read this profile until you understand and believe. Joanne Wilson was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 29, 1946. She was Joanne Zeihan (pronounced Zion). She tells me that, by the time she was three years old, it was clear to her parents and her doctor that she had a severe visual impairment. Her problem turned out to be retinitis pigmentosa (RP). For those who are not familiar with this eye disease, it causes a gradual narrowing of the field of vision (tunnel vision), a degeneration of the retina itself, and also what is commonly referred to as "night blindness." One who has RP can see fairly well outside in good daylight, but, when you come indoors, you are almost instantly totally blind. And of course it ultimately leads to total blindness. Joanne's parents knew nothing about blindness. They wanted to help, but they didn't know what to do. They had originally come from Webster City, Iowa, and, after they learned about Joanne's poor eyes, they reasoned that a young visually impaired child would probably have a much better chance for decent help in rural Iowa than in the hustle and bustle of Chicago. So, when they got the chance, which was when Joanne was seven years old, they returned home to Iowa. What a fateful decision that turned out to be! Kenneth Jernigan would also come to Iowa only five years later. Joanne describes her childhood as dreadful. She started school in a parochial school and attended it until the time came for high school. Her vision continued to deteriorate, but the school had no help for her. She read print very slowly and spent an inordinate number of hours reading each day just trying to keep up with her fellow students. She confesses that, because of her tunnel vision and night blindness, she also developed an intense fear that she would trip and fall and either hurt herself or be embarrassed in front of others. And every time she had to go to an unfamiliar place, she worried whether there would be sufficient lighting for her. And also of course, as many of us with failing vision did, she faked sight whenever she thought she could get away with it. This bleak pattern of life continued throughout her elementary, Catholic schooling, her attendance at Webster City Public High School, and another two years when she attended Webster City Junior College. But an Iowa Commission for the Blind Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Don Bell, began visiting her and trying to convince her that she should come to a new school for blind adults in Des Moines. This new school to which Bell referred was the new Orientation and Adjustment Center for Blind Adults that Kenneth Jernigan had established in 1960 as a part of the Iowa Commission for the Blind. But Joanne wouldn't come. She didn't want to be around those blind people. If she would be walking home from school and see Bell's car at her parents' home, she would go somewhere else and stay away until he was gone. But finally in the fall of 1965 she relented and agreed to come to a one-day event at the Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, where this new commission director, Kenneth Jernigan, was holding what he called College Day for the commission-sponsored college students. This was the day when, at age nineteen, Joanne Wilson was introduced to a new philosophy of blindness and also learned about the National Federation of the Blind. This was the day when her life began to change completely and forever. Joanne Wilson Meets Kenneth Jernigan By this time Kenneth Jernigan had established what he called Commission for the Blind College Day each fall. He wanted to have the chance to prepare blind clients for their college years. But he also wanted to use the day to recruit current college students to the Orientation and Adjustment Center if they had not previously had the chance to attend it. Counselor Don Bell knew this and pressed hard to get Joanne to attend, which she finally did. Joanne says, "The day was amazing. The commission's conference room was full of students. I had never had much of anything to be happy about, but these students were laughing and joking and teasing one another and having a great time. And Dr. Jernigan and other commission staff members were also a significant part of the fun." Joanne also confesses this heartfelt emotion, "I found the students I met actually to be free inside, and they were not worried about their blindness. They were not all wadded up inside like I was." A part of the custom of College Day also had to do with the evening meal. After the long, hard day of work and fun, Dr. Jernigan typically entertained the students for the evening meal at an elegant place called the Embassy Club. Counselor Don Bell arranged it so that Joanne Wilson sat next to Dr. Jernigan at dinner. Ingenious! I'm sure that some of you old timers have had the experience of being worked over for an hour or two by Dr. Jernigan. Think about it! When the dinner was over, Joanne had one more major problem with which to deal. It was now totally dark, and, because of her night blindness, she couldn't see a thing. Somehow she had to get back to the commission, where she would sleep that night. What to do? She finally accepted an offer and took the arm of a totally blind student who was a trained cane user and let herself be led. The trained white cane user who had led the helpless, frightened Joanne was Federationist Ramona Walhof. After the entire day, and then after that last humbling experience with which to end it, Joanne began to think. She tells me that that day she had also met and had instantly become friends with another untrained college student, Mary Ellen Halverson. Eventually they talked and made a pact: "If you will go to the Orientation Center, so will I. These students who have had the Jernigan training obviously have something, and we need it too. And this National Federation of the Blind that they all talk about really sounds neat." So the decision was made. Joanne Wilson became a Kenneth Jernigan student at the Iowa Orientation Center in June of 1966, following the completion of her second year at Webster City Junior College. She continued to be a center student for the next nine months. It would be impossible for me to detail those nine months of training in this article. Suffice it to say here that during those nine months of what later came to be called structured discovery learning, Joanne Wilson's life was changed completely and forever. She became personally empowered; she knew what it felt like to be free; and she also developed a passion for justice for the blind, and that deep passion continues to this day as evidenced by her many years of volunteer work in the National Federation of the Blind. It should also be noted that Joanne and Mary Ellen Halverson remain close friends to this day. I will summarize the next forty-eight years of this blind woman's life. She graduated from the Iowa Center in March of 1967 and immediately enrolled at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. While she was a center student, she determined that she wanted to be a public school elementary teacher, and it was with this goal in mind that she entered Iowa State in March. (Iowa State operates on the quarter system, which explains college classes beginning then.) The Jernigan alternative techniques worked splendidly for her, and that part of the college life was no problem. But there was another problem: a big one. When it came time for her to arrange for practice teaching, the dean of education said she could not do it. "Since you're blind, you won't ever be able to get a job anyway, so why go to the trouble?" She finally settled him down to discuss the issue and asked, "If I find a school that will allow me to practice teach, will you send me?" The Dean agreed that he would, so Joanne got hold of Dr. Jernigan for help in finding a school that would accept her. She knew that by this time he and the Iowa Commission for the Blind had become famous in Iowa, so she assumed that he could help. What she didn't know was that he had also become an active Lion in the Des Moines Downtown Lions Club and that the superintendent of the Urbandale, Iowa School District was also a club member. Dr. Jernigan spoke with his club friend, and the practice teaching assignment was arranged. And there is even more to this story. The Iowa State University Department of Education had tried for several years to get Urbandale to accept its education students for practice teaching assignments, since it was one of the finer schools in the state, but Urbandale would not agree. After it accepted Joanne Wilson and she performed splendidly, it also began routinely to accept sighted Iowa State students for their practice teaching assignments. The year 1969 was a very big year in the life of our heroine. She successfully completed practice teaching; after many interviews she got that first teaching job - teaching second grade right there in Ames, Iowa; and she got married to Joseph Fernandes, an Iowa State professor. She taught second grade for two years, and then she switched to fourth for another two. Joanne was the second blind Iowan to secure a public school teaching job in an elementary school. The first, also helped greatly by Kenneth Jernigan, was Judy Young. (For this entire story, see my article, "An Affectionate Validation," in the November 1995 issue of the Braille Monitor.) Joanne says, "By this time I was having babies, so I needed to stay home and be a mom." She quit her fourth-grade teaching job. (A little later I'll touch briefly upon the fantastic story of the birth of the last, the fifth, baby.) But even with busy motherhood, her passion for justice for the blind did not wane. She helped organize an Ames Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa and became its first president. She was also elected as one of the vice presidents of the NFB of Iowa. Through these years she did what she could to help other blind people and also to support Dr. Jernigan and the Iowa Commission. In 1978 Joanne's then husband was offered a teaching position at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, and the couple and their children moved South. Joanne went on to tell me what I and others like us had already experienced. She said, "Dr. Jernigan and others always told us that Iowa is different and better than other state rehab programs, but I'm not so sure I believed it. Since the Iowa Commission for the Blind was so fantastic, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that all state services these days would be just as good?" But she learned when she got to Ruston that Louisiana services and conditions for the blind were absolutely atrocious. So, as Joanne would naturally have done, she involved herself immediately in the activities of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana. But what do you know: The Federation affiliate itself turned out to be no better than other programs for the blind in that state. A lesser woman than Joanne might simply have given up and busied herself being a mom, but not our friend, colleague, and fellow Federationist. She thought, "I'm really needed here." So she joined the affiliate. Suffice it to say that she saw that both the affiliate itself and state services for the blind needed fixing, so she decided to do it. Think about it: She had worked on new membership and chapter-building for a couple of years "lying on her sofa" and talking on the phone for hours and hours, convincing people that they should join and participate. By the time of the 1982 state convention, her new recruits showed up, and she won the presidency. Yes, she won, but there were problems. She worked vigorously for the next two years building the affiliate and strengthening the membership. By the time of the 1984 national convention in Phoenix, she was able to set another record. She brought 149 Louisiana registrants to the convention-by far the largest registration Louisiana, or virtually any other state, had ever brought. In 1984, when Joanne came to Phoenix, she was very pregnant with her fifth child. Actually, she probably shouldn't have come at all. During the night before opening session, she went into labor. Her fifth child, Jennica, was born at a Phoenix birthing center. But Joanne was so proud of all of the new members she had brought to the convention that she vowed to be present at opening session to introduce them. So she registered baby Jennica so that, when she proudly responded to the president's request for Louisiana in the Roll Call of States, the Louisiana affiliate record attendance that year was actually 150, not the 149 I mentioned earlier. All five of Joanne's children attended conventions from birth to adulthood. What a record of pride and accomplishment! Also her first national convention was in 1966 when she was an Iowa Orientation Center student. Then, because of college and teaching and because her passion was not yet as intense as it ultimately became, her attendance at national conventions was sporadic before she moved to Ruston. But she has attended every national convention since that time. In the Federation we frequently speak almost religiously about dedication, commitment, and sacrifice. Here they are. LCB Is Established "I'm free! I know what it feels like to be free, and, if I can have this freedom, why shouldn't all blind people have the same chance as I?" Joanne hadn't been in Ruston long before she realized just how bad adult state services for the blind really were. So, as she worked on building the affiliate and other activities, she also began to dream. Before long, other things began to fall into place. Having been trained by Dr. Jernigan in Iowa, she knew what adjustment-to-blindness services could and should be. Her notion always was, "If I could receive such fantastic services, why shouldn't others have the same chance?" So she began thinking and dreaming about, not just repairing the disastrous existing state services, but actually trying to fix them. She mused, "Why not establish a new, privately run orientation and adjustment center, based upon the Iowa model, right here in Ruston? I know what a center needs to be, and it could be managed and run by the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana." In the spring of 1985, when Joanne was working with members in the Louisiana State Legislature to improve conditions for the blind in the state, she met a state representative named Mary Landrieu, who later became a US Senator. Joanne told Representative Landrieu of her dream, and she arranged a meeting with then Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. They met, talked, planned, and, when the meeting ended, Governor Edwards told Ms. Landrieu to put a line item in his budget for Joanne's center, and it was done. Also in the spring of 1985, I was working hard at my desk in Anchorage, Alaska, one morning when my friend Joanne called and asked: "Jim, how do I set up a nonprofit corporation to run an orientation center?" "Joanne," I replied, "You are truly in luck. I have just finished re- doing my articles of incorporation and my bylaws for the Alaska Center for Blind Adults. If you like, I'll send you copies," and I did. I gather she used them in Louisiana. Then things moved rapidly. When Joanne was at the 1985 NFB National Convention in Louisville, she learned that the Louisiana Legislature had approved the governor's request for her funding. Using the NFB network of friends, she had already identified and spoken with some possible startup staff members. She had been referred to Jerry and Merilynn Whittle and Susanne Mitchell of South Carolina. They talked. And Joanne says they were all willing to dream and to gamble. They knew Joanne had only a one-year budget, but they were Federationists with dreams and a lot of guts, and they were willing to take the risk. The result of the dream, the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB), opened its doors on October 1, 1985. LCB started with a little rented house for offices and classrooms, and she also rented apartments for the students. That first teaching team was Joanne, Jerry Whittle, Merilynn Whittle, and Susanne Mitchell. How the world has changed since then. Before long Joanne needed a student activity center. By this time the people and businesses of Ruston were so excited about the new Center for the Blind that they pitched in with dollars and the actual hands-on labor to build it. And LCB flourished. Two other Federation affiliates got excited about what Joanne had done in Louisiana, so private, nonprofit centers were established in Colorado and Minnesota, based on the Louisiana model. Before very many years had passed, Joanne had purchased new buildings and new apartments for the Center, and also the staff was filled out completely with highly qualified Federationists from around the country. Joanne says, "I learned how to do it from those who had walked before me." In March of 1991 Joanne married Harold Wilson, and the two have worked together as a team ever since to make things better for the blind of America and the world. Part of that service was Joanne's presidency of the NFB of Louisiana for twenty-seven years and as a member of the national board of directors for fourteen years, a notable contribution. Once the adult center itself was up and running well, Joanne began to think of expansion. She added kids programs for the summers: the Buddies Program for younger children, and the STEP program for youths of high school age. She then added an infants and toddlers program and a program for seniors. A New University Training Program Is Established Beginning as far back as the 1950s, university programs to train and educate future teachers of the blind were established around the country. But the sad truth is that they were all operated on the tired, old theory that the blind are helpless and pitiful creatures who mostly need to be taken care of and who can never truly expect to be independent or self- sufficient. And the follow-up sad truth is that, therefore, the people who graduated from those programs mostly hurt rather than helped blind people. Ruston also has a fine college, Louisiana Tech University. So in the early 1990s Joanne began discussions with University officials about the possibility of starting a teacher training program for professionals in the blindness field right there at Tech. She reasoned that, if the Federation's positive philosophy about blindness worked so dramatically in adult orientation centers, why wouldn't it be equally effective in training future teachers of the blind? Those positive teachers could then pass on their understanding and beliefs about blindness to their students. So by 1996 another of Joanne's dreams became a reality: she established the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech. She began with one major program: teaching what we call travel, what the professionals call orientation and mobility (O and M) to students from throughout the country. Her tech program was different from all of the others in the country in two critical respects. First, it used the truth about blindness as developed and proven by the National Federation of the Blind as its belief system. And, second, it accepted blind as well as sighted students into its program. Immediately it flourished. And before long a research program was added. The Institute has been directed by such notables as Dr. Fred Schroeder and Ron Gardner and for the past many years Dr. Edward Bell. In recent times it has also established a program to train teachers of blind children and another to train rehabilitation teachers. A New Professional Certification Is Established There were two major problems with the traditional professional certification program offered by AER (the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired). First, since the philosophy of the traditional schools was so poor and so negative, one certified by them could be expected to hurt rather than help blind students. And, second, since the philosophy about blindness of those running that certification was so negative, they refused to certify blind travel teachers at all. Joanne, always determined to fix things, talked with Dr. Jernigan and other Federation leaders about the possibility of establishing our own professional certification. It took some time and some convincing, but by 2000 Joanne was able to persuade the Federation leadership to do it. I recall well sitting at a meeting in Baltimore in Dr. Maurer's office in 2000 when we discussed the new certification and what we would call it. Finally Dr. Maurer said in the discussion, "What would you say we're going to do?" Joanne answered, "It's simple: we're going to certify blindness professionals," so Dr. Maurer followed thoughtfully with "Then why don't we just call it the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB)?" and we did. I served as its president for the first several years to get it up and running and accepted in the states, and I happily continue as a board member to this day. Presidential Appointments And Other Honors In 2001 Joanne Wilson received not one but two Presidential appointments. First, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as commissioner of the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration of the US Department of Education; and, second, she was appointed by President Bush for a five-year term to one of the fifteen positions on the President's Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled. So she resigned from the NFB of Louisiana presidency and the national board, and she and Harold left Ruston and moved to Washington. Joanne worked it out so that Pam Allen, one of her former LCB students, became the second ever director of LCB. Pam has done a fabulous job since she assumed her duties. And Pam's husband Roland is also a valued member of the team. As I began working on this article to honor Joanne, I asked Pam how many adult students have been trained at LCB in its nearly thirty years of existence. After doing some checking, Pam tells me that there have been more than eleven hundred students at the adult training center. Just think about the lives that have been dramatically touched by this remarkable institution and the hundreds more who have been touched by the programs for babies, children, teens, seniors, and university students. And it continues its fine work every day of every year. Sometime during those Washington years, Joanne received two additional honors. First she was presented with an honorary doctorate from Menlo College in Atherton, California; and, a little later she was honored similarly by Louisiana Tech University. In 2005 the now Dr. Joanne Wilson left her federal position in Washington and joined our National Center staff in Baltimore. And it was there that she performed her recent work for us. Sometime in the 1970s, Dr. Jernigan began talking about "The Pioneers" when he was discussing his early Iowa Commission students, and we made brief recorded clips, which were sent to radio stations across the country. Then we were referred to as "The Pioneers," and Joanne was one of them. As I write this article in early 2015, Joanne and Harold spend part of their time back in Ruston and part in Alexandria, Virginia. Harold continues to manage his Virginia vending facility. But they are not finished giving to the cause yet. The last I heard, they were working with others to create a new NFB of Virginia chapter in Alexandria. And as I wrap up and think deeply about Joanne Wilson, I am reminded of a marvelous quotation about "Giving" penned in a work called The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. He writes: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. There are those who give little of the much which they have-and they give that for recognition; and their hidden desire makes these gifts unwholesome. There are those who have little, and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty. There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor do they give with mindfulness of virtue; they give as in yonder valley the flower breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these, God speaks, and from behind their eyes, He smiles upon the earth. For it is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding. Joanne, thank you for your generosity of giving through understanding, and God bless you! ---------- Window into 1957: Pima County Club of the Blind by Anna Kresmer From the Editor: The following is another in our series of historical documents in the Jacobus tenBroek Library. Anna Kresmer is the librarian for the Jacobus tenBroek Library, and she provides an introduction and some historical context for this document: The 1950s were a tumultuous time for the National Federation of the Blind. Not only would the decade see the Federation grow larger than it ever had before, with forty-seven state affiliates, it would also see the very foundations of the organization shaken by what would come to be known as the NFB Civil War. Perhaps the best example of both the highs and lows that the organized blind of America experienced in this decade can be found in the records for a comprehensive history of the NFB that never came to fruition. Readers of the Braille Monitor may remember that back in January 2013, we highlighted a letter from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek in 1955 asking affiliate presidents to appoint a state historian and submit detailed histories of the organized blind movement in their states. It was his intention to compile and edit these documents into an extensive history to mark the occasion of the NFB's twentieth anniversary. Unfortunately this appeal went out shortly before the internal struggles of the Civil War began to heat up. As a result this book was never written and, until recently, it was unclear whether any affiliate histories were ever submitted. As so often seems to happen in the NFB archives, while looking for something else entirely, a cache of chapter histories sent to the president's office in 1957 was discovered in the Jacobus tenBroek Collection. It appears that, instead of submitting histories at the state level, some affiliates chose to let their individual chapters speak for themselves. These documents provide a unique look at the formation and activities of the NFB at the local level in a time when the outlook of and expectations for the blind were very different from what they are today. Each story is different and yet very familiar. Here is an example from the NFB of Arizona, known at the time as the Arizona Association of the Blind. Please note that writing styles have changed since 1957. To preserve the historical authenticity of the document, the text, including spelling errors, has been transcribed exactly as it appeared in the original: December 1, 1957 PIMA COUNTY CLUB OF THE BLIND TUCSON, ARIZONA HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION The Pima County Club of the Blind grew out of the attempt on the part of a few blind people and a few sighted friends to provide social activity and to teach Braille and crafts to some other blind persons in the community. It grew rapidly at first, as it was about the only outlet for many blind people in the immediate area. It began in 1946 and has continued to the present. Its membership fluctuated considerably, but its average membership stays at approximately twenty-five. In 1947 Arizona blind began to hear of the National Federation. The Tucson club, which by that time had adopted the name of Tucson Club of Adult Blind, became interested in the activities of the NFB, and we began reaching out to contact other blind people in the state with a view to forming a state organization which could then become affiliated with the NFB. Contact was made with a blind attorney in Prescott, Arizona, who, with the help of a sighted friend, Mrs. Jessie Griswold, had formed a small club in that town. Mr. Rush probably deserves more credit than any one [sic] in the state for the formation of the Arizona State Association of the Blind. He made numerous trips at his own expense to Tucson and Phoenix in an effort to interest people in a statewide organization. Richard Stotera was at that time the first president of the Tucson club and joined Mr. Rush in his organizational work in Phoenix. By 1947 three clubs were established and the state association was formed and affiliated with NFB. Since that time two more clubs have been added so that the Pima County Club of the Blind is one of five affiliated organizations. Unfortunately as the Tucson club became larger, it drew in people who were more interested in social activities than in any political or economic advancement. More recently, however, emphasis has again been placed on the more serious aspects-- community and national life as it affects blind citizens. Richard Stotera, who had been out of the state for several years, returned in the summer of 1956 and was elected president of the club in January, 1957. The following month, February, the club, which had lapsed into a very loosely organized form of social club, was reorganized under the name of the Pima County Club of the Blind and given a constitution, a copy of which is enclosed. A brief glance at the Constitution will indicate the aims of the present organization. Since January, 1957, the club has lost two members through serious illness but has gained three who promise to be active, and at this time another blind person is seeking membership. The total enrollment is now twenty-five. Members range in age from twenty to sixty- five or seventy. These are people who come from various walks of life and have varied interests. It is a representative group, a cross-section of the blind of the community, and a serious effort is being made to integrate blind people into community life and through the state and national organizations to interest them in assuming their places as self-respecting citizens. ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION The Pima County Club meets on the second Thursday of each month except July and August. Meetings usually open with a prayer by one of the members; the business meeting usually lasts an hour, during which time an effort is being made to acquaint all members with the activities of the NFB and any community movements in which the blind may take part; meetings usually close with a period of entertainment, consisting for the most part of musical programs provided by various sorority and high school groups. A great deal of credit should be given to the Tucson Downtown Lions Club, which provides transportation to and from club meetings for those who need it and who are becoming increasingly amenable to the idea that working with the blind is far more beneficial to all concerned than working for the blind. Respectfully submitted, Richard Stotera, president Pima County Club of the Blind ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Donna W. Hill poses for camera crew from the ABA Journal] Local Author to Be Featured in ABA Journal From the Editor: This article was originally published December 12, 2014, in the Wyoming County Press Examiner (Tunkhannock, PA) print edition: The ABA Journal, the publication of the American Bar Association, did a photo shoot this past week in Auburn Township for an upcoming article featuring local author Donna W. Hill. Hill, author of the novel, The Heart of Applebutter Hill, is an advocate for the full inclusion of people with visual impairments in society. She visited Lackawanna Trail and Elk Lake High Schools earlier this fall and is a consultant to the law firm Disability Rights Advocates, which filed a suit against the electronic library Scribd on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind in July. "Failing to make websites accessible to people with print disabilities is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act," Hill said, "But there's no remedy for digital access issues equivalent to building permits which ensure that new brick and mortar structures have wheelchair ramps and elevators. The only way the law is enforced is when someone files a complaint, so it's always after the fact, and it's harder for everyone that way." Despite advances in technology making it possible for books, magazines, and other publications to be made available in formats that blind people can access with text-to-speech software (aka screen readers) and digital Braille displays, only 5 percent of books are available in accessible formats. This book famine, along with an increasing problem with website accessibility, is one of the major contributors to the high unemployment rate among otherwise able-bodied blind adults, most of whom have never had a full-time job. Scribd boasts 40 million titles for a monthly subscription fee of $8. In contrast, only 80,000 titles are included in the Talking Book Program, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (a division of the Library of Congress). Learning Ally and Bookshare, which cater to students with print disabilities, have circa 80,000 and 300,000 titles, respectively. Hill, who is not a plaintiff in the action due to the restrictions in Scribd's terms of service, tried to use the Scribd site to advance her writing career. The Heart of Applebutter Hill is carried by the electronic book aggregator Smashwords, and Smashwords placed it with Scribd, along with other titles included in Smashwords's extended distribution program. Hill, along with the other Smashwords authors, received a free one-year subscription to Scribd and was looking forward to networking with other authors by reading and reviewing their books on her website. Scribd, however, is inaccessible and has not responded to requests to fix the problems. "It feels so unfair," Hill said, "Promoting a book is really difficult for anyone, but there are so many examples like this, where I can't even take advantage of the benefits other writers have, simply because so many websites don't bother using the series of ones and zeros that would make them accessible." ---------- The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund by Allen Harris From the Editor: Allen Harris is the chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Fund Committee and was one of the people who came up with the idea of honoring our former president and longtime leader by establishing a program to promote attendance at the national convention, where so much inspiration and learning occur. Here is Allen's announcement about the 2015 Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Program: Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the world. The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay all the costs. Last year most of the sixty grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per individual. We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the amazing experience that is convention week. Who is eligible? Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply. How do I apply for funding assistance? 1. You write a letter giving your contact information, and your local NFB information, your specific amount requested, and then explain why this is a good investment for the NFB. The points to cover are listed below. 2. You contact your state president in person or by phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the president when to expect your request letter by email, and mention the deadline. 3. You (or a friend) send your letter by email to your state president. He or she must add a president's recommendation and then email both letters directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee. Your president must forward the two letters no later than April 15, 2015. Your letter to Chairperson Allen Harris must cover these points: . Your full name, and all your telephone numbers and label them - cell phone, home, office, other person (if any). . Your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. . Your state affiliate and state president; your chapter and chapter president, if you attend a chapter. . Your personal convention mentor and provide that person's phone number. . Your specific request: Explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself. The body of your letter should answer these questions: How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to attend a national convention? What would you receive; what can you share or give? You can include in your letter to the committee any special circumstances you hope they will take into consideration. When will I be notified that I am a winner? If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter with convention details which should answer most of your questions. The committee makes every effort to notify scholarship winners by May 15, but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen. 1. Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your own to reduce the cost.) 2. Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by May 31. 3. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and advisor. 4. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not win a grant this year. How will I receive my convention scholarship? At convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card will be listed in the letter we sent you. The committee is not able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you win a scholarship and to pay your treasury back after you receive your debit or credit card. What if I have more questions? For additional information email the chairman, Allen Harris, at or call his Baltimore, Maryland, office at (410) 659-9314, x2415. Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first convention on the national level and join several thousand active Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We hope to see you in Orlando. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes come from members of the National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee. Chocolate Chip Bars by Wendy Bergman Wendy Bergman is a member and supporter of the NFB. She is also the girlfriend of James Alan Boehn, the secretary of the Tennessee affiliate of the NFB as well as the president of the Tennessee Association of Guide Dog Users (TAGDU). She says about the recipe, "I hope you all enjoy these. I've been making them for my students and family for eleven years or so. There are no nuts in this recipe, for those who have allergies. I tell people, one way to show someone you love them is by using the best, Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. People also like the butterscotch chips in them. Let me know how yours turn out, or if you come up with a fun variation." Ingredients: 1 stick margarine (they turn out better when I use margarine instead of butter) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (do NOT forget this - it's very important) 1 3/4 cups of flour 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips (Ghirardelli blue bag is the best and sometimes on sale) 1/2 bag butterscotch chips (any brand is fine) PAM? spray to grease the bottom of a 9-by-13 inch pan Method: Take stick of margarine out of the refrigerator. Place margarine in microwavable mixing bowl and put into the microwave set on high for exactly twenty-two seconds to melt the margarine a bit. Afterwards, the margarine should be partially melted, but not fully liquid. If it melts too much, you may need to add more flour later. Add white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla to the margarine. Mix with a strong spoon, not an electric mixer. Add the egg, making sure it is mixed completely. Next stir in just 1/2 cup of the flour and the baking soda. Mix completely. The mixture should still be sticky. Now add another 1/2 cup of flour and keep stirring. Finally, add the last 3/4 cup of flour. Dough should be less sticky now. Finally, add most of the 3/4 bag of chocolate chips and the 1/2 bag of butterscotch chips. My Russian friends encouraged me to use my hands to mix these in, a way to put your heart and soul into your cooking (optional, of course). Please leave a handful of chocolate chips nearby in a little cup for later. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan with PAM spray, scoop batter into the pan, and then spray your fingertips with PAM in order to push down the mixture into the pan evenly. Scatter the last few handful(s) of chocolate chips on the top of the mixture in the pan evenly; gently push them onto the top of the cookie bar mix. This makes the bars have the same amount of chocolate and look perfect from the top. Bake for eighteen minutes, though you will want to check to see if they need a few extra minutes. Take them out when they are light brown on top if the top feels rather firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the bars plenty of time to cool before cutting. Cut into squares, size depending how many people you intend this to serve. For smaller kids or dipping into milk or coffee, longer rectangles instead of squares are easier to hold. ---------- Skillet-Fried Cornbread by Loretta Brown Loretta Brown is an active member and supporter of the Stones River Chapter of the NFB. Ingredients: 2 cups self-rising cornmeal 1 egg 1 cup buttermilk 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter (melted) 1 tablespoon shortening (enough to grease the skillet) Method: Mix all ingredients together except shortening. Use shortening to grease the skillet; get the skillet hot. Spoon the mixture out into hot skillet with a large spoon and form into circular patties. Fry each side until golden brown, flipping them like pancakes. Makes about eight patties. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Brenda Johnson] Spinach Salad by Brenda Johnson Brenda Johnson is the wife of Dwight Johnson, the treasurer of the Stones River Chapter in Murfreesboro. She says that the hardest part of making this salad is getting your serving. Ingredients: 1 bag of clean spinach Fresh strawberries (washed and quartered) 1 can of sugar-free mandarin oranges 1/4 cup poppy seed dressing (more if you want) Method: Mix all ingredients together and eat up. ---------- Pasta Salad by Brenda Johnson Ingredients: 1 box of bowtie pasta, cooked according to package directions Chopped chicken, cooked (amount to your preference) 1 can or so of pineapple pieces, drained Grated onion to taste Diced celery to taste Slivered almonds or other nuts, if you like Dressing Ingredients: 2/3 cup white vinegar 2 cups vegetable oil 1 1/4 cups sugar 2 teaspoons dry mustard 2 teaspoons celery seed 2 teaspoons salt Method: Toss all salad ingredients together. In a separate bowl, blend all dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad. It helps to blend in a little mayo; this makes the dressing stick to the pasta. Note the measurements are not precise. This allows for easy adjustments to suit your family's preferences. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: The Meredith Family] Ten Ways to Spice up Your Life by April Meredith April Meredith is the mother of three and the wife of David Meredith. She is a member and supporter of the Stones River Chapter in Murfreesboro. Below I give you simple but creative ways to take your traditional menu favorites and kick them up a notch. After all, a little extra spice is nice! . Deviled Eggs: Instead of an olive, use a jalape?o slice. Another spicy option is to mix in a little wasabi with your mayonnaise, mustard, and egg yolks or add a little cayenne to your paprika mix. . Apple Pie: Instead of the traditional bland pastry, try flattening cinnamon rolls to use as your crust. . Ramen: Spoon in minced garlic and squirt in sriracha sauce to make this college staple more interesting and flavorful. . Water: Mix in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, about one teaspoon of honey, and a pinch of cinnamon into a cup of warm water to transform regular water into a nutritious beverage. Note that the water cannot be too hot or it eliminates the health benefits of the vinegar. . Meatloaf: Whether you mix in, bake on, or serve with catsup, instead use your favorite BBQ sauce. I like the Kraft Bull's-Eye Thick n Spicy. Alternatively I have heard of some people using Heinz 57 or a mixture of catsup and spicy mustard. . Burgers: Whether you prefer soy-based veggie burgers or ground chicken, turkey, or beef, adding a little A-1 Sauce and Worcestershire Sauce will make any burger better. . Hummus: Many hummus recipes call for garlic powder, but in addition also add several heaping teaspoons of minced garlic, giving the hummus an extra pop that goes well with any vegetable or chip. For an additional pop add half a teaspoon of cayenne. . Pizza: Drizzle a little Tabasco or Texas Pete hot sauce on each slice, which will actually motivate you to eat more salad to neutralize the burn. This is one of my favorite suggestions because it not only adds heat but also cuts calories in my diet. . Cornbread: Spoon in three or four tablespoons of cheddar jalape?o nacho cheese into your batter to make loaves or muffins that will soon become a family favorite. For the braver souls with high tolerance out there, instead of the nacho cheese you can add shredded cheddar cheese and ghost peppers chopped and saut?ed in butter. . Chocolate Cake: Most people have heard of chocolate covered coffee beans, but how about coffee infused chocolate cake? Spoon in one tablespoon of your favorite black instant coffee into your batter and mix well. Though not exactly spicy, it will add richness to your chocolate cake recipe that will have your guests wondering what your special secret is. If you don't have instant coffee, you can use one cup of cooled, strong, black liquid coffee in your batter. Using the liquid coffee will make the batter a little runny, which is okay, or you may prefer to add some peanut butter to thicken it. ---------- Fried Ramen by David Meredith David Meredith is the father of three and the husband of April Meredith. He is a school teacher as well as a member and supporter of the Stones River Chapter of the NFB in Murfreesboro. Ramen is the quintessential college food, but here's a way to make it a little more interesting: Ingredients: 1 package instant Ramen 1 tablespoon oil (I prefer grape seed or olive.) Garlic powder to taste Onion powder to taste Method: Take a bag of instant Ramen and boil the noodles until they come apart; do not overcook. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or frying pan. Drain noodles, then toss in wok with flavor packet, adding garlic or onion powder to taste. Toss noodles often to avoid sticking, but cook until thoroughly mixed. Serve on a plate and finish with sriracha sauce, an over easy fried egg, and a few leaves of romaine lettuce. (That's how I like it anyway.) ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Lenora Norman] Savory Cashew Patties by Lenora Norman Lenora Norman is the wife of Steve Norman, who is the editor of The Tennessee Voice, the publication of the NFB of Tennessee. She has been a vegan for almost four years. Ingredients: 1 cup sea-salted cashews 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Chicken Seasoning 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon ground flax seed 2 tablespoons water 1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion and bell pepper 1/4 cup oats 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper Oil to cook them in Method: Mix all ingredients together until texture is blended but not creamy. Heat oil in pan. Spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized portion of mixture into hot oil. Cook on one side and turn. Ensure both sides are browned, or skillet oil sound decreases. Remove from oil and place on paper towel to drain and cool. Serve with favorite side dishes. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Accessibility of Common Core Assessments As students participate in PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career) and Smarter Balanced assessments this spring, we ask that parents, students, and teachers take time to complete the NFB's Common Core assessment online survey. In particular we want to know when and where accessibility and accommodation failures happen so that we can help ensure that any problems are fixed. Please take time to complete this important survey. To learn more about the Common Core State Standards, PARCC, Smarter Balanced, and the NFB's efforts regarding each, see the NFB's Common Core State Standards Testing Accessibility webpage, which can be found at . Fair Wages Now: Many readers will remember that at the 2013 convention of the National Federation of the Blind we heard from Harold and Shelia Leigland. Sheila was a former employee of Goodwill who decided she would not work for the low wages they paid. Harold wanted better wages but was still working for Goodwill. Recently Joy Breslauer, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Montana, sent the following note to President Riccobono: "I am writing to bring to your attention an email I received this morning from Sheila Leigland, one of the delegates from the National Federation of the Blind of Montana with whom you met on January 27. You may remember that her husband, who is blind, currently is employed by an entity which holds a special wage certificate allowing him to be paid subminimum wages. Sheila gave me a few more background details to include in her email below. I send it to you with her permission. 'My husband had a thirty-minute timing at work last July that raised his wages from $4.33 an hour to $7.61 an hour. He had a timing yesterday that took over four hours, and as a result of that timing he is now making $2.75 per hour for the next thirty days, a training wage. A committee of fourteen people revised the way the timing was done. The timing consisted of doing tasks that he does not normally do on his job. He has requested a new timing based on these results. In this timing he was to place five toys in each bag, and he was to find toys that have at least some way in which they were alike or could be matched together. There were items that he couldn't identify, and even some people with vision had no idea what they were. We believe the timing is discriminatory. I don't know of any nondisabled person who would accept this kind of treatment. He has requested another timing, and they have proposed doing a timing to see how many Beanie Babies he can place in bags in thirty minutes. If he doesn't receive an appropriate timing, he will be deciding what his next step will be. He only gets twelve hours at work as it is, and that barely covers his transportation costs, especially at $2.75 an hour. This is an excellent example of why Section 14(C) of the Fair Labor Standards Act needs to be totally abolished.'" Sachin Dev Pavithran Elected Chair of the US Access Board: The US Access Board unanimously elected Sachin Dev Pavithran as its new chair on March 11. Pavithran of Logan, Utah, is program director of the Utah Assistive Technology Program at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities. He was named to the Access Board by President Barack Obama in 2012. "It is an honor to chair an agency that has done so much over the years to make equal access for people with disabilities a reality," Pavithran stated. "Our buildings, transit systems, and information and communication technologies are more accessible and inclusive because of the work of the Board and the guidelines and standards it has established." In addition to his membership on the Access Board, Pavithran serves on the Association of Assistive Technology Act Program's national board, Senator Orrin Hatch's (President Pro Tempore) Disability Advisory Committee, the Research and Development Committee of the National Federation of the Blind, and the National Multicultural Council of the Association of University Centers for Disabilities. The Board also elected as vice chair Sue Swenson, who serves as acting assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the US Department of Education. Board officers serve for a term of one year. The Board is structured to function as a coordinating body among federal agencies and to directly represent the public, particularly people with disabilities. Half of its members are representatives from most of the federal departments. The other half is comprised of members of the public, appointed by the President. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Computers for the Blind: Computers for the Blind (CFTB) is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that strives to provide high-quality refurbished computers with accessibility software that will enable a person who is blind or has low vision to use his or her computer to complete the same tasks as sighted persons. We are celebrating twenty-five years of service to the blindness community and have shipped over 7,400 computers throughout the country. Who qualifies? People with visual impairments that make it impossible to use computers unless they have screen readers or screen magnification installed qualify. They have to be committed to learning how to use the computer as well. What kind of computers do you distribute? Depending on donations, we ship Pentium 4 or Dual-Core - 2GHz computers. The minimum configuration that is shipped is: . Processor - 2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 80 GB hard drive . CD-R/RW and DVD-ROM, sound card, speakers, and broadband network card . Keyboard and mouse . For those with low vision, 17-21 inch LCD monitor; for people who are blind, 15-17 inch LCD monitor For a list of all software included go to our website . Do computers come with any screen-reading software? CFTB Computers have the following software included: . NVDA (Nonvisual Desktop Access)--screen reader software . JAWS trial version--screen reader software . MAGic without speech fully licensed version by Freedom Scientific valued at $395 . Typeability Demo version - typing tutorial. What is the cost to the blind person? The processing fee is as follows: . $110--Desktop with monitor and all the items listed above. No cost for shipping. . $160--Laptop computer with all the items listed above. . Computers generally ship within one week of receiving the processing fee. We accept purchase orders from state agencies that can purchase the computers for the price above. Do you offer any training? We do our best to pair recipients with mentors or service providers if they believe they need training. Scholarships Available: The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) administers a scholarship program for deserving students. Each year individuals who are legally blind can apply for financial awards to support their post-secondary education. Seven scholarships are offered through this program with a potential of eleven recipients. The application can be filled out online at . The 2015 scholarship program began on February 1 and will end on the deadline of May 31, 2015. If you have questions or comments, contact: Tara Annis by telephone at (800) 232-5463, or email at . Monitor Mart The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. For Sale or Trade: I am selling a PAC Mate Omni QX400. I am asking $500 or would be open to trade for the right equipment. Things for which I would trade include a Braille Lite 40, an older Braille embosser, a netbook with carrying case, or a couple of Braille 'n Speaks with disk drive. Contact Melody Edwards or Charles Leanza by phone at (336) 293-7450, or by email at . Beginner Music Courses Taught Completely "By Ear": At Music for the Blind we have beginner courses for over a dozen musical instruments. These courses use no Braille, no print, no music, and no video. This format allows almost anyone to start playing a favorite musical instrument right away with only a standard CD player. Come to our website to hear sample lessons from these courses and see how easy it is to learn this way , or call us at (888) 778-1828. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Fri May 1 23:34:07 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Fri, 1 May 2015 23:34:07 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, May 2015 Message-ID: <201505020634.t426Y7UA004708@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 5 May 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return label enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Centre Hotel] Orlando Site of 2015 NFB Convention The 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 5-10, at the Rosen Centre Hotel at 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Rosen Centre staff only. Call (800) 204-7234. The 2015 room rates are singles, doubles, and twins, $82; and triples and quads, $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before June 1, 2015. The other 50 percent is not refundable. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before June 1, 2015, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. Guest-room amenities include cable television; in-room safe; coffeemaker; hairdryer; and, for a fee, high-speed Internet access. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site spa. The Rosen Centre Hotel offers fine dining at Executive Chef Michael Rumplik's award- winning Everglades Restaurant. In addition, there is an array of dining options from sushi to tapas to a 24-hour deli. The hotel has first-rate amenities and shuttle service to the Orlando airport. The schedule for the 2015 convention is: Sunday, July 5 Seminar Day Monday, July 6 Registration Day Tuesday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day Wednesday, July 8 Opening Session Thursday, July 9 Business Session Friday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND National Convention Preregistration Form Please register online at or use this mail-in form. Print legibly, provide all requested information, and mail form and payment to: National Federation of the Blind Attn: Convention Registration 200 East Wells Street Baltimore, MD 21230 Please register only one person per registration form; however, one check or money order may cover multiple registrations. Check or money order (sorry, no credit cards) must be enclosed with registration(s). Registrant Name ___________________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________________ City _____________________________________ State _____________ Zip ___________ Phone __________________________ Email ____________________________________ ___ I will pick up my registration packet at convention. or ___ The following person will pick up my registration packet: Pickup Name ______________________________________ Number of preregistrations _____ x $25 = ____________ Number of pre-purchased banquet tickets _____ x $55 = ____________ Total = ____________ PLEASE NOTE: 1. Preconvention registration and banquet sales are final (no refunds). 2. All preregistration mail-in forms must be postmarked by May 31. Vol. 58, No. 5 May 2015 Contents Illustration: STEM2U Hits Boston Jumping the Fire by Patti Chang Improving and Augmenting the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and IDEA-A Vision for the Next Twenty-Five Years: Disability and the Law of the Poor by Marc Maurer Television Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: The Way It Was, the Way It Is, and the Way It Will Be by Gary Wunder My West Virginia Experience by Donald C. Capps Blind People and Talking Dogs by Dick Davis Highlighting the Innovative Work of Another Affiliate: The Illinois Internship Program by Patti Chang Is Literacy Really for Everyone?-The Numbers Tell a Different Story by Donna W. Hill Illiterate No More by Ronald A. Owens The Barrier of the Visible Difference by Kenneth Jernigan Go-Carts and Scholarships by April Scurlock My Journey Toward Winning Friends and Influencing Others by Kelsey Nicolay Crafting Your Diamond: The 2015 NOPBC Conference by Carlton Walker Federation Favorites by Joe Ruffalo Recipes Monitor Miniatures STEM2U Hits Boston [PHOTO CAPTION: Isabella Cherin uses a mortar and pestle.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Alan Quan, Alex Brown, and Jack Veliquette examine a taxidermied bear cub.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Harley Fetterman, Kristie Hong, Precious Perez, Gregory Dodge, and the other apprentices leave the museum to enjoy dinner out in Boston.] As an extension of the NFB's National Center for Blind Youth in Science initiative, in partnership with museums and science centers, STEM2U offers participants the opportunity to engage in accessible STEM learning at some of the country's largest museums and science centers. Students will also have the opportunity to provide feedback to staff and educators about how the museum could better meet their nonvisual learning needs. In this way participants will act as both learners and teachers. In March Boston welcomed twenty elementary students in grades three through six, and ten students grades ten through twelve for a weekend of science exploration. The students enjoyed a variety of activities at the Boston Museum of Science, from careful laboratory work involving chemicals and equipment, to tactile examination of fossil and animal specimens. After a long day's work, the group enjoyed the chance to walk around a bit as they headed out to dinner. [PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang and her son Johnathon] Jumping the Fire by Patti Chang From the Editor: Often when we talk about changing attitudes, we are embracing that large segment of humanity called the public, but, more often than we would like, one of our biggest challenges is changing the attitudes of people who make up our family. Has the sighted man who marries a blind woman sold himself short? Has the blind woman who marries the sighted man failed to acknowledge her betters as she pretends to be an equal in the family? These questions are difficult enough to answer in one culture where so many common values are shared, but what happens when, as in America, people of differing cultures and religions become couples, transcending the beliefs of those who raised them and, accepting as normal, people and situations never conceived of by their parents or siblings? How much more difficult is it when one must not only represent the capabilities of a blind person, but also prove herself as a foreigner who married into the family? At one level what is offered here is simply a tale of a busy woman who finds herself even busier; but at a deeper and more emotional level, we see that there is a testing, a determination to see that blindness or its supposed limitations do not take center stage when what belongs there is the celebration of a life and the traditions that must be maintained to recognize the transition of the soul from this plane to another. Patti Chang chairs the NFB Scholarship Committee and is a member of the national Board of Directors. Here is how she tells this remarkable story: Our household is multicultural. I am from a small town in Northern Michigan and am truly named after a dairy company which used to haul our cows' milk to market. My husband possesses dual citizenship--Belizean and American--but is of Chinese ancestry. He was born in Honduras. We raised our children and live in Chicago. This makes for some unusual circumstances. In April of 2013 I traveled to Baltimore to chair our scholarship committee meeting. Everything was ordinary on my trip out: I used my cane to navigate from my home to the airport and checked flight status with VoiceOver on my iPhone. All went according to plan, and then the real work began. Lorraine Rovig, other National Center staff, and I prepared for the committee's arrival by organizing and reviewing files. I used my handy slate and stylus to take notes to train our print readers. But then everything morphed. My husband called to let me know that his ailing father had died and that the funeral would be on Sunday in Belize City, Belize, in Central America. Since our scholarship meeting ends on Saturday evening, I proceeded to book airline travel for my husband Francisco, our children Johnathon and Julia, and me from three different US cities to Belize. My spouse and our daughter traveled to Belize on Wednesday. On Friday, as our scholarship committee work got into full swing, this email waited in my inbox: On Apr 26, 2013, at 12:04 a.m., Francisco Chang wrote: On Sunday Fabian, being the oldest son, and Robert, being the oldest of the grandchildren, will go with the funeral director and pick up Papi's body from the morgue at 8:00 a.m. They will bring the body to Fabian's house. Throughout the whole trip Fabian or Robert will need to talk to Papi's body in Chinese, telling him where he is going, especially if it is over a bridge as water is bad. Up to 10:30 a.m., visitors can come to view the body. Family members can place something personal and special inside Papi's coffin. After 10:30 or 11:00 all the family members will gather together around the coffin in a horseshoe-shaped formation, gather hands, and Juan will lead a prayer. This prayer is not traditional Chinese, but Juan wants to have one. The reason for the horseshoe is because traditionally no one can stand at the feet of the body. Then we all sit together and have a meal with Papi. At about 12:30 p.m. we all go to Holy Redeemer Church in the following order: Fabian family, Francisco family, Juan family, and then Wilfredo family. Mami will be in Francisco's car because we have more room. We will sit in church in that order too. The coffin will be brought into church feet first, with Robert leading, carrying a picture of Papi. When mass begins, two family members will cover Papi's face with a white veil. Then the coffin cover will close. All the male family members will have a black band around the left arm placed halfway. All the daughters-in-law and Mami will wear a small white circular cloth in shape of a flower in their hair that Sunday and for the next forty-nine days. You can sleep without it. The granddaughters will wear a blue one for the next twenty-one days. At the end of those periods the cloth is discarded. After mass Robert will leave carrying the picture in front of the coffin. All the sons and Richard and Chris will be pallbearers. Lisa had hoped Johnathon would be a pallbearer. We all will go to Homeland, a private cemetery up the Western Highway. All family members face away when the coffin is being lowered into the ground. Then all take some soil and throw it into the hole over the coffin. There will be two urns with incense, a pot of tea, and a pot with liquor. One of the urns will be left at the grave, and the other Fabian will take to his house as there is where Papi's spirit will reside as he has that special altar they brought from China for worshipping the ancestors. Fabian will take some of the soil from the grave in the urn. Juan or I will make an announcement to everyone at the cemetery that there will be food at the hotel, but people need to leave after two hours. Then all family members will go back to Fabian's house. Along the way we will stop at the shop so that Fabian can remove the black ribbon that is tied over the entrance to the shop. Before climbing up the stairs to Fabian's house, there will be a small shallow bowl with fire going that everybody will need to jump over. This is meant to get rid of any bad spirits from the cemetery, and we don't want to bring them home. All the male members then remove their arm bands, cut a small piece, and throw away the rest into the garbage. The small cut piece is kept by the sons for forty-nine days and twenty-one days by the grandsons. At the end of these periods the piece of cloth is discarded. Because Papi died on Monday, the following Monday, that is, after a week, Fabian needs to make sure to keep all the lights in the house on so that Papi's spirit can find the house. At 10:00 p.m. everyone needs to go to sleep because Papi is looking to make sure everyone is okay and sleeping before he ascends to the next level towards joining his ancestors. I believe there are three levels because Mami will place three sets of clothes in the coffin. One set Papi will wear in the coffin, and the others are there for Papi's journey. By the way, the coffin will be placed lower than the ancestor altar in Fabian's house because he has not reached the ancestors yet. Francisco Chang Sent from my iPad Admittedly a couple of things in this email caused me concern. First, how was I, an attorney, going to be taken seriously with a flower in my hair for the next forty-nine days? And how was I supposed to "jump a fire"? My orientation and mobility training had left that one out. I left our National Center by van at 4:00 a.m. for the trek to Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport by way of Miami International Airport. Anxious about my tight time schedule, I was relieved when we departed on time. My change of planes left me twenty minutes between flights, so, for the first time ever, I requested airport assistance in Florida. Of course, the first time I requested assistance, the help failed to materialize at the gate. Thankful for my confidence that I could find the gate myself as an independent traveler, I proceeded, heart pounding, to the concourse. It would not be good for me, the only American daughter-in-law, to miss the funeral. It would be disrespectful in the extreme! I asked a passerby if he was going my way. When I heard he was young, I explained my situation and begged him to "pleeease run with me." He did: all the way from E16 to E1. The gate agents held the door when they saw me running, and I never even caught the full name of my Good Samaritan. I waved and jogged my way onto the plane. When I arrived in Belize, an employee of our family business, Maria Chang & Sons Co., met me after I cleared immigration and customs. My mother- in-law, who is not generally demonstrative, hugged me as I arrived at the shop where the coffin rested before the funeral. Self-conscious about my borrowed black dress and my tendency to stand out in the crowd, my nerves were on edge. I was the only Caucasian at many events, not to mention the only blind person. Belize is not what you might call a disability-friendly country. There are no wheelchair ramps, and I have seen Braille on only imported elevator panels, so one must use the cane carefully to locate oft-present holes and barriers. But, since most people are unfamiliar with blindness, they tend to leave one to manage and are not overly solicitous. The church service mixed Belizean, Catholic, and Chinese customs. A Garifuna band played and sang for us. The eulogies were touching. They helped to explain the complexity of Arturo Chang the businessman, the community volunteer, and the family man. The respect shown to my father-in- law was enormous. All of his sons, their wives, and all twelve grandchildren attended, despite the fact that five grandchildren were facing exams at various universities in the US. We all processed to the cemetery in order of Papi's sons' births. Many of us dropped liquor and other items into the grave. My children comforted their father in the cemetery. The priest delivered a traditional message of resurrection. We all turned away from the burial site at the right moment. Slides of Papi and the whole family played during the meal after the graveside service. People quietly left on cue after two hours. Finally we returned to Fabian's house after taking the ribbon down at the shop. But, remember I had to jump that fire. And, I was now wearing a long-past-my-knees black dress, which did not belong to me. I discouraged one relative or another from grabbing my arm. I managed to linger long enough that almost everyone in this large extended family preceded me. I stretched out my cane to figure out where this fire was, and I guessed based on the size of it as to how high it might be. I hiked up my dress, and I cleared it with room to spare. Juan or Willie made some wisecrack about my showing a lot of leg, but I was content--no burns on me or the dress. I could now recover from my three hours of sleep in the past forty or so hours. Jumping the fire stands for me as a challenge no one could have prepared me for, but my independence and ability to believe that where there is a will there is a way can help in any situation. Those attitudes are attributable to my upbringing and the National Federation of the Blind. I know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines me or my future. I can live the life I want. Blindness will not hold me back. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] Improving and Augmenting the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and IDEA-A Vision for the Next Twenty-Five Years: Disability and the Law of the Poor by Marc Maurer From the Editor: This address was presented to the 2015 Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium, held at the Jernigan Institute March 26 and 27, 2015. It is interesting that Former President Maurer is often asked to predict the future and to provide his thoughtful perspective about how we will make it better. Here is what he said: In contemplating the shape of disability law twenty-five years in the future, two forces are primary. One of these is the attitude within society regarding the importance of people who possess disabilities. This attitude will inevitably be reflected within the statutes adopted by legislative bodies. The second is the attitude of those who have disabilities with respect to society and the decision-making which arises from this attitude. If this decision-making is sufficiently bold, the attitude of society will change, and the laws will be modified accordingly. People who have disabilities must be prepared to assume positions of leadership in shaping the law of the future. In other words, contemplation of the nature of the law in the future is more a matter for decision than prediction. A principle of American law is that it applies equally to all people all of the time. The famous statement of John Adams is that ours is "a government of laws, not of men."[1] However, one of the characteristics of law is that it classifies and categorizes the people to whom it applies. If we know the classification to which you belong, we know what rights you have and how you may be treated. One of the classifications is poverty. Beginning in the 1500s, during the reign of Henry VIII, the British government (which gave the United States its form of jurisprudence) adopted laws directed toward the relief of the poor.[2] In 1601, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Parliament adopted the Act for the Relief of the Poor, a compilation of many of the statements regarding the poor adopted earlier and a provision to institute a tax for the poor.[3] The ostensible purpose of the act, as its title suggests, was to provide relief for the poor, but the mechanism of the law was to establish institutions in which those who might otherwise have been beggars on the streets, or vagrants, could be required to work-often at menial trades. Some writers have declared that the jail and the workhouse were the same place.[4] Under Elizabethan law those who would not work could be punished for not doing so.[5] In 1966 Dr. Jacobus tenBroek wrote, "Not all who are poor are physically handicapped; not all who are handicapped are poor."[6] However, the coincidence of poverty and unemployment of the blind is enormous. To illustrate this coincidence, Dr. tenBroek stated that under 10 percent of blind Americans receiving Aid to the Blind were employed.[7] Furthermore, Dr. tenBroek also asserted that there are two forms of law: one for the wealthy and one for the poor.[8] The law that applies to people with disabilities is shaped in part by the categorization arising from the law of the poor. The Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act are not based upon identical legal theories, but they have characteristics in common. Consider, for example, the Rehabilitation Act.[9] The Poor Law adopted during the time of Queen Elizabeth I established the principle that poor relief would be based upon individual needs, individually determined by a parish official. Relief could be granted only if an official believed the persons receiving it deserved to get it. The statute did not offer an entitlement to the poor. The Rehabilitation Act takes the same approach. Each client is offered the opportunity to create an Individualized Plan for Employment,[10] but the practice in most jurisdictions is to limit this plan by arguments that demand of each client that money be saved on every aspect of rehabilitation.[11] Only the least expensive access technology can be provided; only the junior college can be made available because the expense will be less than that associated with a four-year institution; freedom of choice offers the opportunity to receive orientation and adjustment training at any center of the client's choosing, but the least expensive state-run training program must be used to save funds. The test is not what will work best for the client, but what will be cheapest for the administration. The Rehabilitation Act authorizes the provision of many services but guarantees none of them. Clients do not have the right to training. Rather, they have the right to complain if the training program is inadequate. Requiring this process of the clients ensures not a successful rehabilitation outcome but a continuance of the client in poverty. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has a similar philosophy.[12] Each student is guaranteed an Individualized Education Plan, which offers the student a Free Appropriate Public Education. Although the language of the act suggests that this plan is to be tailored to the individual needs of the student, convenience for the administration is more often the standard employed than success for the student. Decisions interpreting the act declare that specific services are not guaranteed. Students get "appropriate" "educational benefits." No standard of excellence is required. The law does not guarantee service. Rather, it guarantees the right to complain if the services wanted are not available.[13] The Americans with Disabilities Act[14] does guarantee something-at least in theory. Although it does not prohibit paying disabled workers less than the federal minimum wage, this act says that discrimination based on disability is prohibited, and it offers a method for challenging discrimination. However, the Supreme Court has declared that the protections of this act do not extend to compensation in the form of money damages paid by states.[15] People who possess disabilities are not classified among those who may expect payment from state governments when discrimination occurs. Furthermore, the special classification of the disabled includes a heavy emphasis on safety. A person possessing a disability may be refused employment if there is a perception that the environment of the job will be a threat to that person's safety.[16] Disabled people do not have the same rights of participation that others possess. I think the law must adopt the fundamental principle that, when you pay for something, you are entitled to get it. This principle should apply whether the individual pays directly or has somebody else make the payment. I think the law should abandon the practice of adopting rights for disabled people without creating a corresponding set of remedies. When I was in law school, I learned of the concept of rights without remedies, and I was shocked. What value is a right that cannot be enforced? I wondered. We are paying for rehabilitation; it seems to me that we have a right to get it. We are paying for education; I think we have the right to get that also. The educational experiences offered to disabled people in the United States are severely restricted. This is a form of discrimination. The Americans with Disabilities Act should apply, and the remedies should offer enough revenue to pay for an equal education. These remedies should apply not just to private entities but also to programs within government. The law of the rich stands for the proposition that those who do not provide the goods and services for which payment has been made face substantial damages or go to jail. The law should be at least as useful to the poor as it is to the rich. We know that those who misrepresent in the securities industry, in banking, and in selling property must pay reparation for the damage they do. We need a change in classification for disabled people so that the law of the rich applies. Those with disabilities have talent, and we should have as much right to use it as anybody else. These are the objectives we must seek to have incorporated in the law within the next twenty-five years. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder] Television Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow The Way It Was, the Way It Is, and the Way It Will Be by Gary Wunder Since I was a young boy, people have reacted with astonishment when I say that I enjoy watching television. Sometimes this is because they are genuinely surprised, and at other times it is because they wish to point out to me that a totally blind person saying he watches television is absurd. To those who seem truly to be confused, I explained how sound and dialogue often provide enough information for me to enjoy the same shows they do: to fall in love with Jenna Elfman in her role as Dharma, to want to hug the aspiring actor who struggles to get his big break as the character Joey does on Friends, and, yes, to boldly go where no man has gone before (split infinitive and all) as I ride along on the Starship Enterprise. Discussing television from the perspective of a blind person can lead down many paths. One can talk about the relative merit of television over books, about the great wasteland that television is versus what it might be, about the change in programming that relies more on spectacular visual effects and less on sound and dialogue to describe what is happening. All of those are things that are likely to interest Monitor readers, but in this article I want to focus on how usable the television is and the tendency of many to regard the process of dealing with the hardware to be so difficult that they have simply given it up, preferring other means of entertainment. My earliest memory of the television came when my parents caused a stir among our neighbors by being the first on the block to purchase a colored television set. All of the electronics came in a nice wooden piece of furniture, and our RCA model had two knobs that figured prominently on the front: one knob turned the television set on and off and raised or lowered its volume; the other changed the television channel. To be sure, there were many other knobs and switches located behind a hinged panel that could be accessed to make changes in the picture, but these were knobs I was supposed to stay away from, and frankly I had little interest in them. Once the newness had worn off the set and we were allowed to touch it, operating the television was an easy matter. There were three television stations in Kansas City, Missouri, that could be reliably watched. The National Broadcasting Company could be found on channel 4, the Columbia Broadcasting System on channel 5, and the American Broadcasting Company on channel 9. Moving from channel 4 to channel 5 meant rotating the channel knob clockwise one click. Going to channel 9 from channel 5 meant rotating four more clicks in the clockwise direction. When I came upon the television and didn't know what channel it was on, rotating the channel knob made it easy to figure out. Channels on which no station could be received produced static, so rotating the knob through those channels, whether clockwise or counterclockwise, eventually got me to one of the watchable channels. But on cloudy days the television world expanded, and we could pick up a channel in the distant city of St. Joseph or even a station from Topeka, Kansas, a feat that seemed all the more spectacular because we were picking up a signal from another state. There were, after all, twelve channels one might get, the sets of that time being able to receive channels 2 through 13. Like radio before it, television demanded a certain loyalty of its audience. Those who were dedicated to a program might set aside an hour every week when they would make every effort to be home, would decide to ignore the ringing phone, and would answer the door on the condition that the person they were allowing in would be quiet until the next commercial break. Missing a show was serious business for a real fan, the only equivalent today being a sports event one must watch live lest she be told the score before watching the game. Missing an episode of Bonanza meant a lost opportunity for conversation the next day, and the chance to see the show might or might not be possible until sometime in the summer if it made the rerun schedule. The success or failure of a television show sometimes had less to do with its interest and value than it did with when the show was scheduled. Since there were only three television networks competing for the loyalty of viewers in prime time, a new show placed opposite an established one might not get enough viewers to test its worthiness. A show that enjoyed success and was thought to have loyal followers in a different time slot might be moved to one which was dominated by another show on a different network with the hope that it would draw off some of their viewers. Although the realist in each of us understood that success or failure was all based on market share, many a viewer's heart was broken when their favorite show was canceled or when they had to decide among competing shows, all of which they liked. Whether one had a colored television or a set that could display its picture only in black and white, every television received its signal through an antenna. Sometimes it was mounted on the roof of the house, but for most people a little gadget called rabbit ears, with a platform containing two antennas and a cable to connect to the television, was enough. It was a given that, beyond the purchase of the television, the electricity to run it, and the more-frequently-than-one-wished maintenance required to keep it in working order, watching television was something one could do free. The first time my family saw an advertisement for cable television, I remember the laughter that ensued. Why would people pay for signals they could easily grab right out of the air? These must be people who were long on money and short on sense. Within a decade it was clear that those who really liked television were doing more than watching the three or four channels available in their communities. Cable companies began offering programs from stations one could not hope to get, no matter how sensitive his television receiver or how high the antenna. It was amazing to visit someone's home and find that she was watching the superstation, WTBS in Atlanta, Georgia, when at our home the passing of an airplane or inclement weather could interfere with the television program we were attempting to watch from a station less than thirty miles away. Over time television antennas began to disappear, and cable TV came to be regarded as one of the utilities one paid. Not only did the cable companies provide access to distant stations, but they began carrying networks whose only purpose was to provide cable content. Sometimes connections to the cable company still relied on using the channel selector of the television in choosing a program, although televisions changed to accommodate the larger number of offerings, since almost no one was satisfied with just receiving channels 2 through 13. Sometimes a cable provider would install a box that was used to control the selection of the channel, but normally these were required only if one wanted the extras- premium services such as movie channels or ones offering viewing of live concerts. Usually these boxes could be easily operated, with a button to move up, a button to move down, and a remote control that would allow direct entry of a channel using a number pad familiar to those who had a touch-tone telephone. Each little advance made the television incrementally harder to use, and before long the addition of a videocassette recorder meant that the television lover had to understand the interaction among three remote controls, two externally connected devices, and an increasingly complicated television set. Most video recorders did not speak their menu choices, so setting up future recordings was difficult and a harbinger of what was to come. Over time the television devotee has been transformed from a passive watcher who was told when to show up and how often, into a television consumer who now decides what he will watch and when. At least this is so if one can see. Unfortunately the blind of America have come to find the television more frustrating than rewarding. Options that we watch others exercise simply are not available to us, and, although most of us believe in interdependence as well as independence, it is hard to stomach being the breadwinner of the family but having to ask a grandson to turn on the television so that Grandma and Grandpa can enjoy an evening of entertainment. The magic this article wishes to be revealed can be found in the work of Comcast to make its set-top boxes accessible for blind people. This does not require the use of special equipment for the blind but special programming that can be turned on or off from any state-of-the-art Comcast cable box. In the same way that one buys an iPhone from the same store as the sighted and turns on the features he needs, the Comcast box that sits near the television of the blind person is the very box that can be found in the homes of millions of Comcast subscribers. Information that makes the box talk is requested using a special key sequence, and any updates that are made to the talking set-top box are made not with hardware changes but with changes in software communicated from the cloud. When someone who has a Comcast set-top box decides that she likes a program, she can search for that program using on-screen menus and select it for recording. She doesn't have to be home for the recording to commence, and she doesn't have to be there to turn it off at the conclusion of the television show. Of course, she can be home watching something else, no longer being restricted to one favorite television show in a given time slot. Given that most services that bring entertainment into the home have hundreds or even thousands of offerings, it is possible that she might wish to record more than one show, and this she can do with a Comcast set-top box, which will allow her to record up to four shows simultaneously. Even if she does not wish to record the show she is watching, the set-top box is making a temporary copy of that show, which means that she can pause it to take a telephone call, rewind ten seconds if she misses a key phrase or event, and, woe to the advertisers, even skip past commercials if she has paused long enough that the show is significantly ahead of where she is watching. Most of the features we have discussed assume that our Comcast subscriber has exercised the forethought to determine what it is he would like to watch. No longer is this required. Using a service which Comcast calls "On Demand," he can search back through previously-aired television shows, select the ones he wishes to watch, and have them presented as though they were live. The on-demand service offers not only television shows, but movies, documentaries, and music. Some of this is free (paid for by the monthly subscription), and some of it is available for rent or for purchase. A rented movie will cost less than one that is purchased, and, once it is rented, one must watch it within twenty-four or forty-eight hours. A television season, movie, or concert that is purchased is available any time from the service and may be watched as often as one wishes. In deciding what one wishes to watch or record, the Comcast set-top box provides several options. A person who knows he likes content on the Disney Channel can scroll through the offerings of that network and either watch past episodes or make selections for ones to be recorded in the future. Alternatively, if one knows that he is going to be home on Tuesday night, he can scroll through a list of that evening's television shows and decide what to watch. If he has heard about a television show people are discussing at work but has no idea what time it comes on or which channel will broadcast it, he can do a title search using the keys on his remote control pad. If a blind watcher wishes to find shows that are audio described, Comcast has a category for these, and soon described video will be announced while scrolling through any category one wishes to browse. In an interview with Ray Foret, a particularly enthusiastic customer, he told the Braille Monitor, "In my opinion this will totally revolutionize the way that blind Comcasters experience TV." When asked what drawbacks he'd encountered in this newfound accessibility, he said, "When you've been denied something for so long, and then you find that you can do it, you will do as I did for a couple months, and you will really go overboard with it." The lure of an on-demand service which allows renting or purchasing favorite movies and TV shows can quickly become an expensive indulgence to any new user of such a service. As impressive as all of its gains in accessibility thus far have been, Comcast intends to take the business of accessibility even further. Some people have limited use of their hands and do not have enough dexterity to handle the remote controllers that are filled from top to bottom with buttons. Others have difficulty cognitively navigating the menu structure required to make selections. To help more of its subscribers, Comcast is developing a remote control with larger buttons--ones that are dedicated to the most commonly used features. The company is also anticipating an upcoming release of a remote control that will contain a microphone so that one can make his wishes clear by voice. This function will do more than recognize speech; it will also employ artificial intelligence that will allow for complex searches. A person will be able to say "give me a list of all movies about baseball," and the artificial intelligence will scan not only the title of each movie but its description to determine whether or not it should be on the list from which the television watcher can select a movie. Some of this functionality is already available if a Comcast subscriber has an iPhone, since it can be used to control the set-top box and can even be used when the subscriber is away from home to watch previously recorded movies from wherever he may be. The remarkable thing about what Comcast has done isn't just that it has given its blind customers what they are paying for. Its import goes far beyond areas of the country in which it is licensed to do business. It clearly shows that programming made available by cable, satellite, and other methods of long distance transmission can be made accessible to the blind, that the concept of a talking set-top box to verbalize on-screen menus is not unknown or impossible to do, and that it does not impose an unfair burden on those who are paid a significant monthly premium to bring entertainment into our homes. It also demonstrates the benefit of collaborating with the National Federation of the Blind in discussing the design and development of the interfaces and the speech that makes this possible. Television plays far too important a role in our society for blind people to write it off or for the industry to write off blind people. Thanks to those at Comcast who understand this and who have risen to the challenge of making television once again accessible and enjoyable for the blind. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Donald Capps] My West Virginia Experience by Donald C. Capps From the Editor: As we prepare to celebrate the National Federation of the Blind's seventy-fifth anniversary, this article from Donald Capps captures what it was like to be poor, blind, and a citizen of West Virginia almost sixty years ago. When we see a man who has enjoyed extraordinary success in marriage, in raising a family, and in getting and holding a job as an executive in one of the nation's premier insurance companies, the question naturally arises as to why he would choose to give so much time and energy to helping his fellow blind. The answer emerges when we look at the importance of key experiences in his life that helped in forging a solid commitment to change. No one in the National Federation of the Blind represents this long-term commitment better than Dr. Donald C. Capps. He was the longest-serving member of the NFB Board of Directors and the president for many years of the NFB of South Carolina. Here is his story about being asked by Dr. tenBroek to serve on a Federation taskforce, what he saw, and the role it played in helping him decide that working for the betterment of his fellow blind would be a major life calling: I first met our NFB founder and first president, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, at the 1956 convention in San Francisco, but it really was in 1958 that I got to know him. In November of that year he called me to ask if I would participate in a week-long survey of programs for the blind in West Virginia. Colonial Life granted me the time, and we were off to be a part of the survey team. Governor Underwood wanted the NFB to conduct a survey in his state, and it was our pleasure to meet him at the capitol in Charleston, where he provided me with a statement giving us authority for the team to do its work. We were assigned the Beckley area, with the responsibility of calling on low-income individuals and families, people who would now be covered under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. At that time the program recipients we surveyed were on the Aid for the Needy Blind program. We found ourselves visiting with blind people who were in terrible poverty. The most devastating involved a visit with three blind brothers who lived in an abandoned coal mine shack. It was cold, since our visit was in November. When we knocked, one of the brothers came to the door and advised us that all three had pneumonia, and, of course, they appropriately denied our entrance. Asked about what assistance the three of them were receiving, he replied, "No assistance of any type." He also stated that each of the three brothers owned only one set of overalls, which required washing the clothes at night for wearing the next day. A chill went up and down my spine because I knew these three blind men would probably die if I did not get them some help. I returned to Beckley, called upon the welfare department, and forcefully told them to get help for these needy blind men. I later checked to verify that a doctor had called upon them, providing medicine and other much needed help. Almost invariably, blind welfare recipients lived under horrible conditions. We traveled to where we were told that a blind teenager lived with her grandparents. Upon arriving at the mountain shack where the ground served as a floor, we met with the teenager and her grandparents. We were also greeted by a goat which lived in the shack. This was a most troubling case, and again I returned to the welfare department in Beckley to get help for them. After making calls all day long, we returned to our hotel each evening and did a memorandum on every case we worked that day. Betty cried every night at what she witnessed. Adding to her sadness was the fact that Beth was only three months old and Craig only three years of age, and she and I missed them terribly. While I have related here two of the dramatic instances of poverty and squalor we saw and reported, there were many, far too many. I knew about the inequity faced by the blind, but, if I needed any experience to cement my commitment to a life of work for the blind, the West Virginia experience certainly accomplished that mission. While this was at times frustrating and heart-wrenching, I thank Dr. tenBroek for giving me a life- changing experience that still remains vivid in my mind more than fifty years later. His faith in asking me to go, Betty's commitment, my commitment, and the approval of my employer helped me answer again and again the question of why I should give so much of my life and my energy to the National Federation of the Blind. Anytime I found my energy starting to flag, the answer why I should keep on giving rang clear when I visited those memories of that week in West Virginia. There I could make visible the warmth, the love, and the caring of the National Federation of the Blind in the lives of people who needed what we had to offer. Before he ever chose the title for his 1979 banquet speech, I knew that part of my life's work was to help Dr. Kenneth Jernigan help other blind people on our journey to "the top of the stairs," and, as we approach our seventy-fifth anniversary, it makes my soul rejoice to know that Betty and I have been blessed to have done some of the work that has shaped what the National Federation of the Blind is today and what it will be for the blind of tomorrow. ---------- Consider a Charitable Gift Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time, talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the Blind . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB? . Am I giving the most appropriate asset? . Have I selected the best way to make my gift? . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift? . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor? . Have I talked to the NFB planned giving officer about my gift? Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated gifts . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other beneficiaries . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement cost Your Gift Will Help Us . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will educate blind people . Advance technology helpful to the blind . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind . Provide critical information to parents of blind children . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Dick Davis] Blind People and Talking Dogs by Dick Davis From the Editor: Dick Davis chairs the National Federation of the Blind's employment committee and will soon retire from BLIND, Incorporated after a long and distinguished career in work with the blind. He is the assistant director for employment at BLIND, Inc., and as a sighted advocate he wrote a response to the question of why there aren't more blind executives. Undoubtedly many issues come into play when talking about employment and advancement, and I hope that this piece will start an in- depth discussion about what we can do to realize the dream of Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and other founders who believed that a job, a home, and the right to participate in the community were the reasons for the creation of the organization and the movement it represents. Here is Dick's take on the issue: I like the article Michelle Clark recently posted on the NFB Jobs Listserv, "Where Are the CEOs and Executive Managers with Disabilities?" by John D. Kemp, president and CEO of The Viscardi Center. You can read it at . Mr. Kemp, who has four prostheses, asks a valid question: why are disabled people being left out of executive and management jobs? I think it is because most people look at blind and disabled individuals as "talking dogs." What do I mean by that? There is an old saying, sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, that the remarkable thing about a talking dog is not what it says but the fact that it talks at all. Public expectations are so low that anything a person with a disability can do is thought to be remarkable. But "talking dogs" never make it to the higher echelons of any organization. They are curiosities at best. A few years ago one of our local television stations did an article on Disability Employment Awareness Month. It featured an enclave of developmentally disabled people who were able to get part-time jobs cleaning the equipment in a local gym. The anchors were so touched that they almost cried. I didn't throw a shoe through our TV screen, nor did I attempt to explain to the station that what they had done was worse than if they had done nothing at all. Weren't those disabled people remarkable? No, they weren't. They were "talking dogs," trotted out once again so that people could marvel at the little things they could do. We must really ditch this charity thing. No employer hires a person because it feels sorry for him or her. And the ADA, although helpful from a legal sense, has not been the employment panacea that many people thought it would be. In my opinion the diversity movement has more potential, because employers have not been trained to hate the diversity movement like they have the ADA. The healthy thing about the diversity movement is that it teaches that difference is not a weakness but a strength, and blind people are definitely perceived as different. My belief is that blind people are stronger than sighted people, because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Dealing successfully with blindness through effective training makes a person more creative, more organized, more persistent, tougher, a faster computer user (no mouse to slow you down), and better in a whole host of other ways. Blind people are definitely the better hire. If you really think about it, you will come to realize it is true. Many sighted people lack those mind-and-character- building experiences and in my opinion are weaker as a result. So instead of thinking of blindness as a disability, maybe we should think of sightedness as one instead. In my opinion blind people belong at the top. ---------- Highlighting the Innovative Work of Another Affiliate The Illinois Internship Program by Patti Chang From the Editor: In the April issue we highlighted several programs of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina and asked that other affiliates with programs they thought worthy of note send us an article or encourage us to do an interview for one. Patti Chang is the past president of the NFB of Illinois and a member of the NFB Board of Directors. She also chairs the NFB's scholarship committee. She has risen to the challenge and has identified a program we definitely need to know about. It is an example of hands-on service, giving students job experience, offering important mentoring, and clearly demonstrating for them the value of the National Federation of the Blind. Here is what she says about something special that's happening in Illinois: Since we are spotlighting innovative affiliate programs, I can't resist telling you about our internship program. As far as I know, Illinois is our only affiliate hosting sponsorship of students to work. We sponsor high school and college students by funding summer internships for up to six weeks. We will pay $250 per week. A mentoring component enhances the value of the work experience. Students apply by filling out an application which is very similar to our state scholarship form. They submit the same sort of essay and letters of recommendation. This program puts less emphasis on academics and allows us to assist non-college-bound students as much as those who are academically inclined. The scholarship committee is responsible for choosing our winners and for mentoring the internship recipients. Once winners are chosen, they can find their own placements, or we can assist. Emphasis is placed on finding placements which relate to career goals and finding mainstream employers. Students are expected to file regular reports that analyze their employment and discuss any blindness-related adaptations or issues. Mentors discuss the reports with the students. One recipient, Michelle Wesley, received a job offer from her employer to continue after her internship in a veterinarian's clinic. Another, Casandra Certeza, is studying for her graduate degree now. The most recent recipient of an internship stipend, Ms. Ashley Griggs, wrote as follows to the donor who sponsored this program: Dear Mr. Lanston: This internship has meant a great deal to me. I would like to thank you sincerely for your assistance in this endeavor. I chose to intern at a Montessori school in the three-to-six-year-old classroom. The children and staff were lovely people, and I think we all learned from each other. The teachers and students learned a little about working with a blind individual, while I learned more about myself and my career path. This may sound overly dramatic, though I don't mean it to sound that way; however, I have truly discovered what I am meant to do in life as a result of the eight weeks I spent working at the Montessori Academy of Chicago. I am currently pursuing a music degree, but I am cognizant of the fact that I will need some form of supplemental income while I am establishing myself as an artist, in other words, a day job. I have been interested in the Montessori method of education for a few years now. I thought teaching young children in that setting would be perfect because many of the learning materials are tactile, but also because I approve of the behavior this method instills in children. The other aspect of this is that I also write songs for children. Before this internship I thought of a career in children's music as a side career, and my music geared toward adults would be the more prominent aspect of my artistry. After playing music for these children and seeing how happy it made them, I knew this was what I was actually meant to do. The feelings of happiness were definitely reciprocated as well. Their reactions filled me with so much joy, more than I ever got playing for adults. Yes, the teachers were great about showing me around the classroom and explaining all the learning supplies; and yes, I am going to pursue Montessori teacher training because of this internship, but that is not why I am thanking you. It is that reciprocated joy I spoke of that will stay with me for years to come. Adults feel strange asking questions about blindness. Adults won't give you a straight answer about a song you played. They'll say it's great no matter what so as not to hurt your feelings. Not kids! They say what is on their minds, which is why I love working with them. This experience marked a turning point in the way I think about my future and my career. I will never forget it. Again, I am truly thankful for your financial assistance. As Ashley's letter shows, this program doesn't just give the interns experience to put on their resumes. It can change the direction of their careers. Finding a job requires diligence and persistence, developing a good resume, and interviewing well. Our applicants gain valuable experience in these areas. We all know that sometimes blind people find it especially hard to get a foot in the door to gain that all-too-valuable work experience. This is a bridge which works to help students help themselves earn that first reference from an employer. Please feel free to contact Debbie Stein, who administers our Illinois program at , or me at . We are happy to brag about its success and give you tips based on our experiences. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Donna W. Hill] Is Literacy Really for Everyone?-The Numbers Tell a Different Story by Donna W. Hill From the Editor: This article was originally posted on November 10, 2014 by Donna on her blog. Some of our readers will know Donna Hill as the author of The Heart of Applebutter Hill, a young adult novel which prominently features a blind character. Others will recognize her as an active member of the National Federation of the Blind who lives in Pennsylvania. Here is what she has to say about literacy and the blind: Which minority has the greatest disparity between literacy, unemployment, and income on the one hand and intellect, talent, and willingness to work on the other? Why are a few of its members medical doctors, engineers, scientists, and lawyers, while most have never had a full-time job? The answer is able-bodied working-age blind Americans. When I started developing my "Libraries and Literacy" page for this site, my intent was to thank some of the libraries that carry The Heart of Applebutter Hill. I collected photos from my library visits and quotes about literacy from famous people. As I proceeded, I realized that I couldn't help looking into the disparity between the situation of blind Americans and that of the general population and how literacy and the availability of books in accessible formats affect that disparity. This article is based on my research. You will find links to sources cited in this article under the References heading at the end. Literacy: What It Is and What It Is Not To understand what is happening to blind Americans, it is important to know what literacy is. It is commonly defined as the ability to read and write-a definition that raises more questions than it answers. What is reading? What is writing? To hone in on the essence of literacy, however, we need only look to its Middle English roots, which-according to Merriam- Webster-mean "marked with letters." Literacy is an understanding of and fluency in language based on its primary building blocks-letters, punctuation, and sentence structure. The parents of a sighted child would be justifiably horrified and outraged if their child was denied education in reading and writing print. "Johnny is a wonderful listener. He doesn't need print," just doesn't fly in the sighted world. But, for a variety of reasons (most of which boil down to a lack of understanding and low expectations), blind children are routinely steered to audio learning. Recorded books and synthesized speech have their place in a blind person's toolbox, and they are essential for the vast majority of students with print disabilities-including sighted students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Nevertheless, Braille is the only alternative giving true literacy on a par with print. Braille provides immediate access through the fingers to what sighted readers see with their eyes. Punctuation, spelling, paragraph markings, and other essential components of the written word are apparent through touch, since Braille is read by characters, words, and lines just like print is for sighted readers. Braille, which is now available in downloadable digital formats for high-tech refreshable Braille reading devices, is also the only option for people who are deaf and blind. Here are a few numbers that demonstrate how literacy and access to books affect blind people: Income and Poverty: Blind Americans Are Twice as Likely to Live in Poverty . In 2012 the median annual household income of non-institutionalized blind Americans (aged twenty-one to sixty-four) was $33,400. 31.2 percent were living below the poverty line (National Federation of the Blind-NFB). . According to a CNN report on census statistics for 2012, median household income for the American population as a whole was $51,017, and 15 percent were living in poverty. . The lost productivity in the US due to blindness and eye diseases is estimated to be $8 billion per year (National Braille Press-NBP). Literacy: Blind Students Are Three Times More Likely to be Illiterate As you read this section, keep in mind that, of the less than 40 percent of blind American adults who are employed, 90 percent read Braille (NBP). . 60,393-Total number of blind students in the US enrolled in elementary and high school (NFB). . 5,147 (8.5 percent)-Number of students for whom Braille is their primary way to read (NFB). . Twelve percent of blind American students are taught to read Braille; and being given the chance to become truly literate (NBP). . Using the same standards applied to sighted students, no fewer than 88 percent of blind students are illiterate. In contrast, according to , only 25 percent (one in four) American children grow up without being taught to read. Books: What's Available for Print Readers and What's Accessible for Those with Print Disabilities . 36 million-the approximate number of books and other print materials in the collection of the Library of Congress (according to LOC.gov) with 12,000 added daily. . 300,000-approximate number of titles available from Bookshare, the world's largest accessible online library for people with print disabilities. Bookshare provides its collection in several downloadable formats, including DAISY text, synthetic speech, and refreshable Braille. . 80,000-approximate number of titles available from Learning Ally- formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic-the world's largest library of human-narrated audiobooks, as of October 30, 2014 (according to a Learning Ally customer representative). . 80,000-books in audio format available through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress (according to a November 3, 2014, email from NLS's research department). This doesn't include books in an older rigid-disc format that is seldom circulated. . 31,338-books available in Braille from NLS. Note: NLS also has a Braille music collection of 22,775 titles, 4,892 audio recordings, and 662 scores in large print. NLS provides professionally-recorded books as downloads, on digital cartridge, and (until the entire collection is digitized) cassette tape. Some books are available in hard copy and downloadable Braille and in large print. NLS chooses books based on the New York Times bestsellers list and books with significant national press coverage. Regional NLS libraries record some titles of local interest. Borrowing from the NLS is free to all Americans with print disabilities. According to the World Blind Union (WBU), over 90 percent of published books cannot be read by people who are blind or have other print disabilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 39 million people worldwide, including 1.4 million children under fifteen, are irreversibly blind. This does not take into account the visually-impaired and learning-disabled populations for whom reading print is not possible. Only 320,000 people with visual impairments and other print disabilities in approximately fifty countries have access to Bookshare's collection. Easy Ways to End the Book Famine for People with Print Disabilities Send an email, make a phone call, or write a letter to support the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. The Marrakesh Treaty is an effort to update international copyright laws pertaining to reading materials in accessible formats. Urge your national senators to support ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty, which will facilitate access to published works for people with print disabilities. A project of WBU and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), it was signed by seventy-two nations including the US in 2013. But a signed treaty is just a piece of paper. It needs to be ratified by twenty nations to become international law. So far only India and El Salvador have ratified it (WBU and WIPO). Join the DAISY Planet Follow what's going on worldwide in the struggle for accessible books by visiting the DAISY (Digitally Accessible Information System) Consortium. The DAISY Consortium is a global group of organizations working towards creating the best way to read and publish. Read their awesome newsletter, The Daisy Planet . References National Braille Press: National Federation of the Blind: Blindness Statistics: CNN on 2012 Income and Poverty Statistics: Eleven Facts about Literacy in America | DoSomething.org: Library of Congress: Bookshare: Learning Ally: National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped: World Blind Union: World Health Organization: WIPO - Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled: ---------- [PHOTO/CAPTION: Ron Owens] Illiterate No More by Ronald A. Owens From the Editor: Ron Owens is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas. His state president describes him as a quiet man, but this quietness only enhances the power of his words when he chooses to speak. She says she would like a hundred more like him, and from our brief conversation I am inclined to agree. Here is what Ron has to say about his introduction to blindness, the technology he has learned to use, and the skills that have played an important part in his once again finding independence: I am legally blind with the eye condition retinitis pigmentosa (RP). As a person whose vision has deteriorated over time, I have come to appreciate the tools that are available to us as blind people. Adaptive technologies have greatly improved my life. Screen-reading technology allows me to access computers as well as an iPhone, and with my stick (white cane) I am able to navigate around in unfamiliar places. While these technologies allow me to venture out from my own little world, perhaps the best tool I've come across is Braille. I believe that the learning of this skill is probably the most useful. To illustrate my point, I would like to relate an experience I went through at the beginning of my walk with blindness. Over two decades ago, when I was starting to lose my vision, I accompanied my wife to a conference that she had to attend for work. Since the conference was on multiple days, we were staying in the hotel where it was being held. On the last day we checked out of our room, and my wife was going to attend the last of the seminars as I waited in the lobby of the hotel. Before the meetings that morning, my wife showed me to the door of the men's room in the lobby so that I could use the facilities. Afterward I settled in to wait out the morning. The day wore on, and as Forrest Gump said, "I [had] to pee!" So I headed to the restroom. I found the door, pushed it open, walked in, and turned left, just as I had done earlier that morning, but this time the way was blocked by a wall. I felt around, thinking perhaps that I was just not in far enough; feeling along the wall, I was completely confused, because I knew that another door had been there a few hours ago. I just could not understand how a full wall had been erected. I got my answer in a few seconds. A door behind me opened, a woman walked out, saw me, and went out the door I had just entered through a moment before. I was in the foyer of the women's restroom! I exited very quickly and found the chair I had been sitting in before I had gone to the restroom. I was completely embarrassed. A couple of minutes later a security guard walked by. He did not say anything to me, but I was reasonably sure that the woman reported that a pervert was in the ladies' room. I waited for my wife to come back to the lobby before returning to the men's room. I guess I did not need to use the restroom as badly as I thought. You are probably wondering what this has to do with reading Braille; well I did not know how to read it at the time. If I had been able to read those little dots on the wall, I would have saved myself some embarrassment. It took several years before I finally learned to read, because I simply had no idea where to go to learn. A couple of years ago I attended World Services for the Blind, where I was taught the fundamentals of Braille. Learning this form of communication was not easy for me, and, while I am still a novice at reading Braille, I am of the opinion that it is a must-know skill to live a fulfilling life as a blind person. Even though I am still not an efficient reader (I have calluses on my fingers from working with my hands and playing the guitar), being able to read is as liberating and rewarding as when I learned to read print as a child. The development of new products and the advancement of adaptive technologies will continue to make life more enjoyable for the blind, but the learning of Braille should remain in our box of tools. I do not know if an app exists to tell people which restroom they are about to enter. It is conceivable that there is one, but there are times that it would not be practical. Can you imagine rushing up to the restrooms, about to break out into "the pee pee dance," fishing out your phone, unlocking it, scrolling through all the apps until you find the right one, opening it up, waiting for it to load, getting the sign in the frame, and praying that you're at the right door? Running a finger along a line of Braille is a lot more straight-forward and incredibly faster. If you or someone you know is facing blindness, I would encourage serious consideration be given to learning Braille. Finding resources may seem daunting, but the reward is worth the effort. A good place to start is with the National Federation of the Blind. I wish I had learned earlier. If I had, many times I could have enjoyed outings to places, such as a trip to Washington, DC, where plaques on the monuments are written in Braille. Some restaurants also have Braille menus that allow us as blind people to have a more independent life. Braille resources can be found and used in our daily life to help in our quest to "Live the lives we want!" In conclusion, I would like to thank Mr. Jeff Weiss, my Braille teacher, for being patient as I struggled through the lessons. I would also like to leave you with a quote from a very intelligent woman with whom I was briefly acquainted, who has been an inspiration to me. Her name was Mrs. Gracie Jackson, and her gift to me was this quote: "I was not illiterate as a sighted person, and I will not be illiterate as a blind person." This was and is my vow. Let it be yours as well. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan] The Barrier of the Visible Difference by Kenneth Jernigan From the Editor: This article is taken from the Kernel Book entitled Gray Pancakes and Gold Horses, published in 1998. Catchy titles and clever phrases are the stuff of big business. As every advertising agency knows, fortunes are made or lost by the way the public reacts to a jingle or a slogan. Once I heard a liquor distributor say that his company had a thoroughly mediocre wine that was going nowhere, and then somebody got the bright idea of giving it a sparkly name (I think it was Wild Irish Rose). After that, he said they couldn't make enough to meet the demand, operating three shifts a day. Whether that story is true or false, the underlying message is right on target. It is not just what a thing is but how it sounds and feels that sets the tone and gives the value. When most of us come across the term "visible difference," we think of the trademark of the beauty expert and cosmetics manufacturer Elizabeth Arden. "Visible Difference" is the brand name of moisturizers, lotions, and other products. But for the blind the term means something else. It represents a barrier and a hurdle to be surmounted. Let me illustrate. When I was a boy of about four, my mother and I were sitting in the front bedroom of our home. Even though more than sixty-five years have passed, I still remember every detail. It was a summer evening just after dark. My father and brother were sitting on the porch, and the night sounds (the frogs and crickets) were coming into full chorus. It was oppressively hot with a lot of dust in the air. In those days we didn't have electricity, so my mother had just lit the oil lamp. The smell of the burning kerosene began to blend with the regular odors of food and plant life that permeated the four-room house. Of course, all of the doors and windows were open. When my mother finished lighting the lamp and adjusting the wick, she sat down and put her arm around me. Then she kissed me on the left side of my face. Since she was sitting on my left, this was a natural (almost an automatic) gesture. Then she said: "Do you like for mother to kiss you?" Now, this put me into a real dilemma-for I very much liked for mother to kiss me, but I felt shy and embarrassed to say it. Hunting a way out, I thought perhaps I could say yes by shaking my head. From conversations I had heard, I knew that other people shook their heads to mean yes or no, but I didn't know which way the head should move to indicate which meaning. It had never before occurred to me to wonder about the matter since I had never needed to know. My mother or anybody else around the house would undoubtedly have been perfectly willing to tell me if I had asked, but that didn't help in the situation I was then facing. Using the best logic I could muster, I thought that since my mother was sitting on my left, maybe if I moved my head that way, it would indicate yes. Unfortunately it didn't, and my mother (not understanding my embarrassment and lack of knowledge) thought I was saying no. She was hurt and cried, and I didn't know how to explain. So what is the moral of that little story, that minor tragedy of childhood? It is not that blind people are less competent than others of their age and circumstance. It is not that blind persons are slow learners or inept. It is that sometimes something that can be seen at a glance must be learned a different way by a blind person. The learning can be just as quick and just as effective, but it won't happen unless somebody thinks to explain, to help the blind child cross the barrier of the visible difference. There is no great problem in knowing how to shake one's head or in doing a hundred other things that sighted children learn without ever knowing that they have done it. It is only that the blind child must either be unusually persistent and inquisitive or have somebody constantly at hand who thinks to give information. Otherwise, insignificant details will multiply to major deficits. And this is not just a matter of childhood. After seventy years I keep learning new things about the barrier of the visible difference. Recently when I told a blind friend of mine who is a lawyer about my head- shaking episode, he asked if I knew how you are supposed to hold your hand in a court when you are told to raise your right hand. I said that I had never thought about it but had always assumed that you simply raise your hand about your head, which is what would seem logical in the circumstances. "No," he told me, "that isn't the way it is done. You raise your hand to shoulder level with the palm out." He went on to tell me that when he was being sworn in to be admitted to the Bar, he had raised his hand above his head and that later, one of his classmates had told him how the customary ritual is performed. It is important to understand the significance of this incident. There is nothing better about raising the hand to the shoulder than over the head. It doesn't make one a better lawyer or a better witness in court. My friend is an excellent attorney, and I have testified in court on more than one occasion. We are simply dealing with a custom of society, a visible difference. More than anything else (at least, unless one is aware of it and thinks about it) meaningless visible differences can lead to confusion and misunderstanding, and sometimes even to misplaced feelings of superiority or inadequacy. A thing that looks beautiful to the eye, for instance, can feel ugly and dirty to the touch. Again, let me illustrate. Once when I was four or five, my mother and father took me to the county fair. This was a big event. We lived about fourteen miles from the county seat, and we didn't have a car. Very few people did in those days, so friends and neighbors pooled their transportation and helped each other with rides. On this particular occasion my mother and I were standing at one of the booths at the fair. In retrospect it must have been one of those places that give prizes for throwing darts, tossing rings, or something of the sort. Regardless of that, the woman in charge gave me a small statue of a horse. As I think back on it, she may have done it because I was blind, or simply because she thought I was a cute kid. For purposes of my story, it doesn't matter. The horse must have been quite pretty, for both the woman and my mother kept exclaiming about it. It was apparently covered with some sort of sparkly gold paint. To the eye I assume that it was extremely attractive, but to me it just felt dirty and grungy. Now, I had never before had a small gold horse or, for that matter, any other kind of horse, or very many nice toys of any kind-so I was pleased and ecstatic with my treasure. But I thought I ought to clean it up and try to make it look nice. Therefore, while my mother and the woman were talking, I busily scratched all of the rough-feeling gold paint off of it. It was quite a job. By the time I had finished, my horse felt clean and attractive. I was proud of it. Imagine, then, my disappointment and chagrin when my mother and the woman noticed what I had done and were absolutely dismayed. I couldn't understand why they were unhappy, and they couldn't understand why I felt that the horse was better for my effort. Again, I had bumped head-on into the barrier of the visible difference. Unlike the head-shaking incident, this was not exactly a matter of learning correct information. If a thing looks better to the eye and feels worse to the touch, that doesn't make it better or worse. It simply means a different point of view, a visible difference. I thoroughly understand that we live in a world that is structured for the sighted, so if a blind person intends to get along and compete in society, he or she must learn how the sighted feel and what they think is beautiful and attractive. But this has nothing to do with innate loveliness or quality. It is simply a visible difference. As a matter of fact, although I wouldn't scratch the paint off of it if I met it today, that horse of my childhood would feel just as dirty to me now as it did then. A few years ago when I went to Athens, I was invited (no, urged) to handle a variety of sculptures. They may have looked beautiful, and I have no doubt that they did; but they didn't feel beautiful-at least, not to me. They felt dirty, and I wanted a good hand- washing after feeling them. Hopefully this does not mean that I am either a barbarian or a boor, only that my way of appreciating beauty may have something to do with the fact that I touch instead of look. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is only the blind who get stuck on the barrier of the visible difference. The sighted do it, too- repeatedly, every day. Recently when I was in the hospital, I was being taken to the x-ray department for tests. On the way I had to stop to go to the bathroom. As I came out, a hospital official (I think she was a nurse) saw me and exclaimed, in what I can only describe as panic: "Catch him! He's going to fall. His eyes are closed." My wife explained to her that I am blind and that my eyes are usually closed. It made no difference. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Hold him. His eyes are closed. He will fall." This woman is not abnormal or unusually jumpy, nor (at least, as far as I can tell) is she stupid. She is simply so accustomed to the fact that sighted people look about them to keep their bearings that she cannot imagine that sight and balance have nothing to do with each other. If I had thought it wouldn't have upset her, I would have asked her if she believed she would be unable to stand up in a totally dark room. During that same hospital stay, when I stepped into another bathroom, the nurse turned the light on for me even though I told her in a light and pleasant tone that I didn't need it. She said she would turn it on anyway. It was clear that she felt uncomfortable to have me in the bathroom in the dark. Obviously this is not a major matter. It simply shows that we feel uneasy when something violates (even benignly) our routine patterns. And these are not isolated instances. Every day letters and articles come to my attention to prove it. A journalist from Ohio writes to say that the blind need special fishing facilities-and he will lobby the government to help make it happen. He doesn't say why we can't fish in the regular way like everybody else, which many of us do all the time. A locksmith from Wisconsin believes the blind would benefit from specially shaped door knobs (oval and textured, he thinks), and he is willing to design them. A pilot from Pennsylvania thinks we should solve any problems we have with the airlines by setting up an airline of our own, and he will help fly the planes. A man from Minnesota believes that blind alcoholics cannot benefit from regular programs used by the sighted and suggests separate services. Some years ago the Manchester Union Leader, one of New Hampshire's most prominent newspapers, said that the governor of the state was so bad that only the deaf, dumb, and the blind could believe that he was competent. These few illustrations are not a complete list, of course, but only a sampling. Moreover, I am not talking about all of the sighted. An increasing number are coming to understand and work with us. They give us some of our strongest support. Nor am I saying that the sighted are hostile toward us. Quite the contrary. Overwhelmingly the members of the sighted public wish us well and have good will toward us. It is simply that they are used to doing things with visual techniques, and when they look at a blind person, they see something to which they are not accustomed-what I call the barrier of the visible difference. Most sighted people take it for granted that doing something with eyesight is better than doing it some other way. Visual techniques are sometimes superior to nonvisual techniques, and sometimes not. Sometimes the nonvisual way of doing a thing is better. Usually, however, it isn't a matter of better or worse but just difference. This brings me to my experience with the National Federation of the Blind. I first became acquainted with the Federation almost fifty years ago, and it has done more than anything else in my life to help me gain balance and perspective--to understand that the barrier of the visible difference need not be a major obstacle, either for me or my sighted associates. With more than fifty thousand active members throughout the nation, the National Federation of the Blind is leading the way in making it possible for blind people to have normal, everyday lives. We of the Federation seek out parents and help them understand that their blind children can grow up to be productive citizens. We work with blind college students, giving scholarships and providing successful role models. Blind seniors make up an important part of the organization, helping and encouraging each other and exchanging ideas and information. We develop new technology for the blind and assist blind persons in finding jobs. All of this is what we of the National Federation of the Blind do to help ourselves and each other, but the chief value of the organization is the way it helps us look at our blindness and the way it helps sighted people understand and accept. We who are blind know that with reasonable opportunity and training we can earn our own way in the world, compete on terms of equality with others, and lead ordinary, worthwhile lives. We do not feel that we are victims, or that society owes us a living or is responsible for our problems. We believe that we ought to do for ourselves and that we also should help others. These attitudes are the heart and soul of the National Federation of the Blind. They constitute its core beliefs and reason for being. We go to meet the future with joy and hope, but we recognize that we need help from our sighted friends. If we do our part, we are confident that the needed help will be forthcoming. We also know that both we and the sighted can surmount the barrier of the visible difference and reduce it to the level of a mere inconvenience. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: April Scurlock] Go-Carts and Scholarships by April Scurlock From the Editor: April Scurlock lives in Mount Ida, Arkansas, and she teaches fifth and sixth grade mathematics at the Mount Ida Middle School, where she has worked for eleven years. She is the president of the Arkansas at-large chapter and the second vice president of the affiliate. She won a national scholarship in 2012 and works hard to support the organization that granted it to her. Her state president says she is indispensable, and those who know her wish she could grace every affiliate. Here is what she has to say about winning an NFB scholarship: As a teacher I get to take my class on a field trip at the end of the school year. My class always goes to the local go-cart track, where we play putt-putt golf, ride bumper boats, and drive go-carts. Many of the parents in our community are aware of my blindness, so it is funny to watch their reaction when they see me get in a go-cart to race against my students. Even the students are shocked to see me in a go-cart. The funniest part of the entire experience is that I usually end up winning the race. I am not sure if I win because they feel sorry for me or because I am so competitive. I do not believe I would have had the courage to continue teaching and racing go-carts if it were not for the National Federation of the Blind. I came to know the NFB back in 2012 when my DSB (Division of Services for the Blind) rehabilitation counselor gave me an NFB scholarship form and told me I should apply. After researching this scholarship, I knew there was no way I could win it-the previous winners were so impressive, and this was my first time applying. For goodness sake, I had never even heard of the NFB until that moment. So, with hesitation, I set out on the journey to fill out the application and compete in a process I was certain would eliminate me. Once I had everything completed and mailed in, I forgot all about it...again I knew I had no chance of winning. One night the phone rang while I was cooking dinner. I was hesitant to answer because the caller ID was some crazy number that I didn't recognize. When I answered, I was thinking, should I pretend to be someone else? When the gentleman on the other end of the line asked to speak to me, reluctantly I replied that it was I. He said, "My name is John Halverson, and I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind scholarship committee. I just have a few questions to ask you." So he asked me some questions, and after my replies he informed me that I was indeed a 2012 winner of a NFB scholarship. I was so stunned that I was screaming and accusing him of lying, and he kept reassuring me that I really was a winner. My husband and boys ran into the kitchen, thinking I had burned myself. Finally, Mr. John congratulated me on my winning and said he would see me in July in Dallas. For anyone who does not believe that first-time applicants can win this scholarship, I am here to show you that what you believe is wrong. Do not doubt yourself; you can do it. You have to believe in what you are doing and know you are bettering yourself as a blind person. The National Federation of the Blind is one of the most outstanding organizations for blind people anywhere. I am thankful to my DSB counselor for introducing me to the NFB. I have many close friends that I made while being in Dallas for a week at the national convention. It is amazing what the NFB can do for you. It helped me believe even more in myself as a blind person. Instead of hoping that I can do great things in my life, I know I can do great things in my life. Thank you, NFB, for changing my life for the better. Happy seventy- fifth anniversary! ---------- My Journey Toward Winning Friends and Influencing Others by Kelsey Nicolay From the Editor: In the April 2013 issue we ran an article by Shawn Mayo entitled "An Ordinary Sort of Courage." It is difficult to acknowledge that doing some things as a blind person does require courage without blowing out of all proportion the small things we do and making them look fantastic or heroic. It takes a bit of courage to venture into a setting where people tell you they have never been around a blind person or that you are the first blind person to ever attempt to participate in their organization. Kelsey Nicolay demonstrates such courage, and here is her story: As a college graduate with a degree in communication, I thought I was prepared for the workplace. Over a year out and still unemployed, I decided to listen to my cousin who is a training consultant for Dale Carnegie when he suggested I go through their program. He told me that, even though I had solid communication skills, I would still benefit from the course. It was a difficult decision, partly because I would have to depend on my family to transport me. After much thought and discussion my dad and I decided that I should go through the program since I would acquire skills to prepare me to handle the stress and challenges of the workplace. In addition, the course served as an opportunity to network with the other participants in order to help me gain employment. Prior to the talk with my cousin, I did not know much about the program, only that it had something to do with public speaking. From the very beginning the staff felt they would be comfortable having me in class. "I can handle it," said Elaine Dwyer, Dale Carnegie instructor, when informed by my cousin that I would be enrolling in her course. Due to company policy, I was not given the name of my instructor, so I was not able to communicate with her ahead of time. The training consultant had to facilitate the entire enrollment process, including the initial discussion with the trainer. Still, I felt confident that my instructor would be able to explain my learning needs and the accommodations I might need. The first class was an orientation. The participants were introduced to the Dale Carnegie program, the areas of instruction, etc. Our activities involved demonstrating some basic communication skills such as self- introduction techniques. Each student was then asked to practice these skills in front of the class. My classmates were willing to help me move around when needed. During the first few classes students were introduced to fundamental communication skills such as name recognition, conversation starting, etc. The majority of this instruction was oral, therefore all the participants were expected to memorize the sequences or sayings without having them written down. However, at times a participant manual was used. I was able to obtain an electronic copy, which I could pull up in class as needed. I was able to locate the other books on Bookshare, so I could read them independently between classes. At times, when materials were not available electronically, I asked a family member to serve as a reader. As the course progressed, there were some aspects which presented challenges. For example, during one class the instructor made up actions to go with a story in the book with which the students were asked to become familiar. The purpose of adding the actions was to help students add enthusiasm to their communication. Neither I nor the instructor considered how I would participate. Therefore, she asked one of the graduate assistants to try to describe what the instructor was doing, but the graduate assistant could not describe the actions fast enough. Once the class learned the actions to go with the story, the students were asked to perform it in small groups. I did not do the physical gestures. Instead I was able to participate by helping recite the words. "I realized I should have followed up with you," Ms. Dwyer said after class that night. From this experience we learned that it is important to anticipate challenges and plan accordingly. During a later class the students were asked to learn several silly skits to demonstrate being flexible in response to change. This time the instructor and I talked about the best way to handle the situation. We both agreed that having me work with another person would be the way for me to participate fully. The person I worked with verbally described what the instructor was doing while she was demonstrating the skit to the class. When the class was learning the skit, my partner would physically guide me through the routine. Once again the class performed in small groups. My partner helped me perform my skit with my group. Since I had more than words to go on and had actually rehearsed the motions and knew how they felt to perform, I was more comfortable with learning the actions. As part of the course each participant was required to give a weekly talk. The talks focused on gaining the cooperation of others, demonstrating leadership, and enhancing relationships. During my speeches I focused on dealing with the vocational rehabilitation agency and how I had applied the principles learned in class to help me get the service I needed. My classmates were not familiar with the system, but, after listening to my talks, they had a better understanding of some of the difficulties I face. Although I had difficulties in some areas, I was much more comfortable in others, particularly learning things by rote. For example, during one class period the instructor wrote a saying on the board. I asked my neighbor what the instructor was writing, and she quietly whispered it to me. The instructor went through the saying out loud, but having my neighbor whisper it to me ahead of time helped to solidify it in my memory. Therefore, it was easier for me to recite the saying when students were asked to do so later in the class period. Before I knew it, it was graduation night, a night in which all our accomplishments would be recognized. Each student was required to give a final talk in order to receive his or her certificate. Prior to each student's speech, the instructor talked briefly about him or her, mentioning a highlight from his or her talk. I was a little nervous at first, but, when it was my turn to speak, I stood up and confidently gave my speech. When I finished speaking, my family came up to present me my certificate, just as the other participants' families had done. In the end my family and I decided that the process was worth it, even though they had to drive me there and back every week. My advice to readers is that, if a Dale Carnegie class is offered in your area, do not hesitate to participate. The skills you learn will help you in every aspect of your life. ---------- Crafting Your Diamond: The 2015 NOPBC Conference by Carlton Walker As the president of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), a division of the NFB, I have the privilege of writing this essay inviting you to the NOPBC's Annual Conference which will be held at the NFB National Convention Sunday, July 5 through Saturday, July 10, 2015, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. In addition to serving as the NOPBC president, I am employed as a teacher of the blind and visually impaired in Cumberland and York counties, Pennsylvania, and I am an attorney with my own solo practice. But, by far, my heart and mind are dedicated to the NFB and the NOPBC-I relish the opportunity to share with others and learn from friends. As I write this essay, I am enjoying a much-anticipated and long- awaited vacation with my husband, Steve, and our daughter, Anna Catherine. I am stretched out on a comfy sofa in a lounge area on our cruise ship, the Norwegian Sun. We enjoy getting away on vacation, and a cruise offers us just what we like: lots of choices and few demands. On these cruises we cannot help but learn about all the shopping opportunities in the Caribbean- and chief among these is shopping for diamonds. This seemed quite apropos, given that we will be celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of our National Federation of the Blind this year. From the gem-buying workshops I have attended, I discovered that the "Four Cs of Diamond Buying" apply to our blind children as well. While the diamond's four Cs are cut, carat, color, and clarity, the four Cs of rearing a successful blind child are competence, confidence, creativity, and community. Competence requires the acquisition of, practice with, and mastery of nonvisual skills and tools, such as Braille, the long white cane, and access technology. Confidence provides a platform upon which these skills may be used. Creativity brings in the beauty of the individual- a diamond unlike any other who uses these skills in new and exciting ways. Community represents giving back-competent, confident, creative blind children and adults are full members of their communities and contribute to the growth and strength of them. While I cannot afford to purchase a diamond, I believe that our children, blind or sighted, are the most precious gems we will ever encounter. Like diamonds, they are strong and possess qualities that some might not expect. Diamonds are known for their beauty, but they are actually quite valuable for industrial uses that have no relation to their physical appearance. Similarly, even though outsiders may not understand it, our children help us and others to experience and see our world in ways we would surely have missed without them. And, like rough, uncut diamonds, our children's beauty and value cannot be fully realized until they experience the empowerment of nonvisual skills that let them shine. Please join us at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida, July 5 through 10, for our annual NOPBC conference. As noted above, we will also be celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NFB. Learning and fun, friends and family, love and laughter-you will find each of these in abundance throughout the convention, both with other parents of blind children and with blind adults-our children's role models. Come meet us in Orlando as we learn the tools, techniques, and philosophies that will allow our diamonds to sparkle now and throughout their lives. Schedule of Events for Adults, Children, and Youth Please visit for activities, updates, and registration information Sunday, July 5 9:00 AM to 4:45 PM Full-Day Seminar-General Session and Workshops 7:30 AM to 8:45 AM Registration Parents, children, and youth are invited to start the morning together at the "Crafting Your Diamond" Seminar. At 10:45 a.m. children preregistered with NFB Child Care will be escorted to the children's activity in the child care rooms and youth ages eleven to eighteen will be escorted to the Youth Track activity rooms. 9:00 AM to 10:45 AM General Session Welcome with NOPBC President Carlton Walker, Kid Talk with NFB President Mark Riccobono, keynote address, student panel, and more! 10:45 AM Children and Youth Are Escorted To Activities 11:00 AM NOPBC Children's Activity (ages five through twelve) in NFB Child Care Please visit for activity details. 11:00 AM NOPBC Youth Track Activity (ages eleven through eighteen) 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM NOPBC Concurrent Workshops for Parents and Teachers Session 1 Additional workshops sponsored by Professionals in Blindness Education (PIBE) and the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB) will be available during each time slot for parents and teachers to attend. Learn to Play and Play to Learn Facilitating your child's learning and play. Instructor: Heather Field, Special Educator The National Reading Media Assessment (NRMA) and the National O&M Assessment (NOMA) What's in these new, cutting edge assessments? Will they benefit your child? Instructors: Sheena Manuel, TBS, NOMC, Outreach Specialist, Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness (PDRIB); Casey Robertson, TBS, Faculty, PDRIB Using Readers Learning the critical skill of using a human reader for academic and personal tasks. Instructor: Carol Castellano, Director of Programs, NOPBC The ABCs of Braille A hands-on workshop that will teach the beginning of Braille reading and writing. Instructor: TBA 12:15 PM Lunch on your own. Pick up children from Child Care. 1:30 PM Child Care Reopens 2:00 PM NOPBC Children's Activity (ages five through twelve) in NFB Child Care Check for details. To participate, child must be signed up for child care for this day. 2:00 PM to 4:45 PM NOPBC Youth Track (ages eleven through eighteen) 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM NOPBC Concurrent Workshops for Parents and Teachers Session 2 Ages and Stages Facilitating the child's progress toward the next logical step in development. Instructor: Natalie Shaheen, Director of Education, NFB Jernigan Institute Standardized Testing and Testing Accommodations: What You Need to Know What are the issues with Smarter Balanced and PARCC? What testing accommodations will work for your child's success? Instructors: Mehgan Sidhu, General Counsel, NFB; Valerie Yingling, Paralegal, NFB; Carlton Walker, TBS, President, NOPBC Independence Skills for Real Life What skills does your child need for an independent future and how can you cultivate them? Instructor: TBA Technology: Accessible Apps What's new in accessible apps? Instructor: Jeremiah Beasley, Blindness and Low Vision Assistive Technology Specialist, Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Board Member, NOPBC and NFBWI 3:30 PM to 4:45 PM NOPBC Concurrent Workshops for Parents and Teachers Session 3 Additional workshops sponsored by PIBE and the NBPCB will be available for parents and teachers to attend. Independent Movement and Travel for Very Young Children and Children with Additional Disabilities Working toward maximum independence and self-determination for your child. Instructor: Denise Mackenstadt, NOMC Make-and-Take Graphics Learn the basics of making tactile graphics for children and create one to take home. Instructor: Carlton Walker, TBS, President, NOPBC Independent Living Skills and Independent Movement and Travel for the School-Age Child High expectations, real-life goals, and how to achieve them. Instructor: Mary Jo Hartle, NOMC, TBS Using College Disability Support Services (DSS) How DSS offices provide accommodations and how to access and use them effectively without losing your independence. Instructor: TBA 5:30 PM Pick Up Children from Child Care Promptly! 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM NOPBC Family Hospitality Relax, snack, chat, meet new families and teachers, and connect with old friends. Veteran attendees will be on hand to welcome you and provide information. Co-sponsored by PIBE. 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM NOPBC Board Meeting 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM NABS Student Social (ages fourteen to eighteen) Monday, July 6 Child Care is CLOSED on this day. 8:45 AM to 10:30 AM Cane Walk Session I 11:00 AM to 12:45 PM Cane Walk Session II Wondering if your child should use a cane? Curious about how a cane works? Learn and experience the Discovery Method of travel at these special workshops. Parents, teachers, blind/VI children, and siblings are welcome. Coordinator: Jeff Altman, NOMCT, CVRCB 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM Tween Room Open (ages eleven to fourteen) Text or call Penny Duffy at (603) 892-6355 for location. Feel free to bring your lunch. 2:45 PM to 4:00 PM NOPBC Youth Style Show (Rehearsal begins at 1:00 PM) Our young blind models and NFB stars strut their stuff on the runway. Come enjoy the fashions and music and support NOPBC, tickets $5 at the door. Coordinator: Kim Cunningham, second vice president, NOPBC 5:45 PM to 6:15 PM NOPBC Breaking Barriers Funathlon Swim through shark-infested waters, race through an alligator-infested swamp, shoot down barriers to independence (on hotel grounds-no danger involved). Join us for this fun-filled family fundraiser, $5 to participate. Raise money for NOPBC by collecting pledges-please bring pledge sheets (at end of this article) and donations to the event. 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Parent Leadership Program (PLP) Has the NOPBC helped you and your family? Would you like to get more involved? Come learn about leadership opportunities in your state. Coordinator: Carol Castellano, director of programs, NOPBC Tuesday, July 7 In the morning visit the Exhibit Hall and the Independence Market; attend the NFB Board of Directors meeting-it's open to all. In the afternoon, drop the kids off at their activities early and come to the NOPBC annual meeting. 12:45 PM Child Care Will Be Open Early This Afternoon Give your child lunch, then drop him/her off early at child care so that you can attend the NOPBC annual meeting which begins at 1 PM. NOPBC Children's Activity (ages five through twelve) in NFB Child Care Takes place during Child Care afternoon session. To participate, child must be signed up for child care for this day. Visit for details. 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM NOPBC Youth Track Session (ages eleven to eighteen) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM National Organization of Parents of Blind Children Annual Meeting: Options and Opportunities Attention parents and teachers! Be sure to attend this important meeting featuring the 2015 Distinguished Educator of Blind Children; an update from the NFB Jernigan Institute; the latest information on accessible textbooks, art, games, and technology; writing contest winners, Parent Power, Kid Power; and NOPBC business and elections. Special bonus: meeting attendees receive a priority entrance ticket into the Braille Book Fair. 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Braille Book Fair To celebrate the NFB's seventy-fifth anniversary, the American Action Fund has generously donated 750 print-Braille books to this year's Braille Book Fair! A book lover's dream! Browse tables of new and used Braille and print-Braille books. Volunteers will box your books and deliver them to the post office for Free Matter shipment to your home. Books are free; donations are encouraged to support our Braille programs. Co-sponsored by NOPBC and NAPUB. Coordinator: Krystal Guillory, teacher of blind students, NFB of Louisiana BELL Coordinator. 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM Dads' Night Out All dads, sighted and blind, are welcome at this NOPBC-sponsored event. Call Bill Cucco at (201) 602-6318 for location. Wednesday, July 8 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM NOPBC Board Meeting 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM NFB Convention Opening Session Be there for the bang of the gavel and the roar of the crowd. See the NFB Convention Agenda for program details. NFB general sessions take place all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Many additional events and meetings take place before the morning session, at lunchtime, and in the evenings. 12:15 PM to 1:45 PM Tween Room Open (ages eleven to fourteen) Text or call Penny Duffy at (603) 892-6355 for location. Feel free to bring your lunch. 7:00 PM to 9:45 PM NOPBC Concurrent Workshops 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM Adopting a Blind/Visually Impaired Child A look at the adoption process from initial considerations to real life at home from experienced adoptive parents. Instructors: Sandy Bishop, adoptive parent, POBC of MD; Merry-Noel Chamberlain, TBS, NOMC; and Marty Chamberlain, adoptive parents, POBC of NE 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM IEP Workshop for Parents of Blind/VI Students The basics of IEP development and how to be an active and effective participant. Instructor: Dan Frye, attorney, executive director, NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM NOPBC Craft and Game Night (ages five to twelve) This activity is for children whose parents are attending NOPBC evening workshops. 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM NOPBC Youth Track Activities (ages eleven to eighteen) 8:30 PM to 9:45 PM Staying Calm How to get through an IEP meeting without raising your blood pressure and losing your cool and your mind! Instructor: Sharon Maneki, advocate, president, NFB of MD Thursday, July 9 12:15 PM to 1:45 PM Tween Room Open (ages eleven to fourteen) Text or call Penny Duffy at (603) 892-6355 for location. Feel free to bring your lunch. 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Parent Leadership Program-PLP Has the NOPBC helped you and your family? Would you like to get more involved? Come learn about leadership opportunities in your state. Coordinator: Carol Castellano, director of programs, NOPBC Friday, July 10 12:15 PM to 1:45 PM Tween Room Open (ages eleven to fourteen) Text or call Penny Duffy at (603) 892-6355 for location. Feel free to bring your lunch. 12:30 PM to 1:45 PM NOPBC Brainstorming Session Come share your ideas and help to plan next year's conference. Insider Information The NFB National Convention is a complicated week of events. This insider information can help you stay organized and take advantage of the many opportunities that will be available. The NOPBC Conference takes place within the NFB National Convention. The NOPBC conference, the NFB National Convention, and NFB Child Care have separate registration fees. To receive our special hotel room rates, you must also register for the NFB National Convention. Informal Trip Day-Saturday, July 4 A group of parents will be meeting informally in the hotel lobby to take a trip to Wonder Works, an interactive indoor amusement park a short distance from the hotel. All are invited. Please visit for details. Seminar Day Information-Sunday, July 5 On Seminar Day, Sunday, July 5, adults, children, and youth are invited to start the morning together at the "Crafting Your Diamond" Seminar. Children will have the opportunity to chat with NFB President Mark Riccobono. At the end of the general session (10:45 AM) children preregistered with NFB child care will be escorted to the children's activity in child care and youth ages eleven to eighteen will be escorted to the Youth Track activity while adults attend workshops. At the lunch break pick up your child from child care for lunch on your own. After lunch there will be workshops for adults, a children's activity in the child care rooms, and a Youth Track activity. Activities for Children and Youth, Child Care Information . NOPBC daytime children's activities take place in NFB Child Care. To take part in an activity, your child must be registered for child care for that day. . To register for NFB Child Care, called NFB Camp, visit and click on NFB National Convention. . Child care is provided by the NFB for children six weeks to twelve years old each day except Monday, July 6. Child care is also available on Banquet night, Friday, July 10. Children must be registered to attend. . Other activities for children and youth include the NABS Social, the cane walks, Youth Style Show, the Breaking Barriers Funathlon, Youth Track activities, and Tween Room--open for chaperoned, informal activities and snacks at various times during the week. Special Events and Activities All Week Long . Certain special NOPBC activities for parents, children, and youth are listed only in the NOPBC agenda-for example, our workshops, cane walks, children's activities, Tween Room, and Dad's Night. . Other activities that you and your child might want to attend are listed in the NFB National Convention agenda (this is a separate document). Please register for both the NOPBC Conference and the NFB National Convention so that you will be aware of all that is going on. . Register for the NOPBC Conference at or by completing the form at the end of this article. . Register for the NFB National Convention at . . Many activities will be going on at the same time. You and your child might have to make choices. Read both the NOPBC agenda as well as the NFB agenda so that you don't miss out! REGISTRATION NOPBC 2015 CONFERENCE-CRAFTING YOUR DIAMOND Register online at www.nopbc.org or make check payable to NOPBC and mail with form to: Pat Renfranz, NOPBC Treasurer 397 Middle Oak Lane, Salt Lake City, UT 84108 Save money by preregistering! Preregistration must be postmarked by June 15. After June 15, please register on-site in Orlando. |FEES |By June 15 |On-site in | | | |Orlando | |1 Adult |$30 |$40 | |2 or more Adults |$50 |$70 | |Child/Youth (up to |FREE |FREE | |18 years) |Children are free, but | | | |please list names and | | | |ages below | | Adult Name ____________________________________________________________________ [ ] parent of blind child [ ] professional [ ] other___________________ Adult Name ___________________________________________________________________ [ ] parent of blind child [ ] professional [ ] other___________________ Please list additional adults on a separate sheet. Address ___________________________________________ City ________________________ State ________________ Zip _________________ Phone _______________________________ Email ___________________________________ Alt. phone ____________________________ Child/Youth 1-Name (first and last), age, brief description of vision and any additional disabilities: ____________________________________________________________________________ __ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ Child/Youth 2: _________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ __ Please list additional children/youth on a separate sheet. |How many people? |Prereg. by June|On-site |Totals | | |15 |reg. | | |1 Adult _____ |@ $30 |or @ $40 |= $______ | |2 or more Adults |@ $50 |or @ $70 |= $______ | |_____ | | | | |Child/Youth _____ |FREE |FREE |= $__00__ | |Total Registering | | |Total enclosed: | |_____ | | |$______ | For parents/teachers of blind children: _____ I would like to receive the NOPBC free national magazine Future Reflections. _____ in print _____ as an e-file _____ This is my first national convention. If not, how many have you attended? _____ _____ I am a member of my state NFB/POBC. _____ I would like to receive more information about my state NFB/POBC. PLEASE NOTE: Preregistrations postmarked after June 15 will be returned. Also, remember that registrations for the NOPBC Conference and NFB Child Care are separate and must be mailed to different places. NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF PARENTS OF BLIND CHILDREN (NOPBC) Second Annual BREAKING BARRIERS FUNATHLON at the National Federation of the Blind National Convention July 6, 2014, Orlando, FL SPONSOR PLEDGE SHEET Please make checks payable to NOPBC and bring to the event. Donations are tax-deductible. FUNATHLETE NAME: ______________________ Goal: $_______ ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________ PARENT'S EMAIL: ____________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ FUNATHLETE NAME: ______________________ Goal: $_______ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ Sponsor Name: __________________________________ Pledge/Donation Amount: _______ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________ ---------- Federation Favorites by Joe Ruffalo With the seventy-fifth anniversary approaching, we at the Monitor thought this extra-special recipe was worth sharing in addition to the usual recipes. This unique treat is best served as an appetizer, but it can be used as a dessert. No matter how you serve it, it's one that every Federationist can prepare, share, and enjoy. Ingredients: A full cup of each of the following: Desire Determination Positive attitude Involvement Philosophy History Method: Pour all of the above into a chapter and/or division. Stir with love, hope, and determination to transform dreams into reality. Spread on high expectations. Serve to all that are striving to live the life they want. Serves the entire affiliate. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes are offered by members of the NFB of Texas. Coconut Candy by Macarena Pena Macarena Pena is the president of the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of the NFB of Texas. This is her first year in that role, and under her leadership, the chapter is thriving. Macarena works for the Division of Blind Services, in Brownsville, Texas. Ingredients: 2 cups of coconut 1 cup of crushed pecans 1 cup of finely crushed graham crackers 1 butter stick 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 1 can of sweetened condensed milk 2 eggs Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix the coconut, pecans, and graham crackers. Melt the butter and add to the mixture. In a separate bowl mix the milk, eggs, and the vanilla. Add the coconut mixture to the milk mixture. Stir all ingredients together. Place in a greased rectangular Pyrex dish. Bake in oven for thirty minutes. Allow to cool, and cut into square pieces approximately two inches each. Enjoy! ---------- Crockpot Lasagna by Stacie Hardy Stacy Hardy is a member of the Houston chapter of the NFB of Texas. Here is what she has to say: I received this delicious recipe from my guide dog's puppy raiser. It is sure to feed an army and will win the hearts of everyone who tries it! It is especially good as leftovers and freezes great. Ingredients: 2-3 jars of pasta sauce (I've typically used 2 16-ounce jars) 1 16-ounce box lasagna noodles, uncooked 24 ounces (approximately 3 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese 8 ounces ricotta or cottage cheese (I've only used the ricotta) 1 pound ground beef, ground turkey, or Italian sausage (I've used ground sirloin along with pepperoni) Note: To make vegetarian lasagna, substitute spinach for meat Method: In a large crockpot (at least six quarts), place one jar of the pasta sauce. Begin making the lasagna layers starting with the noodles followed by the meat and finally the cheese, I recommend breaking the noodles in half. I've typically been able to make three layers. Once the final layer has been made, cover with the second jar of sauce and grated cheeses. Cook on low for four to five hours. Note: A smaller crockpot can be used, but I recommend the larger one. ---------- Corn Casserole by Stacie Hardy This quick and easy recipe will be the talk of any pot luck dinner. It is especially good as leftovers. You can be sure people will want the recipe. Ingredients: 1 box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (only Jiffy will do) 1 cup (8 ounces) grated cheddar cheese 1 stick butter, melted 1 16-ounce can cream-style corn 1 16-ounce can whole kernel corn, undrained 1 8-ounce container sour cream Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, bake for forty minutes. ---------- Lucy Cake by Stacie Hardy This cake can be a refreshing dessert during the summer time or included in traditional holiday meals. This recipe has become a family favorite thanks to my aunt Linda. Ingredients: 1 box Duncan Hines Golden Butter Recipe Cake Mix 4 eggs 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 4-ounce can mandarin oranges, undrained Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a lightly greased and floured 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Bake for thirty to thirty-five minutes. Frosting: 1 8-ounce carton Cool Whip 2 cups chopped pecans 1 16-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained 1 4-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained 1 small package of Jell-O instant vanilla pudding Method: Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mix thoroughly. Refrigerate overnight; this will allow the flavors to blend together. The frosting is definitely my favorite part of this cake. ---------- Lara's Chili by Lara Sowell Lara is president of our Lone Star Chapter (at-large). She is active in her community, her church, and the NFB. She teaches Latin at Regents Academy, in Nacogdoches, Texas. Ingredients: 3 pounds ground beef, browned and drained 1/3 cup chopped onions (optional) 2 cans RoTel 2 cans diced tomatoes 1 can beef broth 2 beef bouillon cubes 1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce 1 6-ounce can of tomato paste 2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (I mostly use the kind that is already chopped up) 2-3 tablespoons ground cumin 2-3 tablespoons chili powder Salt and pepper (to taste) Method: Brown and drain the beef. If you like, you can add about 1/3 cup chopped onions and a dash of salt and pepper for added flavor as you do it. Combine beef with rest of ingredients to cook. I like to put it in the crockpot on low all day while I am at work, but in a pinch I cook it on the stovetop and simmer for thirty to forty minutes. I like to serve it over rice. Jasmine fragrant is my favorite; it is in the Asian section at Wal- Mart. I top with grated sharp cheddar cheese. Makes twelve servings of about one cup each. ---------- Milagro Meat Loaf by Norma Crosby Norma Crosby is president of the NFB of Texas, and a proud charter member of the Lone Star Chapter. This recipe is one of her family's favorites. It is named after the small Milagros "miracle" charms that are often sold outside major churches in Mexico. This is no ordinary meat loaf. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 cup minced onion 1/2 red or green bell pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin 1 pound of lean ground beef 1 pound of lean ground pork 1 1/2 cups of dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup of tomato-based barbecue sauce (I use Stubb's Original) 3 tablespoons of sour cream 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce Milk (as needed) Additional barbecue sauce (optional) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Saut? until the vegetables are softened. Stir in the salt, cayenne, cumin, and black pepper. Saut? for an additional two to three minutes. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, and add all the other ingredients, except for milk. Mix thoroughly with your hands. The meat should feel moist, but not soupy. If it feels too dry, add milk a tablespoon or two at a time until the consistency seems right. Mound mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Bake uncovered for forty minutes. Then, raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees, and bake for an additional twenty to thirty minutes. If you like, brush the top of the meat loaf with additional barbecue sauce during the last ten minutes. ---------- Braggin' Rights Chicken Fried Steak by Norma Crosby Ingredients: 2 pounds of round steak, cut about 1/2 inch thick, and tenderized twice by the butcher 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 egg 1 tablespoon Tabasco (or other hot sauce) 2 garlic cloves, minced Vegetable shortening for deep frying Method: Cut the steak into four equal portions. Pound the portions until each is about 1/4 inch thick. Place the flour in a shallow bowl. In a separate dish, stir together the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt. Then mix in the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco, and garlic. Dredge the steaks in flour. Then dunk them in the buttermilk mixture. Then dredge them in the flour again. Pat the flour into the steaks until the surface feels dry. Add enough shortening to an iron skillet or heavy Dutch oven to allow for deep frying (about four inches deep). Bring the oil to a temperature of about 325 degrees. Deep fry the steaks for about seven to eight minutes. Push the steaks down or turn them as they bob to the surface. Serve with cream gravy (following recipe). ---------- Cream Gravy Submitted by Norma Crosby This is a must-have with your chicken fried steak. Ingredients: 1/4 cup of pan drippings 3 tablespoons of flour 2 cups evaporated milk 1 cup unsalted beef stock 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste) Salt (to taste) Method: After cooking your chicken fried steak, use a strainer to pour off most of the fat left in the pan. Leave about 1/4 of the drippings in the bottom of the pan. Return any browned cracklings that remain in the strainer to the skillet. Place the skillet over medium heat, and stir in flour. Stir constantly to avoid lumps. Add evaporated milk and beef stock. Simmer until the liquid is thickened and the raw flour taste is gone (about three minutes). Stir the gravy up from the bottom frequently, scraping up any browned bits. Add salt and pepper to taste. The gravy should have a peppery taste. Add more if needed. Spoon over chicken fried steak, and enjoy. ---------- Easy Cowboy Cornbread Casserole by Barbara Shaidnagle Barbara is a member of the Houston Chapter of the NFB of Texas. Ingredients: Corn Bread 2 packages of Mexican-style cornbread mix 1 can of cream style corn Eggs Milk Center 2 pounds hamburger meat 2 cans RoTel 1 can ranch-style beans Chopped onions (as desired) Bag of shredded cheese Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown the ground beef, drain the grease. Add RoTel, onions, and ranch style beans, simmer for ten minutes. Make the cornbread according to directions on the back of the bag, add can of cream of corn, and half of the bag of cheese. Grease the bottom of a 8- by-12-inch casserole dish. Pour half of the cornbread mix to the bottom of the pan. Add the meat mixture, then put the other half of the cheese on top. Cover the meat mixture with the other half of the cornbread mixture. Cook for forty-five minutes, or until you can poke a toothpick in the middle and have it come out clean. ---------- Carrot Salad by Una Lau Una Lau is a member of the Houston Chapter of the NFB of Texas. Ingredients: 2 10-ounce bags shredded carrots, available from the produce department 1 cup (or approximately 3 handfuls) raisins 2 tablespoons poppy seeds (available in the spice aisle) 1 lemon, juiced 2 oranges, juiced 1/2 cup (or approximately 2 handfuls) light brown sugar Salt (to taste) Method: Combine all ingredients well, using your fingers to toss and coat the carrots thoroughly. Transfer to a travel container or serving dish. As the salad sits, the raisins will plump a bit and carrots will take on a citrusy taste. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Child Care in Orlando 2015: If you are a child between the ages of six weeks and twelve years, NFB Camp is the place to be during convention sessions. We have qualified child care professionals providing activities, games, field trips, and a variety of fun experiences for the children. Michelle Chicone, teacher of blind children, will also be working with children and consulting with parents throughout the week. More information and registration details can be found on the NFB website at , or you can call Carla McQuillan at (541) 653- 9153. Braille Book Fair 2015: Calling all Braille readers, teachers, and parents! It's that time again: time to sort through all those boxes of Braille books and donate gently used but no longer needed Braille books to the 2015 Braille Book Fair sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. Our primary goal is to get more Braille books into the hands of children, youth, and beginning adult readers, so here's what we need most in our books in good condition: print-Braille picture storybooks, leisure reading (fiction or nonfiction) books, cookbooks, and books about sports. Children are so hungry for their very own books that every year, despite generous donations of books, most of our books for young children are gone in less than an hour. So begin your search through the boxes in your basement and spare room and get those books shipped to UPS, Braille Book Fair, Attention: Milton Bennett, 8901 Atlantic Avenue, Orlando, FL 32824. This note comes from this year's coordinator, Krystal Guillory. If you have any questions, contact her at (318) 245-8955 or . The Braille Book Fair has become one of the highlights of the convention for many teachers, parents, blind kids, blind parents, and adult beginning Braille readers. But the event could not take place without the help of many dedicated, talented volunteers. And that's where you come in. As a past worker, or simply interested supporter of the Braille Book Fair, I hope you can either volunteer, or give me the contact information for someone that you recommend. You do not need to work the entire afternoon or evening, but I do ask that you try to work an entire shift. We especially need for people who help customers to come before we open the doors at 5:00 p.m., and to commit to staying until at least 6:30 p.m. We need volunteers throughout the afternoon and evening for the following shifts and work responsibilities: 10:00 AM to Noon: Open boxes, sort boxes, unpack boxes. Sort and clean-up empty boxes for re-use, tape together new boxes. Noon to 2:00 PM: Open boxes, sort boxes, unpack boxes. Sort and clean-up empty boxes for re-use, tape together new boxes. 2:00 to 3:30 PM: Sort books, pair up volumes, weed out and/or toss unusable books or other materials. Some good Braille readers are especially needed for this shift. We also need runners to take boxes, books, etc. to other locations in the room as they are needed. 3:30 to 4:30 PM: Continue sorting, display books on tables, store overflow books on floor and under tables. Some good Braille readers are especially needed for this shift. We also need runners to take boxes, books, etc. to other locations in the room as they are needed. 4:30 to 5:00 PM: Choose a section of tables to work, familiarize yourself with the titles, and shift volumes around if needed. Some good Braille readers are especially needed for this shift. We also need runners to take boxes, books, etc. to other locations in the room as they are needed. 5:00 to 7:00 PM: The Event, Job A: Assist customers with locating books, and make sure customers take all volumes of a title. Act as a "talking sign" for categories on your tables. Serve as a mentor to those who look as if they need assistance. Place more books on the tables as space becomes available. Some good Braille readers are especially needed for this shift. We also need runners to take boxes, books, etc. to other locations in the room as they are needed. 5:00 to 7:30 PM: The Event, Job B: Pack books up for customers for shipping to their homes. Write labels, stamp "Free Matter" on boxes, tape up boxes, and stack boxes. 6:30 to 8:00 PM: (We are frequently done by 7:00 PM.) Clean up trash. Toss or box up leftover books. Label boxes for shipment back to NFB. Stack boxes and/or move them for later pick-up by UPS. If you are interested in volunteering for the Braille Book Fair, email Krystal Guillory at or call (318) 245- 8955. In your message, please give your name, your cell phone number that you will have at convention, the state you live in, the shift you would like to work, and your Braille skills (including if you read by touch or by sight as a sighted person). If you are a parent of a blind child under the age of eighteen (or still in high school or below), we know that you will want to attend the NOPBC Annual Meeting which takes place just before the Braille Book Fair, but we would welcome your help either during the event or on the clean-up shift after the event. Cancer Survivors, We Are Here: The National Federation of the Blind Cancer Survivors Support Group's purpose is to help all cancer survivors get well, stay well, provide preventive measures, create a platform for cohesive dialogue and help provide accessibility to information that may enhance the lives of cancer survivors. Our primary goal is to make sure that blind cancer survivors have information in accessible format, i.e. Braille, large print, or electronic format. Membership is free so join today by emailing Isaiah Nelson at or call (803) 735-0821. The National Federation of the Blind Cancer Survivors has launched a mailing list. The list is sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind. To join the list, go to or send an email to and put "subscribe" in the subject line. If you have technical problems, please contact David Andrews at . Stay in the know on cancer information, conference calls, events, resources etc. A monthly prize will be given to the NFB Cancer Survivor who participates on the mailing list. Participants may win only once per year. The first twenty-five members of the National Federation of the Blind Cancer Survivors Support Group to register for the National Federation of the Blind 2015 National Convention in Orlando, Florida, will receive a special gift at the meeting of the NFB Cancer Survivors Support Group. To redeem your gift you must show your 2015 National Federation of the Blind National Convention registration badge at the meeting. Show your support for the NFB Cancer Survivors by joining us at our "Fiesta Table" at the 2015 National Federation of the Blind Banquet, Friday, July 10, 2015. Banquet tickets are only $60 each. If you can't attend, sponsor a Federationist by donating $60 to the National Federation of the Blind. If you want to join the NFB Cancer Survivors at the "Fiesta Table," be sure to get your banquet ticket to Isaiah Nelson for the exchange by 12:00 PM on Tuesday, July 7. NFB Cancer Survivors who RSVP by June 5 to dine with us at the "Fiesta Table" will receive maracas to shake and let the world know "We Are Here!" RSVP by emailing or call (803) 735-0821. The NFB Cancer Survivors Support Group will host its annual meeting, date and location to be announced, so be sure you are signed up for the NFB Cancer Survivors mailing list. The first fifty attendees of the NFB Cancer Survivors meeting will receive gift bags. We will customize your bag with your choice of Braille or large print literature if you RSVP for the annual meeting by emailing or call (803) 735-0821. We want your "Fighting Cancer Story" to create a book of support for those walking the cancer journey with us. Forward your story today to . We want to meet you. The 6 Dot Dash Comes to Your Community: On June 7, 2015, the National Federation of the Blind will once again be holding its 6 Dot Dash: A 6K to Advance Braille Literacy! Although not everyone will be able to join us at our headquarters in Federal Hill to participate in our third annual 6 Dot Dash through the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore, anyone can still participate as a virtual runner to assist members and friends of the National Federation of the Blind by making a donation to ensure that blind students have access to the necessary services and supports to cross the literacy finish line. Just follow these simple steps to register as a 6 Dot Dash Virtual Runner or to become a member of a team. First, go to our Dot Dash webpage at , and read the information about our event. Click the "Register Today!" link to begin the registration. Rather than completing the runner registration information, go directly to the "Enter donation" edit field, and enter the amount of your donation. Then click the "Order Now" link. On the next page you should enter your name, email address, credit card information, and billing information so that we can process your donation. Then, under the "Ticket 1 - Donations/Additional Donation" heading, enter the name, phone, email, and mailing address of the virtual runner. If you are a member of a team, be sure to enter or select your team name in the dropdown box after supplying the information requested under the "Other Information" heading. Finally, you should check the "I agree to the above waiver" checkbox in order to authorize payment on the credit card. Then click the "Pay Now" link to make your donation and register as a virtual runner to help blind students cross the literacy finish line. Research has demonstrated that blind people who know and use Braille have higher rates of employment, self-confidence, and general social integration. Yet, only 10 percent of blind children are receiving instruction in Braille in public schools. Additionally, there are not enough programs to teach Braille to blind adults. We need to move quickly to reverse this trend and establish stronger literacy programs. The 6 Dot Dash is one means of ensuring that we do not leave the blind behind. For decades the National Federation of the Blind, the country's oldest and largest organization of the blind, has been the leading champion of Braille literacy. Offering a wealth of resources and knowledge, the NFB's Braille literacy program is the most comprehensive of its kind. Every day the NFB raises the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Assistive Technology Trainers Division to Meet at National Convention: The Assistive Technology Trainer's Division will meet on Tuesday, July 7, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Join us for lively discussions about the current state of Google Docs, NVDA, Windows 10, working with people who have multiple disabilities, and other subjects of interest. Dues are $5.00. Registration will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the meeting will start promptly at 7:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there. Video Educates Policemen in Albuquerque: During the 2014 White Cane Banquet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Police Chief Gordon Eden agreed to the creation of a video explaining the White Cane Law which will be shown to rookie officers. Don Burns, co-chair of the White Cane Committee and the person who arranged for the police chief to attend the banquet, was the spokesperson on the video. Because of scheduling problems the video was not created until March 12, 2015. During this meeting Don went through the law in detail, outlining how it was first passed in New Mexico as the result of efforts on the part of President Lyndon Johnson and New Mexico's then-Governor David Cargo. This was a bipartisan effort and was the beginning of annual acknowledgements by the president, most governors, and many local mayors. The National Federation of the Blind has perpetuated the annual observation of this important law. October 15 has been designated as White Cane Safety Day, and numerous efforts by Federation chapters throughout the country describe how the law protects the rights of blind people using either white canes or guide dogs as they traverse public streets. It also protects the right of such individuals seeking entrance to restaurants or other public facilities. The video will be shown not only to officers in training but will also be seen in all substations twice a month. Chief Eden also supports us and joins in our concerns about quiet cars. Another issue addressed at the banquet was the lack of a question about the white cane in the current drivers' manual. He has agreed to work with us to see that this manual is updated. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. GE Works to Design Braille Kit for Artistry Electric Range: The simplicity of GE's Artistry series of appliances-an affordable suite of appliances targeted to first-time homebuyers and millennials-lends itself to a unique market segment: the visually impaired. Working with students from the Kentucky School for the Blind, GE engineers and designers in Louisville, Kentucky, developed an accessory kit of Braille overlays for the new Artistry electric range controls that allows the visually impaired to use its cooktop and oven functions. According to an American Foundation for the Blind article, stoves are the least accessible class of appliances. Many ranges today have smooth push buttons on a back control panel. The ADA-compliant Artistry range offers front-control knobs that are within reach and a straightforward design that lends itself to a Braille accessory kit for the blind or visually impaired. "Both my parents taught special education," says Lee Lagomarcino, a GE product manager who initially championed the project and observed Kentucky School for the Blind students interacting with ranges. "As we developed the Artistry electric range, we knew its simplicity made it more universally appealing and ideal for a Braille application." Students from the Kentucky School for the Blind helped the GE team determine what was needed-a high, medium, and low heat setting for the cooktop, and a low, 350 degree, and broil option for the oven. With those readily accessible features to serve as a baseline, the oven can be adjusted to a recipe as needed. A focus group of students at the school came up with ways to make ranges more user friendly-using puffy paint and brightly contrasting colors to showcase their ideas. GE took those ideas and turned them into the custom-designed Braille kit. Students also tested the initial designs for ease of use. Kentucky School for the Blind Program Coordinator Paula Penrod said, "Many times, manufacturers will introduce a new product, then seek comments from consumers with disabilities. Consumers who are blind and visually impaired have unique needs when using appliances. By working with GE during the production stage, our students were able to demonstrate the type of Braille modifications that would be most helpful. We appreciate GE for seeking our students' input on the front end of GE's Artistry range project." As a thank you to the Kentucky School for the Blind and its students for their help, GE donated a full suite of Artistry kitchen appliances to the school's campus on Frankfurt Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky. The GE Artistry electric ranges and Braille kits are available in black and white and can be purchased nationwide where GE appliances are sold. For help locating a dealer, go to and use the Dealer Locator tool or call the GE Answer Center at (800) 626-2000. The estimated retail price of the Artistry electric range is $599, and the Braille kit is $15.75, however, prices may vary by retailer. In addition to the Braille kits for ranges, GE offers a standard Braille kit for common buttons on its microwave ovens. The kit can be ordered where GE appliances are sold. Department of Education Improves Accessibility of Student Loan Process: Paragraph 3(b) of the agreement entered into between the US Department of Education and the National Federation of the Blind provides as follows: The department shall, beginning as soon as practicable, but no later than ninety days after the effective date of this agreement, start to conduct outreach to blind and visually impaired borrowers. Through these efforts the department shall provide information about and solicit input concerning the accessibility of its websites and those of its servicers, the procedure for requesting alternative formats for student loan-related materials, and how to report problems with accessibility. The outreach shall be conducted using the department's websites, as well as by posting notices in such publications as the Braille Monitor, as well as through other publications for blind, visually impaired, and large-print readers and newsletters published by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Copies of all draft outreach materials shall be provided to counsel for complainants for prior review and comment no later than sixty days after the effective date of this agreement. Counsel for complainants shall provide any feedback within forty-five days. The department, consistent with its commitment to making its student loan resources and services accessible to all borrowers, has begun the implementation of its new standards for web accessibility; telephonic access; Word, PDF, and hard copy documents, forms, statements, and publications. The new standards are designed to: . make student loan-related website materials accessible to blind and visually impaired borrowers; . enable visually-impaired borrowers to obtain their student loan statements, notices, and written communications in an accessible format; . enhance borrowers' ability to request student loan-related hard copy documents and publications in alternative formats; . enable them to independently complete, sign and submit certain student loan-related forms online. Students and borrowers are encouraged to contact their loan servicers to obtain information regarding the availability of alternative formats. To locate loan servicer information on your federal student loan, log in to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) or contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at (800) 4-FED-AID-(800) 433-3243- Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM Eastern time. For additional contact options and other general information, visit . To report problems regarding the accessibility of student loan websites, documents, forms, statements, or publications, borrowers may either: submit a complaint through a link on the department's website; or file a formal complaint with the department pursuant to 34 C.F.R ? 105.41. New National Library Service for the Blind and Handicapped Website: That All May Read is the long-standing motto of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, a free library service. People with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or other physical disabilities that prevent them from reading or using printed materials are eligible to enroll in the Braille and Talking Book program, which offers a wide variety of reading materials at no charge. The new NLS website, , has information about the service and features a video with nine NLS patrons talking about their experiences with the program. The website will be updated regularly, so check back frequently to see what is new. Encourage those who may be eligible for NLS services, or who know people who are, to visit the site and learn more. Spread the word so that all may read. <#ThatAllMayRead>, the motto of the NLS, <@The Library of Congress>, is the new campaign theme describing NLS's Braille and Talking Book program. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter as well as using the main website to keep informed about what's new with the NLS. Computers for the Blind Receives Grant from the Delta Gamma Foundation: Computers for the Blind (CFTB) a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization located in Richardson, Texas, is pleased to announce the receipt of a generous grant from the Delta Gamma Foundation to provide seventy-five accessible desktop computers and monitors for $40 to people who are on SSI due to their blindness. The regular fee for a desktop is $110. Laptops are $160. For more information about the machines distributed by Computers for the Blind, see the April 2015 issue of the Braille Monitor. Monitor Mart The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. Spread the Word with The Heart of Applebutter Hill: Please purchase the educator-recommended novel The Heart of Applebutter Hill, which features a fourteen-year-old blind heroine, for your local public and school libraries and as gifts. Doing so will help in several ways: it will raise awareness about the capabilities of blind people, the challenges we face, and the common humanity we all share; if we sell enough copies to garner some significant national press coverage, NLS will include it in their collection; if not, every dime I receive from sales is going to a fund to have it Brailled and distributed to blind students to encourage Braille literacy. The Heart of Applebutter Hill is available in print and Kindle from Amazon: , or through most online ebook outlets, including: Nook Book ; Apple iTunes ; and Smashwords (7 formats including .epub, .rtf, .mobi and .pdf) . Readers with print disabilities can find The Heart of Applebutter Hill on Bookshare: . Audio Described Workouts: Descriptive exercise routines are now available from BlindAlive. Current offerings include two levels of cardio, two sculpting with weights, a boot camp-style workout classes, and a stability ball workout, with others planned for the near future. Workouts can either be downloaded to your computer or purchased on CD. For more information, you may visit BlindAlive on the web: , send email to , or leave a message for a return call at (570) 212- 9979. For Sale: HIMS Braille Edge 40-cell Braille display and a HumanWare BrailleNote QT 32-cell Apex with compatible Sendero GPS. Both come with AC adapters, have been used sparingly, have excellent Braille cells and batteries, can work independently as notetakers, have the latest firmware, and work very well with Voiceover and most Windows screen-reading software. Asking $1,700 for each, including shipping. Email David Van Der Molen at if interested. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. ----------------------- [1] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, (Charles Francis Adams ed., Little, Brown & Co., 1856) 106, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2102. [2] Paul Slack, The English Poor Law, (Cambridge University Press, 1995) 1531-1782. [3] The Poor Relief Act, 1601, 43 Eliz., c. 2 (Eng.). [4] Jacobus tenBroek, California's Dual System of Family Law: Its Origin, Development, and Present Status, 16 Stan. L. Rev. 257, 316 (1964). [5] Jacobus tenBroek & Floyd W. Matson, Hope Deferred: Public Welfare and the Blind 40 (University of California Press, 1959), 40. [6] Jacobus tenBroek & Floyd W. Matson, The Disabled and the Law of Welfare, 54 Calif. L. Rev. 809, (1966). [7] Jacobus tenBroek & Floyd W. Matson, The Disabled and the Law of Welfare, 54 Calif. L. Rev. 809, 810 (1966). ("[I]t remains a fact that only a very small fraction--perhaps five or six per cent at most--of those with serious physical handicaps are gainfully employed in ordinary open occupations, with an additional two or three per cent at work in specially subsidized sheltered employment."); U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder, 2013 American Community Survey Table B18130, http://factfinder.census.gov/ (last visited March 11, 2015) (The Census Bureau's 2013 American Community Survey contains a table which expresses a statistic that may indicate substantial progress from the time that Dr. tenBroek was writing. This document indicates that 28.7 percent of persons with disabilities aged 18 through 64 are below the federally-established poverty level.) [8] Jacobus tenBroek, California's Dual System of Family Law: Its Origin, Development, and Present Status, 16 Stan. L. Rev. 257, 258 (1964). [9] Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. ?? 701-793. [10] 29 U.S.C. ? 722. [11] See, e.g., Wasser v. New York State Office of Vocational & Educ. Servs. for Individuals with Disabilities, 373 F. App'x 120, 121 (2d Cir. 2010); Yochim v. Gargano, 882 F. Supp. 2d 1068, 1073 (S.D. Ind. 2012); Truss v. State, Dep't of Human Servs., No. M199901317COAR3CV, 1999 WL 1072583, at 2-5 (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 1999). [12] Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. ?? 1400-1485. [13] Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist., Westchester Cnty. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 187-209 102 S. Ct. 3034, 3041-3052 (1982). [14] Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. ?? 12101-12213. [15] Bd. of Trustees of Univ. of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 360, 121 S. Ct. 955, 960,23G??5 6 7 > ? $ ^ o ' ? ?????????????}k}Y}?? (2001). [16] Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Echazabal, 536 U.S. 73, 76-87, 122 S. Ct. 2045, 2047-2054 (2002). From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Wed May 27 23:14:28 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 27 May 2015 23:14:28 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, June 2015 Message-ID: <201505280614.t4S6ESCK003933@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 6 June 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return label enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Centre Hotel] Orlando Site of 2015 NFB Convention The 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 5-10, at the Rosen Centre Hotel at 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819. At this time the Rosen does not have any rooms during convention, but there is an alternative. There is an NFB hotel block at the Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at Seaworld. Located at 10100 International Drive Orlando, Florida, the Doubletree is less than a mile from the Rosen Centre. Rates at the Doubletree are $89 for the nights of July 7-9, $159 per night for July 3-6, and $179 per night for July 10-11. Amenities at the Doubletree include flat-screen televisions and microwaves in the rooms, a swimming pool, and several on-property restaurants. To make a reservation, call (800) 327-0363 and ask for group code NFB. The schedule for the 2015 convention is: Sunday, July 5 Seminar Day Monday, July 6 Registration Day Tuesday, July 7 Board Meeting and Division Day Wednesday, July 8 Opening Session Thursday, July 9 Business Session Friday, July 10 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 58, No. 6 June 2015 Contents Illustration: Federation Recognized at Concert Decisions, Bad Choices, and Forgiveness by Ronald Brown The KNFB Reader Becomes the Property of the Nation's Blind by Marc Maurer Civil Rights and the Disabled: A Report from the Department of Justice by Vanita Gupta People with Disabilities: The Orphan Minority by Fredric K. Schroeder Once Upon a Time: Becoming a Teacher by Harold Wilson Our Latest Battle in the Right to Read: The Blind Strive for Access to 40 Million Titles by Gary Wunder The Federation at Twenty-Five: Postview and Preview by Jacobus tenBroek Human Rights versus Legal Rights by Ed Vaughan A Letter to the New Summer Interns by Justin Salisbury Federation Alphabet by Joe Ruffalo Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Six Federationists pose with Stevie Wonder after his concert. Next to Stevie on the right is Jenivieve White; behind them from left to right are Mark Riccobono, Tony Olivero, Chris Danielsen, Amari Lewis, and Scott White.] Federation Recognized at Concert Recently six Federationists received tickets for Stevie Wonder's concert in Baltimore and passes to meet the entertainer after the show. Mark Riccobono, Chris Danielsen, Scott White, Jenivieve White, Tony Olivero, Ryan Jones, and Amari Lewis enjoyed a wonderful evening. The whole experience was made even more memorable by the fact that Stevie didn't just speak to them and pose for a photo with them at the end of the night. He actually opened his show saying, "I want to acknowledge that Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, is here tonight. The Federation is headquartered here in Baltimore, and they are celebrating their seventy-fifth anniversary. Congratulations!" When they met him after the show, the Federationists presented Stevie with an NFB mug with "Thank You" in Braille and a personal invitation for him to attend our national convention in July. [PHOTO CAPTION: Ronald Brown] Decisions, Bad Choices, and Forgiveness by Ronald Brown From the Editor: Ron Brown is the owner of two businesses and has been married to his lovely wife Jean for twenty-seven years. Together they are the proud parents of two girls and the grandparents of six grandchildren. He also serves as the second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind and as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana. But saying who Ron is doesn't begin to explain the journey he has traveled to come to love the life he has or the events which came close to keeping him from living, loving, giving, and prospering. Here is his story: When I started my senior year of high school, I didn't need a crystal ball to chart my future. As the oldest son in a black family, my responsibility was clear: After my father, I was the man of the house, and my responsibilities included watching out for my brothers and sisters, who ranged in age from three to twenty. I had a plan for my life-or at least as serious a plan as a young man in high school can have. When I graduated, I would learn a trade, and that trade would be refrigeration and cooling. I would apprentice under my uncle, because a man who knew cooling systems could command a good hourly wage. With my personality and motivation it was likely I'd one day start my own business. These were the things I thought of in my more serious moments, when becoming an adult was just one school year away. But for all the deep thoughts about family, career, and my future, I was still a kid and felt the joy of running and shouting and whooping it up with my fellow students. I liked the girls, and they liked me. Within the limits of my family's income, I was a fancy dresser and cut a pretty good figure if I do say so myself. Shortly after the start of senior year my friends and I were headed home after a basketball game, when on an impulse we decided to take a shortcut. Instead of walking on three streets, we decided to cut through a field. With all the vigor and excitement of young men out of school, we ran through that field, laughing and yelling as young men will do. I remember hearing a friend yell, looking off to my left at him, and seeing a flash as though someone was taking my picture using a flash bulb. Then I felt a pain in my face I had never felt before; it felt like a thousand bees were stinging me. Then I heard a loud pop, realized what had happened, and began yelling "I've been shot! I've been shot!" I continued to run but soon fell to the ground. My friends grabbed me and helped me to the home of a neighbor who had come out of the house when he heard my screams. My mother was contacted, I was taken to the hospital, and I went immediately into surgery. After surgery my memory was vague, but gradually I remembered running through the field, whooping and hollering, with not a care in the world. As my memory returned, so did my new reality: I was totally blind, and nothing the doctors could do would change that. One bad decision-cutting through a stranger's field-meant I would never see again. Where was the future that was to be mine? Who would do what I so obviously could not? My family believed in Jesus Christ, we attended church, we played by the rules (or at least as much as imperfect human beings can). Why me? Why would the God I loved let this happen? Was I being tested or punished? Was this the hand of God, or was it really as simple as a bad choice, a stupid decision, and the consequences that came from them? No one was ever charged in the crime that took my sight. The man who put that gun outside his window and fired that shot was not aiming at anyone in particular. He said there had been damage to his property, he was frightened by the noise, and he was just trying to scare off the kids. What damage were we doing? We were just running home from school. Where was the justice in this? Being confined to that hospital bed with those thoughts running through my mind was torture. I was grateful when at last they said I could go home, but in many ways home wasn't any better. The flashy, independent young man who was just that close to learning a trade, getting a job, and becoming the head of the house had now changed places; and never was this more apparent than when I would ask for something, and my three-year-old sister would bring it to me. The baby in my family was now more capable than I, so how could I ever provide for anyone? The future that had so certainly seemed to be mine was gone as totally as my vision, so I did the only thing I knew how to do: I sat, fretted, and grieved. After a few weeks of patiently watching me feel sorry for myself, my mother took things in hand and said I'd have to return to school and finish my senior year. I asked her how a blind kid could go back to school. I couldn't read; I couldn't write; I couldn't get around; and what would I do with an education anyway? She said she didn't have all the answers, but she had one or two, and that's where we'd start. She said that she had learned of a school across town that had a program for the blind-a resource room they called it-where I could go for special help. I objected, saying I had never been to that school and had no idea how I'd get around. Her response was to pick up the phone and call my friend Maurice. "Maurice, do you still have that cane with the tuxedo you wore to last year's prom? Good, now bring it over here for Ron." "What do I want with a black cane?" I asked. My mother's response came without a trace of doubt: "Ron, you are outgoing, you know how to make friends, and you know how to ask questions. When you go to that new school, you carry that cane so that people will know you need help, and when you need to find something, you call out, and people will help you." There was no use arguing that I didn't want to carry a cane, that I didn't know how to use it, that it would make me look different, or even that there was no reason for me to go to school. When my mother said I could do it, this was more than an observation, more than a command: it was a statement of belief-belief of a kind that I had always had in myself- until the day I became blind. The questions I had about how I could go to school or what difference it would make were nothing compared with the fact that my mother still believed I was capable of meeting a challenge and that inside I was still me. I had always known that tough guys don't whine; tough guys don't make it by saying "I can't," but it was my mother who reminded me that none of this had been changed by the flash from the gun that took my vision. So off to school I went, me and that little black cane. Pencil grip, diagonal technique, two-touch technique, slide or tap, proper cane arc: all terms used in describing how to use a cane-I had never heard of them. But day by day I asked my questions, made myself some friends, and trusted that my mother was right. The superintendent of the school said my success would depend on doing three things: learning Braille, learning to touch type, and continuing to do the work in my regular classes. I met all of his requirements, and, what do you know, I graduated on time. I had started my senior year fully sighted and finished it totally blind, but my mother had been right in telling me that I still was the same person I had been, that I still had a future, and that I could still have a good life. After graduating, I attended the Elkart Rehabilitation Center, where I worked more on Braille, actually learned to use a cane, took college preparation courses, and perfected other blindness skills. College was something I had never considered before, but even at eighteen I could see that this would create future opportunities for me and that one day I might once again feel in control of that future. I entered Ball State University in 1975, and it was there that I first met former President Maurer and other members of the National Federation of the Blind. They wanted to help the blind students at Ball State start a student division. We didn't know much about the Federation or the things it believed, but we were interested because we had heard they had some good parties and that this would be a way for us to meet a lot of girls. They told us we should start a fundraiser, so we bought some candy to sell. We weren't very organized about it, though, and, being hungry college students, we ended up eating it and paying for the candy ourselves. As I experienced some success in college, my independent nature began to reassert itself, my type-A personality once again pushed me forward, and one thing was for sure: I had myself a goal and a challenge. In 1979 I returned home after graduating with a degree in health science and counseling. I immediately started looking for work. I wrote letters applying for anything available that I thought I could do. I sent more than one hundred of them and in response got a hundred rejections- sorry, the job is filled; sorry but you don't have the requisite job experience; thank you for your interest, we'll keep your application on file. So here was the age-old problem: how could I get job experience without a job, and how could I get a job without experience? Finally I decided the only way I was going to get out of the house and get my foot in the door was to volunteer my services. It wouldn't be paid experience, but job experience it would be. I began by teaching daily living skills at the Trade Winds Rehabilitation Center, and soon I was teaching six courses. The volunteer work paid off, and I was hired. That first job paid me $9,000 a year, and I really thought I was doing something. Being restless and wanting to get away from home, I moved to DC with the hope I would find a job there. Another move found me in Texas, but again the expected job did not materialize. When I came back to Indiana in 1983, I was tired of looking for jobs and wanted to start my own business. Folks suggested I begin by getting into the Business Enterprise Program for the Blind. At that time there was no formal training program in the state, so my food-service education consisted of job-shadowing two blind vending operators. I worked at one place for a week and at a second for two weeks. Then the agency gave me the key to my own facility, and I learned what people mean when they say "baptism by fire." I survived the experience and learned to run a business but would never encourage anyone to go into a job with so little training. It seemed that ten years had made all the difference. I had done a good job learning the skills of blindness; had adopted many of the beliefs about blindness held by an organization I was increasingly helping to grow; had met the love of my life, Jean; and had a job. Not only was I now able to assume my role as the head of the family, but soon Jean and I would start one of our own. I was doing all right, but this was the external Ron Brown; inside I still felt unsettled. I repeatedly kicked myself for running across that field and still couldn't figure out why God had allowed my sight to be taken from me. These were feelings I kept to myself, and sometimes it even seemed I had reconciled myself to the Ron Brown who was, rather than the Ron Brown who might have been. In 1990 a second tragedy descended on my family. This time it fell on my brother Preston. We always called him Moochie, though for the life of me I can't remember how he got that nickname. He had grown up and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and, while out driving one evening with my cousin Alvin, their car ran out of gas. They walked to the nearest filling station, bought some gasoline in a jar, and, on their way back to the car, were stopped by a gang who demanded to know what they were doing in their neighborhood. The explanation about running out of gas was less important to the gang members than their territory, and they started to fight my cousin Alvin. When it was clear that Alvin was in trouble, Moochie put down the gas and entered the fight. When the gang members turned their attention to him, Alvin was able to run, but once Moochie was down, knocked unconscious by the sticks and bats they carried, the gang doused him with gasoline and set him afire. The blaze roused him, and as he ran through the streets begging someone to help put out the flames, the gang members followed and threatened to hurt anyone who tried to help him. Finally a pregnant woman threw herself on Moochie and extinguished the flames, but he had burns on more than 90 percent of his body, and he would not survive. I was crushed by the death of my brother, a fun-loving and generous soul who never tried to pick a fight or bully anyone. His murder was unjust, unprovoked, and couldn't have happened to one of God's kinder or gentler souls. I was devastated, heartbroken, and consumed by anger. I started a campaign. I got friends to write to the prosecutor, to the judge, and to the local newspapers. My message was harsh, but it said exactly what I felt: these were not boys but men and should be tried as men; these young men were animals-no-demons; they deserved to die; however the state executed them would be kinder than they had been to my brother; if they didn't get the death penalty, they should get terms long enough to ensure that they would never again walk the streets. I carried on this campaign for months, for years. I felt hate inside and could not reconcile myself to such an unjust world. When someone would be bold enough to suggest that there might be room for mercy and understanding, I shut them down, blocked them out. I didn't want to hear that, certainly didn't feel it. I was busy being consumed by the desire to see that those boys paid for what they had done. Decisions had consequences. Hadn't that been true in my case? I had made a stupid decision to cross a man's field, had gotten myself shot, and wasn't I now living a lesser life because of that foolish act? Mercy? What mercy had they shown my brother? What mercy had anyone shown me? Not a bit so far as I could tell. For once our family deserved justice-an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Maybe I couldn't get back the use of my eyes, but I would do everything I could to see that those gang members felt the teeth of the law! Gradually the hate I focused on writing letters and making phone calls wore me down. The legal process continued at its own glacial pace. The young men who murdered my brother were charged, tried, and sentenced. I was outraged that some of them got as little as two years, but there was no longer anything to be done. Instead of looking outside for something I could do in response to my pain and anger, I had to look inward and come up with how to quench this fire that burned hot within me, a fire that was making me angry, cynical, and bitter. Gradually I began to understand that my desire to see those boys pay for what they did wasn't just because they had done something so abominably terrible to my brother. I wanted them to pay in the same way I was paying-paying every day for the rest of my life. I wanted them to pay in a way that the man who had blinded me had not. I was deprived of the freedom to see; they should be deprived of their freedom. Forgive them: how could I forgive them when . . . when . . . and soon it hit me: why should I forgive them, when I couldn't forgive myself. My pain was more than the righteous anger at those young thugs: I was angry at the person closest to me, that young high school senior who had tried to take a shortcut, to take the easier way home, and who was having to pay the consequences of his imprudent act. Why should they get off with mercy when mercy was the last thing shown to me? But the realization that I was not only mad at them but mad at myself made me think hard about life, about choices, about my professed belief in Jesus Christ and the power of love, and about the need that all of us have for mercy. Slowly I began to realize that I had been given a second chance: a chance for an education I could never have hoped to get before blindness, a chance at a business opportunity that was becoming lucrative, a chance to start and nurture a family with my bride, and a chance to help people throughout the country. On this long road to peace and freedom from my imprisonment by anger and resentment, I have come to believe that in some of our life experiences we suffer, that through our suffering we become enlightened, that when we become enlightened we learn the truth, and that the truth can set us free. Little by little, I stopped saying, "God, why me," and found myself thinking, "With all I have to give, God, why not me?" Maybe my job on this earth is to turn tragedy into triumph, to turn what was once adversity into something that will inspire others to take back control of their lives; I found my thoughts turning to what I had rather than to what I was missing. Those boys had nothing to say about where they were born or that they were expected to defend their turf. They made a terrible decision that day, but I have come to believe that everybody deserves a second chance in this life, just as I was given a second chance. I have forgiven those boys-now long since men-and I have forgiven myself. Running through that field had consequences, but with the help of God, the support of my mother and my family, and the support of the National Federation of the Blind, I am a happy man. I have a purpose: to be the best husband I can be, to be the best father I can be, to be the best grandfather I can be, and to build and strengthen an organization that has made a tremendous difference in my life- my wonderful life. What more can a man ask and what more can his creator give? ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer uses the KNFB Reader with his iPhone.] The KNFB Reader Becomes the Property of the Nation's Blind by Marc Maurer From the Editor: Since the election of President Riccobono, Immediate Past President Maurer has been working on a number of projects, one of the most important being to secure our right to continue to develop the KNFB Reader invented by Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind. The legal skills of our former president have served us well, and, with this legal hurdle behind us, so too will his creativity and ability to make what we dream fit into software we carry in our pocket. Here is what Former President Maurer has to say about the reader we developed and will continue to support and enhance: On April 22, 2015, all of the papers became complete to transfer the KNFB Reader from its former owner to the KNFB Reader LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Federation of the Blind. In 2002, shortly after the groundbreaking for the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the National Federation of the Blind entered into an agreement with Ray Kurzweil and his colleagues to create a handheld reading device-a reading machine that could be carried in a pocket. The first of these commercially available reading systems came onto the market in 2006, released at the convention of the National Federation of the Blind. The reading system consisted of a personal data assistant attached to a digital camera through a case that incorporated electronics. A personal data assistant is a small computer-based device that has in it an electronic calendar, a calculator, and a number of other electronics. This combination could read print aloud with software developed by the K-NFB Reading Technology Company. The cost for the reader at its release was $3,495. The reader would fit in your pocket, but it had to be quite a large pocket. As cellphones continued to get smaller and more powerful, and, as they began to incorporate high quality cameras, the K-NFB Reading Technology Company contemplated modifying the K-NFB Reader Mobile to become an application that would run on a cellphone. The application was optimized for the Nokia N82, which incorporated a central processor powerful enough to run it and a digital camera with sufficient capacity to provide the proper image. The K-NFB Reader operating on the N82 became available in the winter of 2008. The problem with the reader on the phone is that cellphones last only for a few months. The devices themselves could continue to operate for an extended period, but the new phones are released by the manufacturers every fifteen to eighteen months. Thus the older systems are no longer supported within a few years, and the software to run on them must be modified continually to be compatible with newly devised operating systems and hardware. The K-NFB Reader for the N82 outlasted the hardware for which it was designed. When the Apple company adopted a policy to provide accessibility for disabled people within its products, the iPhone incorporated characteristics making applications on the device usable by the blind. Many users of the K-NFB Reader wondered why the application could not be operated on the iPhone, but its camera could not be modified to capture a proper image. By the end of the summer of 2014, the obstacles presented by the iPhone camera had been overcome, and the KNFB Reader was released on the iPhone in September. The price at release was $99.99-about thirty-five times less expensive than it had been eight years earlier. Between the first release of the K-NFB Reader in 2006 and the KNFB Reader for the iPhone in 2014, the K-NFB Reading Technology Company developed accessible reading software for digital books known as the Blio. This accessible book reader has been built into software used by libraries to distribute digital versions of books to patrons, and those books are accessible not only to sighted patrons but also to the blind. At one time or another during the development of Blio, this accessible digital reading system has made millions of books available to blind readers. Furthermore, the Blio and other products developed by K-NFB Reading Technology demonstrate that accessibility for the blind can readily be built into software products designed for distribution of digital materials. The accessibility to the blind of Blio and other iPhone book applications have created accessibility to the blind as a demonstrable and readily achievable goal for software developers. That these products exist has helped to move the industry much closer to accessibility for the blind, and it has stimulated development of accessibility to individuals with other disabilities as well. Although the KNFB Reader works beautifully on the iPhone, the K-NFB Reading Technology Company was not generating sufficient revenue to continue in business. In the fall of 2014, very shortly after the release of the KNFB Reader for the iPhone, the National Federation of the Blind indicated that it wished to become the owner of the KNFB Reader. Although the National Federation of the Blind had invested in the K-NFB Reading Technology Company, other investors had also put funding into the company. The National Federation of the Blind owned only a portion of K-NFB Reading. Negotiations for the KNFB Reader began in October 2014 and continued until April of 2015. In a complex agreement a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Federation of the Blind acquired full rights to the KNFB Reader. This wholly owned subsidiary is named KNFB Reader LLC. The company that built the Reader, the K-NFB Reading Technology Company, made an agreement with Sensotec NV, a Belgian company, to create the user interface for the iPhone version of the Reader. The transfer of this Reader to KNFB Reader LLC is subject to the agreement with Sensotec. Therefore, the Reader that can be found in the Apple App Store is a product jointly owned by KNFB Reader LLC and Sensotec NV. It still sells for $99.99, and it fits in a much smaller pocket. Having this phase of the operation complete is noteworthy, but more developments are in the future. We will make the technology work on other platforms. The KNFB Reader can read inaccessible PDFs. This is a demonstration that we can surmount some of the barriers of present-day technology. We are planning to build into our Reader a function that will permit it to better-interpret flat screen operating devices. We will dream about what we want the technology to do, and we will set our minds to inventing the enhancements that will make the Reader even better than it is today. The exciting part is that this reading system belongs wholly to us and that how it behaves in the months and years ahead will be determined by the imagination we bring to it. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Vanita Gupta delivering the keynote address at the 2015 Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium] Civil Rights and the Disabled: A Report from the Department of Justice by Vanita Gupta From the Editor: The Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium brings together leading disability rights advocates from around the country, and among the speakers at this year's symposium was Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta. She delivered the keynote address on March 26, and here is what she had to say: Thank you for having me. It's an honor to speak to such a committed, smart, and creative group of advocates. While I am relatively new to the Civil Rights Division and to the disability rights movement, we at the Civil Rights Division-and I in particular-are proud to be your partners in the ongoing fight for civil rights for people with disabilities. The division really is energized to do disability rights work, and it is one of my highest priorities. This year we will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the fortieth anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We've made a lot of progress since then. But, as President Obama once said, "As long as we as a people still too easily succumb to casual discrimination or fear of the unfamiliar, we've still got more work to do." As you know, disability discrimination is alive and well in this world. We at the Civil Rights Division and you in this audience take on flat-out discrimination every day of the week. We also take on more subtle forms of discrimination that have effects just as devastating as the more obvious forms of discrimination. And regardless of the form disability discrimination takes, it damages not just those it directly affects, but our entire community. As a community we cannot afford not to include people with disabilities in every aspect of life. Some of the obvious examples of discrimination that we still confront include: . Banks like Wells Fargo refusing to accept relay calls from deaf customers. The Justice Department's settlement required Wells Fargo Bank to adopt effective communication and nondiscrimination policies and provide $16 million in monetary relief for customers nationwide. . We recently reached a settlement with the Law School Admission Council to reform its testing accommodation policies and stop "flagging" LSAT scores of test-takers with disabilities who get the accommodation of extra time. That settlement requires nearly $8 million in monetary relief as well as a $55,000 civil penalty. . We settled with the Louisiana Bar to stop asking intrusive and unnecessary mental health questions on its bar application and to stop imposing conditional admission requirements on people with mental health conditions just because of their disabilities. . And our Barrier-Free Healthcare Initiative continues to find doctors, hospitals, and other health care facilities that discriminate against people with disabilities-whether refusing to provide sign language interpreters, not offering accessible facilities, or denying service to people with HIV. We have reached seven agreements with health care facilities this year to address those issues. Some more subtle examples of discrimination happen in some of the most important areas of life-parenting, the internet, education, criminal justice, community living, and employment: . Parenting has frequently been found by courts to be a fundamental right. Yet a report by the National Council on Disability recently noted significant overrepresentation of parents with disabilities in state child welfare systems and concluded that much of that overrepresentation was due to bias. We recently saw just such bias in the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families's (DCF) decision to remove a two-day-old infant from her mother who has an intellectual disability. . Although DCF's policies support reunification and DCF had a number of services available to help with reunification, DCF didn't offer that family all the services it offered other families, didn't accept that the child's grandparents wanted to take guardianship and help raise the child with their daughter in their home, didn't consider that the mother was taking parenting classes and pursuing her high school diploma, and didn't appear to consider it a serious possibility that the child could ever be returned to her mother-just because the mother had an intellectual disability. DCF finally moved to terminate the mother's parental rights. We investigated and, together with the Department of Health and Human Services, found that DCF was violating the ADA in discriminating against the mother because of her disability. We demanded they provide the reunification services available to all other parents, as well as any services needed as reasonable modifications and compensatory damages. Two weeks ago, after over two years of separation, the grandmother was awarded guardianship, and the child was returned to her family. Our discussions with the state are continuing. As you know, the growing reliance on the internet and other technologies for access to everything from groceries to education to employment has great potential to be an equalizer for people with disabilities-but only if those technologies are built accessibly. The National Federation of the Blind, Disability Rights Advocates, Lainey Feingold, the National Association of the Deaf, and others in this room have been leaders in demanding accessibility of websites and other technologies from the beginning, and we are proud to have joined in that work. We're addressing accessibility of technology in settlements with colleges like Louisiana Tech, which will now buy only instructional technology that's accessible, and with public accommodations like Peapod online grocery delivery service, which will make its website accessible. We've also recently included reviews of state and local governments' websites in our Project Civic Access compliance review programs, requiring jurisdictions like Nueces County, Texas, to make their websites compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. And, in compliance reviews of public entities' hiring practices, we've made them stop asking pre-employment questions about disability in their online job applications and required them to make those online applications compliant with WCAG 2.0. We recently reached agreement with Quinnipiac University for placing a student on mandatory medical leave after she considered suicide, without considering other ways of accommodating her education while she sought treatment, such as allowing her to take classes-in person or online-and live off campus. We're also transforming how police departments and prisons deal with people with disabilities. You've heard a lot in the news lately about police response to young black men, racial profiling, and excessive force. We do those cases. But what you may have heard less about is police response to people with mental illness and other disabilities. It has been reported that half the shootings by police each year are of people with disabilities. We have taken on this issue in our ADA enforcement because too often we've found police coming to help someone with mental illness, but the person is in crisis and can't follow directions. Too often police officers do not have the training to respond to people with mental illness. As a result officers called to help someone may end up injuring or killing the person because of the tragic confluence of circumstances. So last year we reached agreement with the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau to reform its response to people with mental illness. We're seeing the results already. Just a month or so ago, according to the local Portland paper, police officer Zachary DeLong was called to a burglary report. He found a man on the ledge of a hotel five stories up. He opened the window of the hotel room, and here's what he said: "I peeked around the window, and he was right there, less than twelve inches away from my face," DeLong said. "It actually made me jump back a little bit." "The man was crying, sobbing," DeLong said. That's when DeLong's crisis intervention training kicked in, he said. There was no crime being committed; it was time for compassion. He began to calmly talk to the man, assuring him from the start that he was not in trouble. "I told him, 'We just want to help you out, but to do that we need you to come inside.'" The back-and-forth seemed to work. The man inched closer to the open window, while DeLong repeatedly assured him that he and Hall were there to help. Slowly the man moved closer to the open window until he was close enough to touch. Both officers reached out, each grabbing an arm, and pulled the man into the room through the window. The rescue couldn't have lasted more than a minute or two, DeLong said. Once inside, it became clear the man was clearly in a mental health crisis and also intoxicated. Paramedics from the Portland Fire Bureau were also in the room and later took the man to a hospital for mental health treatment, police officials said. He was not charged with any crime. "He was at the point where he wouldn't have lasted very much longer on the ledge," DeLong said. Hall and DeLong later learned that the man had crawled out on the narrow ledge on the building's west side and then side-stepped his way nearly one hundred feet around to the building's south side. "It's scary to think about what could have happened," DeLong said. Just a year ago, that call might have ended very differently. Just a year ago, many calls in Portland just like that ended up with the person on the ledge injured and in jail, or dead. But our settlement has helped prevent needless tragedies because it requires the Crisis Intervention Training that Officer DeLong relied on to help successfully resolve this situation. In prisons we've long challenged unconstitutional conditions of confinement. We've also recognized the importance of ADA compliance in prisons and jails, particularly regarding the treatment of prisoners with mental health conditions or other disabilities. So in Pennsylvania we've issued a letter of findings identifying the state's use of solitary confinement and failure to provide treatment for people with serious mental health conditions as both unconstitutional and violative of the ADA. And we've challenged the overuse of solitary confinement on juveniles with disabilities in California and Ohio. You may have heard about our Olmstead enforcement work. The Justice Department is very committed to the civil rights principle of community inclusion for people with disabilities. The ADA requires state and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate for each person. Olmstead has been called the Brown v. Board of Education of the disability rights movement. It says separate isn't equal, and unnecessary segregation is discrimination. I'm proud to say the Justice Department and disability advocates and lawyers across the country are transforming the paradigm of services that states provide to people with disabilities from one that assumed that people with disabilities were not capable of living in, benefiting from, and contributing to the outside community and that assumed that it would be cheaper to serve everyone in one place. Because of those assumptions, state systems were set up so that people with disabilities had to go to an institution-and be segregated and interact only with other people with disabilities-or they had to go without. But those assumptions about how best to serve people with disabilities are wrong. First, the cost assumption is wrong-community-based services cost less than institutional ones. And we can serve just about everybody, no matter how complicated their needs, in the community. Second, we know that people with disabilities benefit from community inclusion. Community involvement helps people with disabilities-it avoids learned helplessness, stimulates intellectual growth, develops social skills, and increases self-esteem. This shouldn't surprise us. A person learns to live in the community by living in the community. And we all need supports- family, friends, guides, maps, Google-but we don't learn the community by staying in our room. Integration of people with disabilities also helps the community. Community members learn to accept differences, improve communication skills, and learn from the diversity of experiences of people with disabilities. So, through our Olmstead enforcement, we're transforming state service systems from ones that force people into institutions to ones that focus on services provided in a person's home-whether it's their family's home, or their own home, or a small group of roommates. Since 2009 we've reached transformative settlement agreements with the states of Georgia, Delaware, Virginia, New York, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Under these agreements the states must develop community- based services for people with mental health and developmental disabilities and transition people from institutions into the community. These agreements are helping approximately 46,000 people with disabilities reenter or stay in their communities. At first our Olmstead work focused on where people live. But community integration doesn't end at the door to your apartment. The fact that a person sleeps in the community at night will not mean much if they spend their days in an institution. So we are now applying the community- integration lens to other areas of life, including school, work, and day programs. Last year we reached an agreement with the state of Rhode Island to transform its employment and day services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from one that sent people to sheltered workshops to one that supports people with disabilities in real jobs for real wages. You can read about Stephen, Pedro and Louis, some of the people who have benefited from our Rhode Island settlement, on our Faces of Olmstead page on . Louis just completed his probation period at work. He earns far more than minimum wage, receives full benefits, and is a union member. And you can read about Peter Maxmean on the front page of the Sunday New York Times from December 7, 2014. That article tells how, since leaving the sheltered workshop, Peter found a good-paying job, learned to drive, got his license, bought a car (and got his first parking ticket on the day of our press conference), got engaged, and got married. We at the Civil Rights Division understand that our enforcement work alone can't change the world. For that reason we're working with other agencies to address disability discrimination through guidance and coordination of federal programs. In November 2014, together with the Department of Education, we released a Dear Colleague Letter to public schools across the country explaining that the effective communication requirements of the ADA are not subsumed within the special education requirements of the IDEA. That guidance made clear that in some instances a school may need to provide auxiliary aids and services to ensure equally effective communication to a student with a disability that are not required under the IDEA. In our employment-related work we are also working closely with other agencies. The Civil Rights Division is co-leading the Curb Cuts to the Middle Class Initiative, which is a group of eleven agencies working together to coordinate and leverage resources across the federal government to increase middle class employment for people with significant disabilities. Already the Curb Cuts Initiative has helped organize a White House Champions of Change event and a White House Summit on employment of people with disabilities. Over the next few months, the initiative will be: . developing online tools to help bring federal resources to job seekers with disabilities and the companies that want to hire them; . implementing job-driven strategies to help people with disabilities develop the skills they need for today's and tomorrow's high-demand careers; and . increasing collaborations among American Job Centers, educational institutions, labor unions, vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies, veterans' organizations, independent living centers, and others to offer career path employment supports. We have some unprecedented opportunities before us right now to level the playing field for people with disabilities in all areas of life. But it will take all of us working together. Working with all of you, as well as with other federal agencies, service providers, and the private sector, the Civil Rights Division stands ready to do its part to break down the barriers faced by people with disabilities. Mother Teresa said, "I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." I rarely encourage people to cast stones, but I look forward to creating ripples-even waves-of equal opportunity with all of you. Thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Fredrick K. Schroeder at the 2015 Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium] People with Disabilities: The Orphan Minority by Fredric K. Schroeder From the Editor: Fred Schroeder is one of the most reflective and intelligent people I know. He has been a significant leader in the National Federation of the Blind for decades, helped to promote the acceptance of blind travel instructors when that profession was thought to be exclusively for those with sight, and served with distinction as the head of the Rehabilitation Services Administration during the presidency of Bill Clinton. What follows are remarks that he delivered at the eighth annual Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium: The Civil Rights Movement March 25, 2015, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the third and final Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March of 1965. The first was held on March 7, and is, perhaps, the most infamous of the three. The march came to be known as "Bloody Sunday" after six hundred demonstrators were turned back less than a mile into the march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge when state troopers and county posse attacked the unarmed marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. The demonstrators had set out to walk the fifty-four miles from Selma to the Alabama state capital of Montgomery to draw attention to pervasive racist practices that unlawfully and unfairly limited the right of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote. While the demonstrators paid a high price to win their rights, their efforts proved effective. Their sacrifices were rewarded when the Voting Rights Act was adopted by the Congress later that same year. But that was 1965. Just one year earlier the Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So why were African-American people demonstrating for voting rights? Did not the Civil Rights Act of 1964 already protect them? Civil rights leaders, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., understood that the attainment of equality is not an event but a slow and often agonizing, frequently discouraging struggle of people working to emerge from subjugation to equal status. It is the process of changing the hearts and minds of the dominant society. It has transformative moments, but neither its beginning nor its end is fixed in time. In Dr. King's words: "Let us therefore continue our triumphant march to the realization of the American dream."[1] Unquestionably, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a pivotal event in the struggle of African-Americans to attain their civil rights; however, it was by no means the first nor only federal action taken to end racial discrimination and its malignant and corrosive consequences. It can be argued that the slow and torturous journey to gain civil rights began a century earlier with the abolition of slavery. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and declared: ...all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free.[2] But, paradoxically, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free everyone. Slaves were granted freedom, but freedom was only for slaves living in states that had seceded from the Union. In the loyal Border States the right of white people to hold black people in bondage continued. The struggle for equal status began when American slaves were freed, but it took over a century before the inherent equality of African-American people would be affirmed in law. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were not unrelated, dissociated independent events; they marked distinct, transformative moments in a social evolution, the painstakingly slow social awakening of the human consciousness and conscience to face injustice and to acknowledge the humanity of all people. The Emancipation Proclamation was not the end but the beginning. Soon thereafter, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Eight years later the Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The act granted to the President the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus to combat the Ku Klux Klan and the other white supremacy organizations during the Reconstruction Era. The tide of history seemed to be moving toward integration at a steady and heartening rate. But then followed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, prohibiting discrimination in hotels, trains, and other public facilities, an important milestone, but one that would soon be challenged. At first all seemed to be well. In 1877 the Supreme Court ruled in Hall v. DeCuir that the states could not enforce segregation on common carriers such as railroads, streetcars, or riverboats. While a dramatic victory for African Americans, the court decision proved to be too much for whites to bear. The slaves were free, but the South continued to enforce strict separation of the races. Freedom was one thing, but equality was quite another. The constitutionality of the 1875 Civil Rights Act continued to come under fire. In 1883 the court overturned key protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, thereby laying the foundation for the idea of "separate but equal," although the term was not introduced at that time. But more was to follow. Seven years later the court approved a Mississippi statute requiring segregation on intrastate carriers in Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Railway v. Mississippi (1890). During the years 1887 to 1892 nine states passed laws requiring separation of the races on public conveyances such as streetcars and railroads. Segregation of the races was viewed to be natural and not discriminatory. The Louisiana Separate Car Act of 1890 included the language that, in order to "promote the comfort of passengers," railroads had to provide "equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races" on lines running in the state. Even in the face of defeat after defeat, proponents of racial equality somehow managed to maintain their spirit and fight back. On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy walked into the Press Street Depot in New Orleans, bought a first-class ticket to Covington, and boarded the East Louisiana Railroad's Number 8 train. When ordered to move, Homer Plessy refused. "I am an American citizen," he told the trainman. "I have paid for a first- class ticket, and intend to ride to Covington in the first-class car."[3] Plessy was arrested and charged with violating the Separate Car Act. A long series of court battles followed. On May 18, 1896, the US Supreme Court ruled against Plessy, heralding seven decades of what came to be known as the Jim Crow era, a period in American history infamous for perpetuating the presumed legitimacy of racial segregation. But eventually the injustice of segregation would be challenged and the tide would begin to turn. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the Civil Rights Commission. Then the Civil Rights Act of 1960 established federal inspection of local voter registration polls. Then followed what was unarguably the most significant declaration of human rights of the twentieth century: the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin by federal and state governments as well as some public places. But the passage of the Civil Rights Act did not end the struggle for equality. Just one year later Congress passed the Voter Rights Act of 1965. Reflecting on the events leading to the passage of the Voter Rights Act, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King said: "...today as I stand before you and think back over that great march, I can say, as Sister Pollard said-a seventy-year-old Negro woman who lived in this community during the bus boycott-and one day, she was asked while walking if she didn't want to ride. And when she answered, 'No,' the person said, 'Well, aren't you tired?' And with her ungrammatical profundity, she said, 'My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.' And in a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired, but our souls are rested." Dr. King went on to say: "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave Negroes some part of their rightful dignity, but without the vote it was dignity without strength." Three years later the Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, to be followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, providing the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introducing the possibility of emotional distress damages, although the law limited the amount that a jury could award. And the struggle for equality is not over; it will not be over until African-Americans and other minority groups are regarded as equals, treated as equals, and are able to live free from discrimination. Civil Rights and Disability Rights But what about civil rights for people with disabilities? If people with disabilities suffer discrimination based on prejudice and preconception, then it logically follows that people with disabilities, like other disenfranchised people, deserve to have their civil rights consecrated in law. But society does not regard the prejudice people with disabilities face as comparable to the discrimination faced by other members of minority groups. By definition disability means a loss of mental or physical function, but its social construction encompasses much more. Society regards disability not just as a limitation in sight, hearing, mobility, or mental or intellectual functioning, but as a condition of generalized defect and damage. While it is recognized that people with disabilities face discrimination, it is quietly yet firmly believed that the limited opportunity they face is at least in equal degree the inevitable, unescapable consequence of their infirmity. So what about civil rights protections for people with disabilities? Twenty-five years ago the Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), landmark legislation affirming the right of people with disabilities to live free from discrimination. There is no question that the ADA transformed America's thinking about disability and the rights of people with disabilities. But when we compare the protections contained in the ADA to those contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we find a number of dramatic and disappointing differences. While the ADA prohibits employment discrimination based on disability, it is a limited prohibition. Specifically, the ADA forbids employment discrimination against people with disabilities but only to those individuals who are deemed to be a "qualified individual." People with disabilities are protected from employment discrimination, but not all people with disabilities. Only the "qualified," the worthy, only those people with disabilities who do not cost too much to accommodate or are not too much bother. People with disabilities are minorities, but they are an orphan minority, a subordinate minority. People with disabilities have some civil rights protections, but not the same protections afforded to ethnic minorities and other protected classes of individuals. In barring discrimination against other minority individuals, it is striking to note that the term "qualified individual" is not contained in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act simply says "It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer ... to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." - Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964 Sec. 703(a)(1) or 42 USC 2000e- 2(a)(1) The Civil Rights Act makes no mention of a "qualified individual from a specified ethnic background," no mention of a "qualified woman," no mention of a "qualified member of a defined religious faith," and no mention of a "qualified individual of a particular national origin." While not explicitly stated, it is assumed that people are not inherently inferior by virtue of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In other words, it is understood that they are inherently normal people, capable people, people whose lives are unjustly constricted by prejudice. They are not required to prove that they are qualified, because they are assumed to be qualified; they are assumed to be equal in capacity and ability. They are not made infirm nor limited by their minority status but by prejudice. But the same is not assumed to be true for people with disabilities. The idea of barring employment discrimination against people with disabilities is reserved to those people with disabilities who are deemed to be "qualified." The ADA states: "(a) General rule: No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment." 42 U.S.C. ? 12112(a). But what makes a person with a disability qualified? What is the standard that divides the able from the unable? The ADA defines the term qualified individual with a disability as follows: (8) Qualified individual. The term "qualified individual" means an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. For the purposes of this subchapter, consideration shall be given to the employer's judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of the essential functions of the job. 42 U.S.C. ? 12111(8). So not all people with disabilities are protected from employment discrimination. The individual with a disability must first show that he or she is a "qualified person." And who decides whether the individual is qualified, able to perform the essential functions of the job? As we see, the ADA states that "...consideration shall be given to the employer's judgment ..." People with disabilities are members of a minority group, but their protections are not the same as the protections available to others. People with disabilities are minorities, but they are orphan minorities. The definition of a qualified individual with a disability is linked to the concept of a "reasonable accommodation." People with disabilities are guaranteed the right to be given accommodations, but not any accommodation, only those deemed to be reasonable. Of course the converse of reasonable is unreasonable, and no one would argue that people with disabilities must have the right to unreasonable accommodations, but the question of what makes an accommodation reasonable is more than a rhetorical flourish, an interesting intellectual exercise; it is foundational. The distinction between reasonable and unreasonable accommodations is rooted in society's conception that people with disabilities are like and unlike other minority individuals. They face social barriers, but they are equally limited by their own incapacity. While it is kind and fair to grant them accommodations, the accommodations must be reasonable, that is, they must not cost too much or be too much bother or inconvenience. It is a distinction between the unworthy and the worthy. Those people with disabilities who, albeit damaged, can do a little something. It is the benevolence of the master to the ward, the superior to the inferior, the parent to the child. And as with the determination of what constitutes the essential functions of the job, the determination of whether an accommodation is reasonable falls to the employer. Of course the authority of the employer is neither absolute nor unfettered. Still, it is revealing to note that the employers' defense, the employers' standard of proof when challenged, is to show that an accommodation is not reasonable because it imposes an "undue hardship" on the employer, that is, it costs too much or is too much bother. This year we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the ADA-and celebrating we are-but we must do more than celebrate; we must look back on where we were, assess where we are now, and then chart the future. The ADA was a transformative moment in the struggle for equal rights. The legal protections themselves were dramatic, but of greater significance was the long-awaited social awakening that enabled the law to be taken seriously and adopted by the Congress. The progress we have made is worth celebrating, but, as we celebrate, we must also look forward. If people with disabilities are to be successful in taking the next step toward equal status, we must secure full and equal civil rights protections in law, and we must line up our programs, services, and supports to conform to and sustain the conception of disability as a minority issue, a civil rights issue, a human rights issue. People with disabilities are minorities, but we are not an orphan minority. Eliminate Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities It is time to eliminate Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Section 14(c) grants an exception from the minimum wage requirements under the FLSA. Section 14(c) does incalculable economic harm to people with disabilities, but its corrosive effects go far beyond their impoverishment. Section 14(c) perpetuates society's harmful and unfounded belief that people with disabilities are broken people, damaged people, defective people-different from other minorities because their minority status is based on their infirmity, their inability, a condition that renders them less able and less productive than others-an orphan minority, a subordinate minority. The Section 14(c) exception sustains the idea that there are places for those people, people incapable of working alongside others, benevolent places separate and apart from society as a whole. Federal regulations euphemize subminimum wages. Instead of calling them what they are, subminimum wages, the term "commensurate wage" is used (29 CFR Part 525). Commensurate wage is defined as "... a special minimum wage paid to a worker with a disability which is based on the worker's individual productivity .... Commensurate wage is always a special minimum wage, i.e., a wage below the statutory minimum." Seventy-seven years ago this year, as a central piece of the New Deal, President Roosevelt secured passage of the FLSA. Among other protections the FLSA guaranteed American workers a minimum wage; but not all American workers. From its inception the FLSA excused employers from paying people with disabilities the minimum wage. It was understood that people with disabilities could not be as productive as others, and, if employers were required to pay them the minimum wage (at that time twenty- five cents an hour), people with disabilities would not be employed at all. While neither just nor morally defensible, we understand that in 1938, when the FLSA was passed, no one would have seriously proposed that people with disabilities be included under the minimum wage requirement. Indeed it would have been seen as an unkindness, a deepening of the hardships that already defined their lives. No one would pay a person with a disability the minimum wage, so instead of limited opportunities for employment, they would have none. People with disabilities were broken people, damaged people, inferior people. They suffered inferior status through no fault of their own, but they were inferior just the same. The question is not whether there are people with complex disabilities that impair their productivity; the question is whether it is equitable and just to require people with disabilities to prove their worth and to do so by performing mind-numbing, repetitive work. People with disabilities are not given menial, monotonous work because it is the only work they can do but because it is work that fits society's low expectations. It makes no sense to take a class of people, people who have a limitation in a physical or mental function, and constrict the number of jobs available to them. Objectively, one would think that people with disabilities need access to the widest number of employment options to facilitate a good match between the individual and the job. But beyond the objective flaw in the paradigm, the Section 14(c) exemption perpetuates discrimination; it reinforces the idea that people with disabilities are damaged, limited people-an orphan minority. It is time to cut the Gordian knot and eliminate this vestige of a shameful past. It is time-past time-to repeal Section 14(c) of the FLSA. Reform the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act Program to Support Integrated, Competitive Employment The AbilityOne Commission administers the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act 41 USC Section 46 et seq. The AbilityOne Commission (known in law as the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled) grants noncompetitive contracts to nonprofit community rehabilitation programs (CRPs) that provide specified supplies and services to agencies of the federal government. The qualified CRPs employ people who are blind or who have other significant disabilities. The act was passed by the ninety- second United States Congress in 1971 and has not been amended or updated since that time. Last year the AbilityOne Commission allotted approximately $2.8 billion in noncompetitive federal contracts to CRPs that employ people with disabilities. To work on these contracts, an individual must be legally blind or must have a physical or mental disability that "constitutes a substantial handicap to employment and is of such a nature as to prevent the individual under such disability from currently engaging in normal competitive employment."[4] But who decides that an individual is incapable of engaging in "normal competitive employment"? The CRP does. And who decides the individual's productivity? The CRP does. And who decides how many hours an individual will work each week? The CRP does. And who oversees the program? Essentially no one. The program has been plagued by countless abuses arising in large part from the inherent conflicts of interest that comprise the structure of the JWOD program. JWOD federal contracts are used to support segregated work settings that often pay wages below the prevailing wage or minimum wage. The wages are kept low, and the number of work hours are limited to protect Social Security disability benefits. As a result the JWOD program helps sustain low-wage employment in segregated settings. The JWOD program should be updated to direct the purchasing power of the federal government to support equitable pay and integration. The following are four specific recommendations that would transform the JWOD program from one that works against integration into a program that fosters high wages, dignity, and self-support: First, the JWOD program should be conceptualized as a disability employment program, not as a federal procurement program. At present the majority of the federal agency representatives to the AbilityOne Commission are senior procurement officers. While the AbilityOne Commission includes public members and customarily the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the program is largely guided by people with no knowledge or background in disability employment programs. The administration of the AbilityOne program should be moved to an agency such as the Rehabilitation Services Administration within the US Department of Education or the Office of Disability Employment Policy within the US Department of Labor. Second, eligibility for the program should be based on a determination that the individual meets the Social Security Administration's definition of disability. The individual would not need to be receiving SSI or SSDI benefits, only meet the disability portion of the program's eligibility criteria. The CRPs should not be allowed to determine the severity of the individual's disability. By law eligibility for the program is reserved to those individuals with disabilities that are so significant that they are unable to work in competitive settings. At present there is a direct conflict of interest since it is the CRP that determines the severity of the individual's disability and hence who is accepted for inclusion in the program. It is in the interest of the CRPs to qualify individuals who have minimal levels of disability, so the CRPs' workforce is as productive as possible. This flies in the face of the act's purpose and intent. Next, noncompetitive JWOD federal contracts should not be used to support subminimum wages to people with disabilities. JWOD contracts are given to nonprofit agencies that receive an array of governmental and philanthropic subsidies to provide employment for people with disabilities. It is unfair and unjust to allow the CRPs to determine the productivity of an individual since it is the CRP that stands to benefit by constricting the wages of its workers. The JWOD program should be used to support wages that enable people with disabilities to be self-supporting and to attain a decent standard of living, not to perpetuate penury and isolation. Finally, the JWOD program should limit contracts to work in integrated settings. This would require a thoughtful and planned transition, but it is something that is long overdue. Eliminate the Earnings Limits for the Social Security Disability Programs It is time to eliminate the earnings limit for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. The earnings limits serve to keep people with disabilities in perpetual poverty and dependent on public programs to meet the costs associated with their disability. Although the Social Security Administration (SSA) applies a strict definition of disability, monthly benefits are not paid to all people who meet the SSA definition of disability. The SSDI program pays benefits only to those individuals whose earnings, if any, are below the threshold known as "Substantial Gainful Activity" (SGA) (in 2015, $1,090 for disabled beneficiaries and $1,820 for blind beneficiaries). It has been known for many years that SSDI beneficiaries limit their income to stay below the SGA earnings limit, thereby protecting their SSDI benefits. The SSI program operates under somewhat different rules than the SSDI program; however, both penalize work and lead to chronic poverty for individuals with disabilities (monthly payment amounts for the SSI program in 2015: $733 for an eligible individual, $1,100 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse, and $367 for an essential person). But why limit the earnings of individuals who receive SSI or SSDI benefits at all? Conceptually, both programs reflect a welfare model, that is, they presume that, once an individual has demonstrated his or her ability to work, the taxpayer should no longer supplement the individual's income. What they fail to recognize is that people with disabilities incur costs throughout their lifetime related to their disability. The welfare model of disability income support assumes that either the individual will be able to pay his or her disability-related costs or a public program will assist or the individual will have to make do the best he or she can. This leaves the person with a disability either without needed services or as a perpetual ward of the state. From a disability rights standpoint, the threshold question is whether the cost of disability should be borne by the individual or whether it should be distributed across society as a whole. There are many examples of distributed costs: we are asked to pay taxes to support public schools, irrespective of whether we have school-age children; we are asked to pay for police, even if we do not directly use the service. It is recognized that schools and police benefit society generally, and their costs should be shared. But perhaps a better example is road maintenance. For most of us if the road on which we live needs to be repaired or replaced, tax dollars are used to meet the expense. No one assesses the ability of each homeowner to pay a portion of the cost, based on the earnings of the individual. The road in front of an individual's house is not used by everyone, but its maintenance is still seen as a legitimate public expense. The same should be true for the costs of disability. Eliminating the SSDI and SSI earnings limits would immediately end the disincentive to work. By stimulating work activity, more taxes would be paid, and people with disabilities would have the opportunity to attain a better standard of living. But, more important, eliminating the earnings limits would mean that people with disabilities would have some money under their direct control to help offset the costs associated with their disability. No applying to charitable or governmental programs; no means testing. The individual would have some money to pay for assistive technology, the cost of hiring a job coach, transportation, and so on. Instead we means test SSDI and SSI recipients each and every month to make sure that they are still unemployed, still poor. And to what end? The Congress acknowledged the self-defeating consequence of limiting work and eliminated the earnings limit for retirees. It is time to do the same for people with disabilities. End the Conception of Disability as an Orphan Minority People with disabilities constitute a minority group in every legitimate sense of the word. They face discrimination and have their lives limited by socially constructed barriers to full participation. But their minority status is not regarded as entirely comparable to that of ethnic minorities, people of different colors, religions, faiths, or national origins. While people with disabilities have made significant strides toward true integration, their progress has been suppressed by society's conception of people with disabilities as broken people, damaged people, inferior people. Civil rights are reserved for others while people with disabilities are made to make do with limited civil rights, qualified civil rights, conditional civil rights. People with disabilities are members of a minority group, but it is an orphan minority, a subordinate minority. The ADA was a transformative moment in the struggle of people with disabilities for equal status, but, as with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it did not end the struggle for true equality. Equality will not be an event, a moment of social awakening. It will take years, generations, each building on the foundation laid by those who came before. It is fair, even compulsory, to take heart from what we have achieved, but the struggle must continue, continue until people with disabilities take their rightful place as equals among equals. In the words of Nelson Mandela: "I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that, after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."[5] The same is true for people with disabilities. We must stand up against injustice; we must stand up against isolation, and we must never falter. As days become weeks and weeks become months, and as months become years and years become decades, we must not lose heart. Humanity demands it; decency demands it; and justice demands it. We are not an orphan minority; we are not damaged people, lesser people. We are people, people with our own individual abilities, interests, and dreams. We are people deserving of full and equal civil rights, full and equal opportunity, and the human dignity that is the right of all people. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Harold Wilson] Once Upon a Time: Becoming a Teacher by Harold Wilson From the Editor: Harold Wilson is the vice president of the National Association of Blind Merchants and the manager of PTO Concessions at the US Patent and Trade Office. He attended the 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri and prepared these remarks: Long long ago in a faraway land there once was a sighted boy who lived with his sighted parents and three brothers. He had many chores to do, as did every member of his family, and in this way the work that needed done was shared by all. Then one day he became sick and needed to go to the doctor to figure out what was causing him to lose his sight. The doctor said his loss of sight was because of a brain tumor. The tumor was removed, but his sight did not return, and he was declared legally blind. After he returned home from the hospital, his family, friends, and loved ones were grateful he was alive. The boy was also thankful, and, though he couldn't see, this caused some excitement and for a time made him the center of attention. This he liked. He did not have to do the chores he once had done, and at first he thought this was great, until he realized that his brothers no longer treated him as an equal. He no longer filled an important role by taking on the responsibilities that once made him a fully contributing family member. Finally, six years later, he was told about the Louisiana Center for the Blind. It was a training center that claimed it would help him with all of the blindness skills he would need to live a normal life. When he decided to go, it was one of the best decisions he ever made-a decision that would change him forever. At the center the blind and sighted instructors had more confidence in him than he had in himself. Nine months after beginning the program, when he graduated from the Louisiana Center for the Blind with his new attitude and blindness skills, he was ready to conquer the world. He began studying at Louisiana Tech University, majoring in elementary education. After completing all of his lower division requirements, he was ready for the upper classes that focused specifically on teaching elementary students. When he began these higher-level classes, he received a directive to report to the dean of education. The dean informed him that, since he was blind, there was no doubt that he was going to have more difficulty in his classes and in his later work. The dean told him to go home for the weekend and write down all the problems he was likely to face in his classes and in working as a teacher. He was also to write out just how he would deal with those problems given that he was blind. Though the dean didn't say it directly, he was telling the blind student to choose a more suitable profession and trying to make it seem as though the student had come to this decision on his own. Now the young man realized that the dean was trying to help, but he had also been told many times that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Before his training, the young man might have seen the dean's signals as a stop sign and felt that he had no choice but to abandon his dream. If he did what the dean suggested and spent his time concentrating on all the possible problems and pitfalls he might encounter, it is likely he would have given up on his dream of becoming a teacher, but he knew that blindness would not stop him and that he held inside him the strength and the resourcefulness to see this through. When he needed an answer he could not summon using his experience and brains, he knew where he could go for the answer. So it was that, on the following Monday, the young man came to the dean's office bolstered by the knowledge that he had the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana and the rest of the Federation around the country behind him. He told the dean that it was not right for him to expect that he have all the answers to the problems he might face as a teacher or to suggest that he consider another profession just because the dean had never seen a person without sight teach in a public classroom. The young man said he was prepared to face the problems that being an upper- level student and student teacher would pose and that he knew he would have a real selling job to do when it came time to look for employment. With firmness and respect he told the dean that no one should decide whether or not a blind person could teach simply based on blindness. After the dean was convinced that the young would-be teacher and the National Federation of the Blind would not tolerate arbitrary decisions about who could or could not be a teacher, he dropped his demand for a list of problems and solutions the student might face and stopped trying to persuade him to find another field. This did not lessen the skepticism of other professors who continued to challenge him with misconceptions about blindness and the bleak future he would have should he try teaching as a career. One argued that, because the blind student used a human reader for his texts and to transcribe his work, "Every time I grade your paper, I feel like I am grading the work of your reader." Another was more positive but said, "I feel like you can teach, but just in a one-on-one situation." A teacher asked to supervise the blind student in student teaching said, "I have too many young students in my classroom; I do not need another one to have to watch." By now I suppose you know that the student in this little presentation was me. I sometimes talk about this in the third person because it is hard to believe that these things actually happened to me. Okay, now that we know the blind character in this story, let's get back to it. I invited my professors to take a tour of the Louisiana Center for the Blind to let them see what the training center was all about. My hope was that it would modify their attitudes about blind people and particularly about me and my ability to be a teacher. I'm not sure whether or not it helped, but, on schedule, I graduated with my elementary education degree. Once I was done with school, I needed to find a job. Even though I live in Ruston, Louisiana, where the Louisiana Center for the Blind is located, I could not find a teaching job. After a summer full of interviews, I started to look in neighboring cities. In the last week of August I spoke with a principal who was looking for a vision teacher. I interviewed for the job teaching blind students. The principal said, "I believe you will be perfect for this job." This would be my first real full- time job: a great opportunity for me as a blind person, a great opportunity for the blind students I would teach, a great opportunity for the sighted teachers I would work with, and a great opportunity for the principal who hired me-a person who, unbeknownst to me, had RP, was in the process of going blind, and needed the affirmation that she too could function without sight. What a wonderful relationship developed there: she was my mentor as I learned about teaching, and I was her mentor as she learned about being blind. The National Federation of the Blind offered me the blindness skills and the opportunity to educate others about blindness. I owe a great deal to the organization and do my best to pay it back each day. Abraham Lincoln once said, "My father taught me how to work, but he did not teach me how to like it." Now I don't mean to compare myself to that great man, but Harold Wilson says, "My father taught me how to work, but the National Federation of the Blind taught me how to like it and convinced me I could do it as well as any other man. I try to live up to their belief in me and do my best to give to others that which has been so generously given to me." ---------- Consider a Charitable Gift Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time, talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a donation; you are leaving a legacy that ensures a future for blind people throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the Blind . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB? . Am I giving the most appropriate asset? . Have I selected the best way to make my gift? . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift? . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor? . Have I talked to the NFB planned giving officer about my gift? Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated gifts . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other beneficiaries . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement cost Your Gift Will Help Us . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will educate blind people . Advance technology helpful to the blind . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind . Provide critical information to parents of blind children . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream! ---------- Our Latest Battle in the Right to Read: The Blind Strive for Access to 40 Million Titles by Gary Wunder At the 2015 Washington Seminar and as reported in the March 2015 issue of the Braille Monitor, President Riccobono said that we were involved in assisting a woman named Heidi Viens, who wanted to use the Scribd service in reading to her child. Viens has nerve damage as a result of neuropathy caused by diabetes, so reading Braille rapidly is difficult, and she desperately wants her child to develop the love of reading that she treasures. So what is Scribd? It is a commercial online repository for texts, a paid library, a service similar to Netflix, which is a repository for movies and television shows. A subscriber pays a monthly fee and is entitled to read any of the 40 million titles that Scribd has available. In seeking the services of Scribd, Viens's intention was to use her iPhone or a traditional computer to have stories read aloud and to have the words highlighted on the screen for her four-year-old daughter Ava to see. Given that Scribd is one of the largest providers of children's books, it was Viens's first choice, but its inaccessibility to blind readers is why the National Federation of the Blind became involved. Following our usual practice, the Federation first tried to engage in discussions with Scribd to arrive at a resolution. As all too frequently happens, our overtures were ignored, so we reluctantly proceeded to the courts. The company responded to our suit as so many do: they claimed that no law compelled them to make their content accessible and that the law we were using to make our case, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), simply did not apply to the kind of business they operate. They said to the court that nowhere in this law does the word "internet" appear. They further argued that entities listed in the law were numerous and that most examples concluded with the words "and other such places of public accommodation." Claiming that their operation had no physical place the public could visit to purchase its offerings, the company asked that the court rule that the suit had no merit and that it be dismissed without the need for further action. In pursuing this case, the National Federation of the Blind was the second to test the proposition that under the Americans with Disabilities Act the internet is indeed a place of public accommodation and subject to the provisions of Title III. In response to the argument made by Scribd, the Federation said that the word "place" was not intended to imply a brick and mortar establishment, but that in any case Scribd certainly occupies one or more physical locations for its offices and its computer equipment. We also argued that, for the judge to find in Scribd's favor, he would have to conclude that the company did not offer services to the public that would fall under the public accommodations required by the ADA. In our brief we cited many examples in which the word "place" clearly means more than a physical location: we talk about going shopping online, about visiting a website, about visiting a chat room, and on Facebook we talk about a wall-our wall or the space of another. Even Scribd talks about its online store as "the place to go." Clearly libraries are covered under the ADA, and what is Scribd if not a pay-for-service library? Given that the ADA was passed in 1990, years before the widespread use of the internet and the electronic commerce it would host, we argued that its exclusion from the law was not by design and was never intended to provide an exemption for e-commerce. Instead, the Act was written with the intent of embracing new landscapes where the disabled were likely to encounter the very discrimination the law was intended to prohibit. In cases where a statute is ambiguous and reasonable people can arrive at different conclusions about the intent of a law, one then looks at the purpose of the statute. Given the lack of consensus by the lower courts regarding the meaning of the word place and whether or not the internet is a covered entity under the ADA, we asked the judge to consider a ruling by the United States Supreme Court (Martin vs PGA) in which the court decreed that the ADA must be construed liberally to effectuate the comprehensive mandate of this law. So where do we stand now? We have won the right to go to trial in order to argue for the right of the blind for access to the 40 million titles available through Scribd. Heidi Viens is entitled to have the same access as any other paying customer to one of the most significant sources of children's literature in the world, and we in the National Federation of the Blind will do what we can to see that she gets that access. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jacobus tenBroek] The Federation at Twenty-Five: Postview and Preview From the Editor: As the 2015 Convention and some of the celebrations planned for the NFB's seventy-fifth anniversary approaches, we at the Monitor thought we'd look back at what two of the Federation's founders had to say at earlier milestones in Federation history. This month we're republishing an address given by Jacobus tenBroek at the twenty-fifth anniversary convention banquet, held in July 1965 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC: Oscar Wilde tells us: "Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event." We must approach the task of celebration and review with some pause and some humility, neither exaggerating our importance nor underestimating it. It is my task in this spirit to capsulize our history, convey our purposes, and contemplate our future. The career of our movement has not been a tranquil one. It has grown to maturity the hard way. The external pressures have been unremitting. It has been counseled by well-wishers that all would be well-and it has learned to resist. It has been attacked by agencies and administrators-and learned to fight back. It has been scolded by guardians and caretakers-and learned to talk back. It has cut its eye teeth on legal and political struggle, sharpened its wits through countless debates, broadened its mind and deepened its voice by incessant contest. Most important of all, it has never stopped moving, never stopped battling, never stopped marching toward its goals of security, equality, and opportunity for all the Nation's blind. It has risen from poverty to substance, from obscurity to global reputation. It is fitting that the anniversary of our own independence movement should coincide with that of the nation itself. The two revolutions were vastly different in scope but identical in principle. We too memorialize a day of independence-independence from a wardship not unlike that of the American colonists. Until the advent of the National Federation, the blind people of America were taken care of but not represented; protected but not emancipated; seen but rarely heard. Like Patrick Henry on the eve of revolution, we who are blind knew in 1940 that if we wished to be free, if we meant to gain those inestimable privileges of participation for which we had so long yearned, then we must organize for purposes of self-expression and collective action; then we must concert to engage in a noble struggle. In that spirit the National Federation of the Blind was founded. In that spirit it has persevered. In that spirit it will prevail. When the founding fathers of the Federation came together at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, to form a union, they labored in a climate of skepticism and scorn. The experts said it couldn't be done; the agencies for the blind said it shouldn't be done. "When the blind lead the blind," declared the prophets of doom, "all shall fall into the ditch." But the Federation was born without outside assistance. It stood upright without a helping hand. It is still on its feet today. At the outset we declared our independence. In the past twenty-five years we have established it. Today we may say that the National Federation has arrived in America--and is here to stay. That is truly the "new outlook for the blind." We have not reached our present standing, as all of you know, by inertia and idleness. The long road of our upward movement is divided into three phases-corresponding to the first decade, the second decade, and the third half-decade of our existence as an organization. Each of these three periods, though a part of a continuum, has had a different emphasis and a different character. Let us look at each of them. The Federation was not born with a silver spoon in its mouth-but, like the Nation itself, it was born with the parchment of its principles in its hand. Our basic philosophy and purposes-even most of our long-range programs-existed full-panoplied at our origin. We were dedicated to the principles of security with freedom; of opportunity without prejudice; of equality in the law and on the job. We have never needed to alter or modify those goals, let alone compromise them. We have never faltered in our confidence that they are within our reach. We have never failed to labor for their implementation in political, legal, and economic terms. The paramount problems of our first decade, the 1940's, were not so much qualitative as quantitative: we had the philosophy and the programs, but we lacked the membership and the means. The workers were few and the cupboard was bare. Each month as we received our none-too-bountiful salary as a young instructor at the University of Chicago Law School, Hazel and I would distribute it among the necessaries of life: food, clothing, rent, Federation stamps, mimeograph paper and ink, other supplies. So did we share our one-room apartment. The mimeograph paper took far more space in our closet than did our clothes. We had to move the mimeograph machine before we could let down the wall bed to retire at night. If on a Sunday we walked along Chicago's lake front for an hour, four or five fewer letters were written, dropping our output for that day to fewer than twenty-five. The decade of the forties was a time of building: and build we did, from a scattering of seven state affiliates at our first convention to more than four times that number in 1950. It was a time of pioneering: and pioneer we did, by searching out new paths of opportunity and blazing organizational trails where no blind man had before set foot. It was a time of collective self-discovery and self-reliance: of rising confidence in our joint capacity to do the job-to hitch up our own wagon train and hitch it up we did. In the decade of the forties we proved our organizational capacity, established our representative character, initiated legislative programs on the state and national levels, and spoke with the authority and voice of the blind speaking for themselves. In these very terms the decade of the fifties was a time both of triumph and travail. The triumph was not unmixed, but the travail was passing. Our numbers escalated to a peak of forty-seven statewide affiliates with membership running to the tens of thousands. Our resources multiplied through a campaign of fundraising. Our voice was amplified with the inauguration of the Braille Monitor as a regular publication in print, braille, and tape, which carried the word of Federationism to the farthest parts of the Nation and many distant lands. With the funds to back us up, with a broad base of membership behind us, with constructive programs of opportunity and enlargment, with growing public recognition and understanding, the Federation in the fifties galvanized its energies along an expanding front. We sent teams of blind experts into various states, on request of the governors, to prepare master plans for the reform of their welfare services to the blind. We aided our state affiliates in broad programs of legislative and administrative improvement in welfare and rehabilitation. We participated in opening the teaching profession to qualified blind teachers in a number of states. We assisted in bringing to completion the campaign to secure white cane laws in all of the states so that blind men might walk abroad anywhere in the land sustained by a faith justified by law. We shared with others the credit for infusing into federal welfare the constructive objective of self- care and self-support, progressive improvements in the aid grant and matching formula, and the addition of disability insurance. Over the unflagging opposition of the Social Security Administration, we secured the acceptance by Congress, in progressive amounts, the principle of exempt income for blind aid recipients; at first temporary, and finally permanent permission for Pennsylvania and Missouri to retain their separate and rehabilitative systems of public assistance; and we began to lay the groundwork by which our blind workers in the sheltered shops might secure the status and rights of employees. We pushed, pulled, and persuaded the civil service into first modifying, then relaxing, and finally scrapping its policy of discrimination against blind applicants for the public service. In these enterprises, as against the doctrinaire, aloof resistance of administration, we had the cordial good will, practical understanding, and humane regard of an ever-growing number of Congressmen. All of a sudden, in the furious fifties, the National Federation of the Blind was very much noticed. Our organizations became the objects of intense attention-if rarely of affection-on the part of the agencies, administrators, and their satellite groups which had dominated the field. As the organized blind movement grew in affluence and in influence, as affiliates sprang up in state after state, county after county, across the land, as a groundswell of protest rose against the dead ends of sheltered employment and segregated training, of welfare programs tied to the poor law and social workers bound up in red tape, the forces of custodialism and control looked down from their lighthouses and fought back. "The National Federation of the Blind," said its president in 1957, "stands today an embattled organization. Our motives have been impugned; our purposes reviled; our integrity aspersed; our representative character denied. Plans have been laid, activities undertaken, and concerted actions set in motion for the clear and unmistakable purpose of bringing about our destruction. Nothing less is sought than our extinction as an organization." No Federationist who lived through that decade can forget how the battle was joined-in the historic struggle for the right of self-expression and free association. The single most famous piece of legislation our movement has produced-one which was never passed by Congress but which made its full weight felt and its message known throughout the world of welfare and the country of the blind-was the Kennedy-Baring Bill. It is fitting that John F. Kennedy, then the junior senator from Massachusetts, was a sponsor of that bill of rights for the blind, who gave his name and voice to the defense of our right to organize. Eight years ago he rose in the Senate to introduce and speak for his bill "to protect the right of the blind to self-expression." He told how some forty-three state associations of blind persons had become "federated into a single nationwide organization, the National Federation of the Blind." He declared: "It is important that these views be expressed freely and without interference. It is important that these views be heard and considered by persons charged with responsibility. . ." He pointed out that in various communities this freedom had "been prejudiced by a few professional workers in programs for the blind." He urged that "our blind citizens be protected against any exercise of this kind of influence or authority to interfere with their freedom of self-expression through organizations of the blind." The Kennedy Bill was simple and sweeping in its purposes: to insure to the blind the right to organize without intimidation; and to insure to the blind the right to speak and to be heard through systematic means of consultation with the responsible agencies of government. That bill of rights was not enacted; but it gained its ends in other ways. Lengthy and dramatic public hearings were held by a committee of Congress, at which dozens of blind witnesses both expert and rank-and-file testified to the extent of coercion and pressure brought against them by the forces hostile to their independence. "Little Kennedy bills" were introduced in a number of state legislatures and enacted by some. The forces of opposition called off their attack upon the organized blind and beat a strategic retreat. Meanwhile, in that second decade, the Federation faced another bitter struggle within its own house. Not all Federationists were happy with the way the movement was going. There were a few who were decidedly "soft on custodialism," overfriendly to the agencies which opposed us. There were others with a burning passion for leadership and office, an ambition which burned the deeper as it burned in vain. There were still others whose grievances were personal; real enough to them if not substantial in fact. All of these factors combined in the fifties to form a temporary crisis of confidence and collaboration. But then, as suddenly as it had begun, the civil turmoil ended. Those who had desired power for their own ends or for itself; who had sought to change the character and officers of the movement, departed to form their own organizations. Shaken in its unity, depleted in resources, diminished in membership, the Federation began the hard task of rebuilding and rededication. That task has been the primary assignment of the sixties, and today, at the halfway point, we may report that it has been accomplished. During the five years past we have regained stability, recovered unity, and preserved democracy. We have found new and dynamic leadership, in the person of a president imbued with youth and creative vigor. We have regained our fundraiser-the wizard of St. Louis-and with him has come the prospect of renewed resources. We have restored and rejuvenated the Braille Monitor, as not only the voice but the clarion call of the federated blind. We have reached across the seas, extending the hand of brotherhood and the vision of Federationism to blind people the world over-through the International Federation of the Blind. We have made new friends-yes, and found new champions-in the Congress of the United States and in the legislatures of the states. And in so doing we have brightened the vistas of hope and opportunity not only for half a million blind Americans but for all the handicapped and deprived who rely upon their government for a hand up rather than a handout. And in this new decade of the sixties, we of the Federation are reaching toward another base of understanding and support. We intend to carry our case and our cause, not only to the lawmakers in Congress but to the judges in the courts as well: for it is in their tribunals that new pathways of progress are being cleared, as the result of a happily evolving concept which holds that the great principles of the Constitution-among them liberty, dignity, privacy, and equality-must be brought down off the wall and made real in the lives of all our citizens with all deliberate speed. The organized blind have traveled far in the past quarter century. The road ahead will not be easy. But the road is never easy for the blind traveler; every step is a challenge, every independent advance is a conquest. The movement of the organized blind in society is like the movement of the blind person in traffic: in both cases the gain is proportionate to the risk. Let us adventure together. It was Theodore Roosevelt who said that the sign of real strength in a nation is that it can speak softly and carry a big stick. The sign of strength in our movement is that we speak vigorously and carry a white cane. Whatever may be the challenges to come-whatever the opposition to be converted or defeated, whatever the problems of maintaining internal democracy and external drive, whatever the difficulties of activating successful but indifferent blind, whatever the slow progress and temporary setbacks in achieving our ultimate goals-our experience and accomplishments of a quarter-of-a-century tell us one thing: we can prevail! And we shall prevail! We have prevailed over the limitations of blindness, in our lives and in our movement. We shall prevail over the handicap of blindness in all its forms: not the physical disability, which is an act of nature that may not be repealed, but the social handicap which is an act of men that men may counteract. We have prevailed, in our movement and our minds, over the myth of the "helpless blind man." We shall prevail over that myth of helplessness in the minds of all who have sight but not vision. We have prevailed over the foredooming conclusion that the blind are ineducable, that lack of sight means loss of mind, and over the only slightly less foredooming conclusion that the blind can be taught but only the rudiments of academe and rudest of crafts. We shall prevail over every arbitrary restriction and exclusion inhibiting the fullest development of mind and skill of every blind person. We have prevailed over the legal stricture that the blind should not mix and mingle with the public in public places but should confine their movement to the rocking chair. We shall prevail over the lingering concept in the law of torts that the white cane and white cane laws should not be given full credence and that blind persons are automatically guilty of contributory negligence whenever an accident befalls them. We have prevailed over some of the myriad social discriminations against the blind in hotels, in renting rooms, houses, and safety deposit boxes, in traveling alone, in blood banks, in playing at gambling tables, in jury duty, and serving as a judge, in purchasing insurance, in release from the penitentiary on parole, in holding student body offices, in marriage laws and customs. We shall prevail over the whole sorry pattern which is no less vicious because it is sustained by the best of motives. We have prevailed over the notion that the blind are capable only of sheltered employment. We shall prevail over the institution of the sheltered workshop itself as a proper place for any blind person capable of competitive employment. We have prevailed against the exclusion of qualified blind workers in a number of fields of competitive employment. We shall prevail over such discrimination in every calling and career. We have prevailed over the principle of welfare aid as a mere palliative for those in distress, without built-in incentives to help them out of that distress. We shall prevail over the stubborn remnants of the poor-law creed-the means test, the liens pest, the requirement of residence, the concept of relatives' responsibility-wherever they rear their Elizabethan heads in the statutes of the states and Nation. We have prevailed over the obstacles to communication and communion among the blind of America-the physical distances, the psychological differences, the lack of devices for writing and talking-which have isolated us from one another. We shall prevail over the greater obstacles to communication and affiliation among the blind people of the world-we shall carry Federationism to all the nations. We shall prevail because we have demonstrated to the world and to ourselves that the blind possess the strength to stand together and to walk alone; the capacity to speak for themselves and to be heard with respect; the resolute determination of a common purpose and a democratic cause; the faith that can move mountains-and mount movements! Twenty-five years-a quarter of a century-how much time is that? In the perspective of eternity, it is an incalculable and imperceptible fraction. In the chronology of the universe, it is less than an instant. In the eye of God, it is no more than a flash. In the biography of a social movement, based on justice and equality, it is a measurable segment. In the life of a man-say from his thirtieth to his fifty-fifth year-it encompasses the best years, the very prime, when experience, energy, and intelligence mingle in their most favorable proportions, before which he is too young, and after which he is too old. As a man who spent those twenty-five best years of life in and with the Federation, I have few regrets, immense pride, and boundless hope for the future. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ed Vaughan] Human Rights versus Legal Rights by Ed Vaughan From the Editor: Ed Vaughan, professor of sociology emeritus, University of Missouri-Columbia, lives in California and is currently the vice president of the San Francisco chapter and has been a Federationist for many years. Here is what he has to say about human rights and civil rights: The July 2014 edition of the Braille Monitor published a speech by Mary Ellen Gabias to the Canadian Federation of the Blind. She analyzed how the growth of corporate charity has influenced the lives of blind people. Quoting Madame Justice Louise Arbour, former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and former United Nations high commissioner for human rights, "The parallel in America is clear; our citizens must keep in mind that our needs and aspirations are not always the same as those of the charities that serve us and the government agencies that use taxpayer money to perform a similar mission." Placing her concerns in a larger context, we will analyze a current economic debate concerning the failure of top-down efforts to reduce poverty. Beginning with the Rockefeller Foundation and gaining momentum with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund programs, the dominant approach is to use experts and their professional planning knowledge to provide programs for reducing poverty in the poorest countries. This approach almost always involves using government leaders who are often dictators or despots, and entrenched bureaucracies are used to implement the programs. In many cases, instead of reducing poverty, governments become worse and ordinary people suffer. Imposing solutions from the top down and using experts with outside funding frequently does not work. In The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor, William Easterly, an economist at New York University, describes this process in great detail. The ideas undergirding an opposing view other than a top-down approach go back to 1776 with Adam Smith and Thomas Jefferson. That all men are created equal and that individuals pursuing their own interests produce the best outcomes have propelled many of the advances in democratic government. The debate revolves around individual rights versus corporate power. What are major ingredients in the concept of human rights? Society is made up of individual humans, and the basic values that underlie their humanity should inform any collective effort to improve life chances. Since the French Revolution, statements of what "ought to be" have included the idea of human rights. In 1948 the United Nations established thirty articles defining and promoting human rights. Significant among them were: Article 3-everyone has the right to life, liberty, and personal security; Article 22-everyone has the right to social security and deserves the economic, social, and cultural rights that are necessary for the development of personality; Article 23-everyone has the right to work, to choose one's employment, to have just work conditions, and protection against unemployment. Human rights are not legislated rights; they are inherent in the person of each individual human. In this sense it is possible to see human rights as the basic value around which social arrangements can be built and society studied empirically. At the level of the individual and at the level of interacting with others, what does it mean to say that we have human rights? How is a person being treated when that individual feels that her or his human rights are being violated? Ronald Dworkin, a well-known jurist and philosopher, has made major contributions to the clarification of the concept of human rights. He notes that there are ways of treating people that are inconsistent with recognizing them as full members of the human community. Weaker members of a political community are entitled to the same concern and respect from their government as more powerful members. No one likes to be disrespected. All should be treated as having the capacity for intelligent self- determination. G. A. Walter has expanded the list of crucial freedoms to include seeing a purpose in life, not being exploited by others, having the opportunity to develop autonomy and self-esteem, having some control over one's life, and having a level of confidence that aids in that control. Unfortunately human rights provided in government charters and the writings of scholars are not always implemented in a society. The struggle for human rights is mediated by the legal processes resulting in civil laws. Laws are frequently embedded in the power interests and work settings of experts who are self-regulated. The resulting top-down management minimizes input from consumers. Organizations are more likely to be changed by an open source model in which consumer ideas are a welcome input. When the civil rights process fails, the only recourse may be civil protests and civil disobedience. The legal process is dominated by those with economic and political power. It took a long time to abolish slavery and to give women the right to vote, and we are currently fighting to give blind people working in sheltered workshops the right to equal protection-the right to receive the same minimum wage as other workers. The history of the NFB is in large part the struggle of blind people for self-determination. We have had to oppose many state and federal laws as well as policies which have impeded our human rights. The NFB has changed both laws and organizations by models we have created-such as our three rehabilitation centers and the large number of agency administrators who now share the NFB philosophy. Happily, more policymakers and lawmakers are being influenced by the humanizing philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind. References Dworkin, Ronald. 1977. Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Easterly, William. 2014. The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor. Basic Books Walter, G.A. 1984. "Organizational Development and Individual Rights." The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 20:423-439 ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Justin Salisbury] A Letter to the New Summer Interns by Justin Salisbury From the Editor: In 2014 Justin Salisbury was an intern at the Jernigan Institute. The blind of the nation benefited from his work, and he benefited from the self-confidence that came from working with leaders who shared his worthy ambition of improving the lives of blind people. Here is a letter he has written to the four students who will intern at the Jernigan Institute in the summer of 2015: Ruston, Louisiana April 22, 2015 To the 2015 National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute Summer Interns: Congratulations on your selection for this wonderful opportunity! I was proud to serve as one of four summer interns in 2014, and I write to offer you just a little perspective that I gained from my experience in the hope that it will be helpful to you. When I decided that I was going to leave my doctoral program in economics to enter the blindness field, I applied to a master's program at Louisiana Tech University. In the summer between the two programs, I wanted the perfect transition into the blindness field. I had always thought that it would be cool to intern at the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind, but I had never identified it as a top priority. This transition was the perfect time to do it. With Mr. Riccobono's encouragement I applied for the summer internship program at the Jernigan Institute. We arrived on a Saturday, and Anil Lewis and Rose Sloan were there to greet us. Rose made cookies for us all to celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday, which had fallen a couple of days before our arrival. After we got settled into our rooms, at least most of the way, Anil opened himself up for questions about the movement and leadership. We worked him hard for hours. The next morning Anil took us out to breakfast and showed us the area of the city around the Center. We all went shopping for groceries, which Anil subsidized, and then we went to a cookout at the Riccobono home. Mr. Riccobono showed us how much he loved to grill, and the whole experience was great. The Maurers were there, plus John Par? and John Berggren. It was a perfectly relaxing afternoon. As the weeks went on, we were able to meet everyone in our national headquarters and dig into many different projects. We four interns got to know each other very well and bonded with many staff members. Whether it was going to DC to see the monuments with Rose or going on a Baltimore history tour with Lorraine, we were building the Federation and building personal friendships, too. Sure, we got to do a lot of really fun work, like meet with our legislators, present to students at the University of Maryland, host a group of students from the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, and decorate the bulletin board in the Betsy Zaborowski Conference Room, but what we really built were relationships within our Federation family that will continue to perpetuate those types of experiences. I went into the internship thinking about what I could do to strengthen the Federation over the course of a summer, but I now understand that this internship was an opportunity for our leaders to strengthen me in a holistic way. Here I will share with you a mistake that I made: I looked at my job there as being like a temporary staff member who was supposed to get as much done as possible in a sprint. I remember feeling a sense of conflict between what it was to be a member and an intern. I voiced it near the end of the internship, and Anil told me that the internship wasn't about us accomplishing certain tasks, but rather about us having an educational experience. I realized that I had been stressing out way too much. I really think of the Jernigan Institute as a home now, and going back for the Legislative Directors Seminar in January was a homecoming. We began with a cookout and ended with a cookout. On the final Wednesday we four interns plus Dr. Maurer cooked burgers for the entire staff. Dr. Maurer led us through the process, and we had a really great time. He is also a great teacher. We interns learned how to build each other up and also build the National Federation of the Blind. Most important, we learned that the Federation is led by love. Everyone in our national headquarters is there because we want blind people to live the lives we want, and we all want to be friends in the process, too. I encourage you to take full advantage of this opportunity to get to know each other and the people at our national headquarters. Work hard, but don't work so hard that you forget to have fun. Accept every offer to go out to lunch, walk down to the Inner Harbor, tour Fort Henry, and everything else. Make allies, and make professional connections; most important, make friends. Since I don't know who you will be yet, maybe every one of you is already a close friend of mine. Maybe I don't know any of you at all. In either case, I hope to get to know you better and learn about how much you love being an intern. Yours, Justin Salisbury ---------- Federation Alphabet by Joe Ruffalo From the Editor: Joe Ruffalo is a member of the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind and the president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey. If we had to choose two words that would sum up who Joe is, those words would be creative and positive. Here is a contribution that will enrich all of us: Attitude is everything Believe in yourself Commit to a cause Determination, desire, dream Expectations that are high Federation foundation Goals to reach History to learn from Independence through hard work Just network with others Keep moving forward Leadership is gained from each other Membership is the foundation Networking is the way to go Opportunity for all Philosophy established the organization Quick response to the needs Responsibilities, rights and resources Skills equal success Travel, techniques, technology Unity brings results Victory is the goal Whozit and wisdom Xcited breeds excitement You and youth, true partnership Zest with all we do ---------- Recipes With this being a milestone year for the Federation, we at the Monitor have spent a bit of time going back through the archives. Long-time readers may remember that recipes did not start out as a regular column in the Monitor. There might have been the odd recipe in this or that issue, mostly from Dr. Jernigan, but it wasn't until November 1971 that "Recipe of the Month" became something readers could look forward to each issue. With this in mind, we're reprinting that first recipe of the month, the first recipe from Dr. Jernigan that appeared, and a few other golden oldies that tempted our taste buds. From the Editor: this recipe from Dr. Jernigan was first published back in December 1970. To make it easier for readers to use, the ingredients list has been converted to the usual format from its original form. Corn Bread by Kenneth Jernigan What with spending my full time directing the Iowa Commission for the Blind and trying to do the same thing with respect to the presidency of the NFB, plus some participation in the state and local affiliates, I find myself moderately well occupied. Occasionally people ask me whether I ever think or do anything else. The answer is-sometimes, but hardly ever; and, of course, I like it that way. Even so, there are moments. For one thing, now and again I like to cook steaks or hamburgers on the charcoal, and I have also developed a recipe for corn bread. Let me begin by confessing that the basic ingredients and the beginning formula came from Anna Katherine. However, she was gone one day, and I got out the meal and buttermilk and began to experiment. I measured exactly, varied this and that, and had a fine old time. Several hours and several dozen batches later I had what I wanted-my notion of ideal corn bread. Most of the intermediate trial mixes went into the garbage, but the final recipe remained. If you would like to try it, more power to you, and may you enjoy it as much as I have. Remember that the measurements and the temperatures must be absolutely exact-no approximations. Ingredients: 1 cup yellow corn meal 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk Sunflower seed, safflower, corn, or olive oil Method: Mix the cornmeal (the nondegerminated kind if you can get it) with the soda, baking powder, salt, and buttermilk. Do not mix the buttermilk with the dry ingredients until the oil has been put into the oven to heat. This will give you a better product. Get your oven to a temperature of 475 degrees. (Be sure that you get it that hot even if you have to use an oven thermometer to know.) Use iron muffin rings or iron corn stick molds, and put two teaspoons of oil in each individual ring or mold. Wait until your oven has reached 475 degrees. Then put your oiled pans in and leave them for six minutes. Take the pans out of the oven and put one tablespoon of the corn bread mix in each ring or mold. Put the filled pans back into the oven immediately and leave them there for sixteen minutes. Remove from oven and much joy in eating. By the way, the teaspoons and tablespoons and the cups are the measuring variety, not the regular kind. ---------- Apple and Cranberry Pie by Mae Couts "Mae Couts, wife of NFB Executive Committeeman James Couts, offers a taste-tempting pie." This was how the November 1971 issue introduced this recipe. For an idea how culture has changed, note that this recipe not only assumes that you will make your own pie crust from scratch, but also that you need only the ingredients (but not the method) listed in order to do so. Ingredients: 3 apples peeled and sliced 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (or use vanilla instead of spices) 1/2 pound fresh cranberries, cooked and sweetened 1 cup sugar Make a two crust pie- 1/2 cup shortening. (I use Crisco) 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon cold water Method: Bake in 350 degree oven for thirty to forty minutes. Be sure to put pie on a cookie sheet in the oven or you will have juice all over the oven. ---------- NFB Tea by Kenneth Jernigan Somewhere around 1970, when the National Office of the Federation was at the Randolph Hotel Building in Des Moines, I began making a concoction which I called NFB Tea. I served it to the first seminar, which occurred in the fall of 1973, and I served it in the presidential suite at National Conventions. Some admired it; others couldn't tolerate it; but everybody knew about it. Then, as the seventies passed into history and the eighties came and went, the custom of serving NFB Tea at conventions and seminars faded. However, there are those who pine "for the good old days" and long to see a revival of the soothing brew. They continue to ask that the recipe for the NFB Tea appear in the Monitor. When I remind them that I put it into the Monitor sometime early in the seventies, they simply respond with annoyance, saying that they don't remember it, don't have that edition of the Monitor, or don't want to be bothered with irrelevancies. Since the recipe is now quite different from what it was when it appeared in the Monitor a decade and a half ago and since the requests continue, it seems worthwhile to print it again. So here it is as revised: You can make as much or as little NFB Tea as you want by increasing or decreasing the quantity of the three basic ingredients. Just keep the proportions the same. Pour equal parts of pineapple juice, orange juice, and cranberry juice or cranberry cocktail into a large container. If you don't intend to use at least as much as a forty-six-ounce can of each of these juices, it hardly seems worth the bother, not to mention which it will be difficult not to over flavor. After you mix these three basic juices, the fun begins. I usually add about one-third as much peach or apricot nectar and one-third as much apple juice as I have used of each of the three basic ingredients. Sometimes (but not always) I also add a small amount of pear nectar if I have it, about half as much as I have used of the apple or peach. Then I begin to sweeten the mixture with either sugar or sugar substitute and add flavors, tasting as I go. I regard certain flavorings as indispensable, but NFB Tea is a highly flexible brew, which should be crafted to the taste of the brewer. I always use vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I use liquid cinnamon and nutmeg, and if I don't have the liquid, I make it by heating the ground spice in water as strong as I can and straining it. Next I add small amounts of a large variety of other flavorings. I emphasize that you should begin with only dribs and drabs. Remember that you can always put more in; once it's there, you can't take it out. The mixture of flavors will depend on the whim of the moment and what I have handy. But I will always use at least eight or nine in addition to the cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. Here are some of the ones I use: almond, Angostura bitters, anise, apple pie spice, arrack flavoring, banana, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, brandy flavor, butternut, butterscotch, butter rum, caramel, cherry, peach, chocolate, clove, coconut, coffee flavor, English toffee, a tiny amount of ginger, hickory nut, lemon, pineapple, lime, maple, orange, orange bitters, pear, pecan, pistachio, pumpkin pie spice, root beer, rose, rum flavor, sassafras, violet, sherry flavor, strawberry, tangerine, walnut, and most anything else I can find. I don't use mint, eucalyptus oil, or wintergreen. It will also be observed that NFB Tea contains no tea. When I first started making the brew in the early seventies, I used Lipton tea, but I abandoned the practice before the end of the decade. It had to do with some of my Mormon friends and also with my evolving taste. I like it better without the tea. When the mixture has been thoroughly concocted and tasted, a good deal of ice should be added and stirred in. All that remains is to enjoy the product and try different proportions next time, but not different proportions among the three basic ingredients-pineapple juice, orange juice, and cranberry juice or cocktail. And no omission of the three basic flavorings- vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Anything else goes. ---------- Originally Printed in the March 1985 Monitor Sheila's Irish Potato Soup by Sheila Samson Note: In the Family Food column by Marcine Silver in the Centerville, Ohio, Times for November 28, 1984, Sheila Samson is featured. The column concluded with Sheila's recipe for Irish Potato Soup, which we reprint here. Sheila Samson is president of the Dayton Federation of the Blind, one of the leaders of the Ohio affiliate, and about as dynamic and active a person as you would want to meet. She lives her Federationism on a daily basis and helps spread the word. Her recipe is a good one. Try it. Ingredients: 2 heaping tablespoons butter or margarine 2 medium-sized onions, very thinly sliced 5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 2 cups milk 2 cups water Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup light cream (half and half) 6 slices of bacon, crisply fried Fresh parsley Method: Melt butter or margarine in a Dutch oven or large pan. Add the onion and cook gently until transparent but not browned. Add the peeled and thinly sliced potatoes, the milk, water, and seasonings. Cover and cook on a wire trivet until potatoes are tender (about one-half hour). Fry or cook the bacon in a microwave oven, until crisp. Wash, tear, or chop the parsley. Set aside. When potatoes are tender, remove from heat and use a potato masher to mash them while still in the pan. The soup should be a porridge-like consistency. Add the cup of light cream and heat through, but do not boil. Serve the soup with the chopped parsley and crumbled, crisply fried bacon as a garnish, using one slice of bacon for each bowl of soup. This makes enough to fill five or six large soup bowls. To increase recipe, simply add extra potatoes, adding equal parts of milk and water to cover all ingredients. You might also increase cream and fry enough bacon for several more bowls of soup. ---------- In the December 1991 Monitor, the recipe feature changed yet again. Previously, a single Federationist's recipe would be selected for publication. This was the month that the Monitor began running a selection of several recipes from a state affiliate. We've chosen only one of the delicious treats from that month to reprint, along with the Editor's note explaining why the recipe feature changed: From the Associate Editor: One of the pleasures of this column in the Monitor is the opportunity for us all to get to know a little more about the members of our Federation family who send in recipes. In an effort to broaden the group of people whose culinary offerings are shared in these pages, the editors have decided to invite each state in turn to contribute a month's recipes. It will be up to the president and anyone else whom he or she chooses to pull into the decision to determine whether one person or several will be invited to select recipes. States are welcome to choose state or regional favorites or take advantage of the season of the year. This month it is Alabama's turn. Louise Greene, president of the affiliate asked Robert Kelly, first president of the Huntsville chapter and a member of the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama, to gather up some of his favorite recipes. Here they are: Sweet 'N' Savory Chicken Salad by Robert Kelly Ingredients: 1/2 cup plain, nonfat yogurt 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3/4 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed 2 cups cooked chicken, cut in chunks 1 can (20 ounces) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained 1 can (10-1/2 ounces) unsweetened mandarin oranges, drained 1 can (4 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained 1 small cucumber, diced 1 scallion, finely chopped lettuce leaves Method: Mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, and tarragon to make a dressing. In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients, except lettuce leaves. Pour the dressing over the chicken salad and toss lightly. Serve on lettuce leaves of your choice. ---------- And since we're heading into summer and gardening season, a recipe originally printed in October 1997 using summer squash. Summer Squash Casserole by Mary Brunoli Ingredients: 6 cups summer or zucchini squash (or both) 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 can condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup 1 cup sour cream 1 carrot, grated 1 small package herb stuffing 1/2 cup butter or margarine Method: Boil squash and onions ten minutes, then drain. Mix soup and sour cream, and add grated carrot. Add squash and onion mixture. Mix stuffing with melted butter. Place half of mixture of crumbs in 13-by-9- inch pan. Add squash mixture and then add rest of bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Resolutions for Convention: Here is a message from Sharon Maneki, who chairs the NFB resolutions committee: Do you think we should change a government policy, take a stand concerning an agency for the blind, or create new regulations? If you do, consider writing a resolution. At the 2015 National Convention the resolutions committee meeting will be held on Monday, July 6. The committee will debate and discuss resolutions on a wide variety of subjects. If passed by the convention, these resolutions will become the policy statements of the organization. To ensure that your resolution will be considered by the committee, please send it to President Riccobono or to me by June 18, two weeks before the committee meeting. If you send a resolution to me by email and do not receive a response acknowledging your email in two or three days, please call or send it again. If you miss the deadline, you must get three members of the committee to sponsor your resolution and then get it to the chairman before the meeting begins. I will be pleased to accept resolutions by email, ; or snail mail, 9013 Nelson Way, Columbia, MD 21045. National Association of Blind Veterans Meeting at Convention: The National Association of Blind Veterans will hold its annual meeting and reception on July 6 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Salon 1, second level. The reception will start promptly at 5 p.m. and close at 7 p.m. A light snack and soft drinks are provided along with some door prize drawings. This is an opportunity for all veterans attending to gather and meet fellow veterans in a social environment and have a good time. We will start our meeting promptly at 7 p.m., closing at 10 p.m. This is our more formal meeting, where we will conduct the division's business, hold elections, make or adjust division policies, give assignments for the color guard detail, and prepare for our veterans celebration on opening session day. We will also have a number of interested vendors presenting equipment that the VA issues, including prosthetics, and a chance to ask the vendor questions about the equipment. We look forward to seeing you there! Paul Gabias Honored for Twenty-Five Years of Service Associate Professor Paul Gabias was honored by the University of British Columbia Okanagan in April of 2015 for twenty-five years of service. He is an associate professor of psychology, and his keen insights and observations have been a welcomed addition to this magazine for decades. His accomplishments are one small part of this man's exemplary life as a husband, father, and teacher. The Braille Monitor extends our most sincere congratulations to Dr. Gabias for this well-deserved recognition. LEGOLAND Florida Convention Discount: Federationists planning to attend the national convention will have an opportunity for some additional fun down in Florida. LEGOLAND Florida has signed an agreement with the NFB offering a special discount on park tickets for NFB members. Purchase one adult ticket, and you can get one general admission ticket free! This offer is good for one-day park admission, two-day park admission, one-day waterpark combo, or two-day waterpark combo tickets. General admission tickets can be redeemed for an adult (ages thirteen to fifty-nine), child (ages three to twelve), or senior (ages sixty and up) for admission to LEGOLAND Florida. The code needed to receive this discount will be given out at the national convention in the suites and at the information desk. Enjoy! Blind Professionals Sought by Human Services Division: The Human Services Division of the National Federation of the Blind is looking for blind professionals in the following occupations: massage, physical, speech, occupational, music, art, drama, genetics and other therapists. We are also seeking life coaches, school guidance counselors, and any other professionals who fall under the Human Services umbrella (please forgive me if I left out a profession). Our goal is to conduct an educational panel at the division's meeting during our National Convention. Please feel free to share this email with individuals who may be interested in being a part of this educational panel. Anyone interested please contact: Merry C. Schoch LCSW (Division President) at email address: or call (813) 625-1850. How to Pay for Your Hotel Stay in Orlando Here is some advice about paying for your hotel stay: every year at our national convention we have serious trouble with use of debit cards or cash payments at hotel check-in, and, having worked to solve these problems for years, I can tell you they can nearly ruin the convention week for those experiencing them. Planning to attend our national convention should therefore include thinking seriously about how to pay the hotel, and I cannot urge you strongly enough to avoid using cash or a debit card as your payment method. Doing so may seem convenient, but you should not do so. If you do not have a credit card of your own to use, prevail upon a close friend or family member to let you use one just for convention. Here's why: If you are paying in actual currency, most hotels will want enough cash up front at check-in to cover your room and tax charges for the entire stay, plus a one-time advance incidentals deposit to cover meals, telephone calls, internet service, and other things you may charge to your room. The unused portion of the incidentals deposit may be returned at check-out or by mail after departure. Understand, however, that, if your incidentals charges exceed the incidentals deposit credited, you are responsible for payment of the full balance at checkout. The total can end up being a very large sum indeed. If you use a debit card, however, you are really at a potentially painful disadvantage. The hotel will put a hold on money in your bank account linked to the debit card to cover the estimated balance of your stay-that is, for the entire week's room and tax charges plus a one-time incidentals deposit to cover meals, movies, and so on charged to your room. You should be aware that the hold can therefore be a considerable amount of money and that you will not have access to that amount for any other purchases or payments with your card. (Hotels sometimes also put authorizations on credit cards, by the way, but those are not often a problem unless they exceed your card's credit limit.) Holds can remain in effect for three to five days or even a week after you check out. If you have pre-authorized payments from your bank account, for example your monthly mortgage payment, or if you try to make a purchase with your debit card and it's refused, the hold from the hotel can cause you trouble or result in very large overdraft fees for payments you thought you had money in your account to cover. I have seen this hit some of our members in the form of hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. This means that, if you use a debit card, you would have to be certain you have a high enough balance in your checking account when you come to convention to cover any debit card holds. This is a perilous practice since charges may exceed your estimate by a considerable amount. (Some frequent travelers even open a separate checking account used only for debits like these.) Remember, a hold is going to be placed on your debit card regardless of how you end up paying the bill, and the hold is not necessarily released right away, even if you pay with a credit card or cash when you check out of the hotel. Planning ahead in this area can ensure an untroubled week at convention, leaving you free to enjoy fully the world's largest and most exciting meeting of the blind. See you as usual in the lobby at check-in- using a credit card, I hope. Musicians Needed: Are you an accomplished rock guitarist, bassist, or drummer who will be attending the NFB National Convention in Orlando this year? Would you like to contribute to the convention in a meaningful, memorable way? If so, I need to hear from you. I have been asked to direct a band for a special performance at our seventy-fifth anniversary convention and need these instrumentalists to make it a quality performance. If you would like more information, please contact Marion Gwizdala by email at or give me a call at (813) 626-2789. A Bargain from the Ohio Association of Blind Students: In the spirit of our seventy-fifth convention the Ohio Association of Blind Students is taking on its biggest fundraising project ever. Take a chance on some fabulous gift card prizes to franchises like iTunes, Chipotle, and Bath and Bodyworks while supporting Ohio students young and old (well, maybe not that old). Proceeds from the drawing will be split fifty-fifty between the Ohio Association of Blind Students and the fund for Ohio's 4th BELL Program in 2016. Tickets will be sold one for $1 or six for $5. There are three payment methods from which to choose. They are: 1. Pay online using our PayPal account. Once your payment is received, you will be sent an email from the Ohio Association of Blind Students Gmail account containing your ticket numbers. The link you will need is: 2. Pay with a check. If using this method, please contact OABS treasurer Emily Pennington so she will know to expect your check and can give you the address. Her email is . You will be sent an email containing your ticket numbers and confirmation that your check has been delivered. 3. Pay with cash in Orlando. Several OABS board members will be available to sell tickets. Using this method will get you a Brailled ticket stub instead of an electronic record of your ticket numbers. Be sure to hold onto your ticket(s) for later reference. Winners will be announced after the buying period ends on July 15 by listserv and then contacted for their addresses. If you have any questions, feel free to email president Kaiti Shelton at or treasurer Emily Pennington at . The Ohio Association of Blind Students thanks you in advance for the support of our division and the Ohio BELL Program. With your help we can build the Federation and change what it means to be blind for students in Ohio! In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Sir Duncan Watson Dies: On Wednesday, April 22, 2015, Sir Duncan Watson died following a short illness. He was the second president of the World Blind Union, serving from 1988 until 1992, and had served as chair and vice president of the Royal National Institute of Blind People. He participated in some meetings in our Baltimore offices which helped to establish the work of the Federation to bring organizations of the blind and agencies for the blind together in the US. This was the time of the Joint Organizational Effort committee. Dr. Jernigan was the principal behind the effort, but Sir Duncan helped occasionally. As a long-time supporter of the RNIB Talking Book service, he said: "I've been using Talking Books since I lost my sight at sixteen. They were on big records then and didn't play for long, but now I've just heard Alastair Campbell's The Blair Years on two CDs. It really gives you a window on the world." Perkins Brailler Repair Service: Bring your Perkins Brailler back to life. The Selective Doctor, Inc. specializes in the repair of Perkins Braillers. Repairs for Braillers are $65 for labor on a manual Perkins Brailler, plus the cost of parts. You can send your Brailler to The Selective Doctor, Inc., PO Box 571, Manchester, Maryland 21102 via the US postal service. Free Matter shipping is accepted. It is recommended that you insure it, but it is not necessary if you prefer not to. After the repair of the Brailler, The Selective Doctor, Inc. will send it back to you with the invoice and will insure it for $400, which presently is $6.75, and this will be added to your invoice. For more information, please call (410) 668-1143 or email . You can also check out the website at: . ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. ----------------------- [1] Carson, C., & Shepard, K., (Eds.). (2001). A call to conscience: The landmark speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: IPM/Warner Books. Retrieved from http://mlk- kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/our_god_is_marching_on/ [2] Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863; Presidential Proclamations, 1791-1991; Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamatio n/transcript.html [3] Jim Crow law. (2015). In Encyclop?dia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/303897/Jim-Crow-law/324448/Homer- Plessy-and-Jim-Crow [4] Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act of 1971, 41 U.S.C. 8501-8506. Retrieved from http://www.abilityone.gov/laws_and_regulations/jwod.html [5] Mandela, N., (1994). Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston: Little, Brown. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Tue Jun 30 23:25:15 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2015 23:25:15 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, July 2015 Message-ID: <201507010625.t616PFST000993@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 7 July 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 58, No. 7 July 2015 Contents Illustration: Federationists and Other Community Members Mobilize for Blind Children Landing Among the Stars: When Teachers and Student Work Together by Chelsea Cook The Basics of Carb Counting: How the Carbs You Eat Add Up to Blood Glucose Control by Allison Tsai The Blind in Science and Beyond by Cary Supalo Helping Those I Meet Look Beyond My Differences or Conditions by Jeanette McAllister A Costa Rica Adventure by Christine Hall A Unique Disability by Ruth Silver Standing on Their Shoulders: Giants Who Helped Build Our Affiliate in New Mexico by Peggy Chong Nothing Comes Between Me and My Technology by Darlene Laibl-Crowe The Federation at Fifty by Kenneth Jernigan Taking Stock in One Another: How Barclays Bank Is Helping the Disabled Invest In Our Future by Kane Brolin Don't Ruin Healthy Eating When You Travel by Cheryl Echevarria Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Nadia Graham and a friend run in the youth race arm in arm.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Nadia Graham rings the bell to start the adults' race.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Kevan Worley runs with a sighted guide.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Rose Sloan walks in a group with a man using a guide dog, several others using canes, and a woman pushing a stroller.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeremy Capati, an intern at the Jernigan Institute, and staff member Gabe Cazares walk with their canes.] Federationists and Other Community Members Mobilize for Blind Children On Sunday, June 7, 2015, runners gathered at the Jernigan Institute to run the 6 Dot Dash, a six kilometer course that began at the Jernigan Institute and passed through Federal Hill and the Inner Harbor. The purpose of this event was to raise awareness about how few blind children are receiving the Braille instruction they need and to raise money to fund Braille literacy programs. Other activities included a clothing drive as part of the Federation's partnership with GreenDrop, and a kids' corner with activities including a kids' race. Nadia Graham and a friend ran arm in arm, with Nadia's cane leading the way, but Nadia wasn't too tired to ring the bell to kick off the big race. Of course, participants could take the course at whatever speed they chose. Kevan Worley and his guide ran, while Rose Sloan and others chose a more leisurely pace. And not all who ran chose to run with a guide. Gabe Cazares and Jeremy Capati, one of the interns at the Jernigan Institute, chose to tackle the course with only their trusty canes to guide them. [PHOTO CAPTION: Chelsea Cook holds her graduation cap to show the decorated top] Landing Among the Stars: When Teachers and Student Work Together by Chelsea Cook >From the Editor: Lately articles in the Monitor about education have been about difficulties getting class materials in accessible formats. We were thrilled to hear from Chelsea about a positive university experience, especially in a challenging degree program like physics. Chelsea is an active member of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia and of the Writers Division. Chelsea was a 2010 scholarship winner, and she has this to say about her experiences pursuing her physics degree: It was a rainy Friday evening-Halloween, in fact-and I was waiting for the bus to take me home, though I was not going to get ready for a party or put on a costume. I was not scared or disheartened by the weather but filled with adrenaline and optimism. I was heading straight to my computer to code an orbital mechanics problem. Getting to this point had not been easy; in fact, getting into this course had not been easy. In a basic space survey course in my freshman year, my favorite part had been the material on rockets: velocities, launch times, and the way payloads moved once in orbit. I loved the mathematical treatment and knew I wanted to investigate further. Someone said, "If you want to go deeper, study orbital mechanics." I remembered that phrase and continued with my physics degree. I kept checking the class schedule, but I always had a scheduling conflict and prerequisites I hadn't taken yet. The semester before my senior year I thought, if I wanted to take this mystical astromechanics course, I'd better get serious about it. I examined the prerequisites, and, although I hadn't taken the prescribed courses, I was well into my physics program and had mastered similar material. With the blessing of the Aerospace Department head, I was allowed to enroll. Working with a new department on campus always fills me with some trepidation, but it turned out the instructor and I were a perfect match. He and I had the same learning style (visual/tactile), so he was able to spot areas in coursework where I might have trouble with a concept. Anticipating these, he would come up with solutions before I even knew there were problems. These solutions were often low-tech, demonstrating that keeping things simple is often valuable. Since English was not his first language, he wanted a way to communicate with me that would work well for both of us, and it turned out that tactile models were the key. He could use simpler vocabulary and have my hand exploring the model at the same time. What a winning combination. The first model he made consisted of two pieces of cardboard taped together. Since satellite trajectories are naturally in three dimensions, having a model mimicking reality was crucial. The cardboard was oriented to simulate the two planes of a spacecraft's orbit, and creases in the material represented different vectors between important points. Most of this model-exploring was done during office hours, which came to be a sacred time for me. When the class began, my instructor initially thought that reading the equations aloud in class would be sufficient. When he realized this would take much more time, he needed another approach, so office hours worked to fill in the gaps. I had Braille notes, so I could follow along in class easily enough, but he said it was his "duty to teach you and the class the whole syllabus." Taking that to heart, he was receptive to my many inquiries, which often took us on interesting journeys outside of class and through the world of academia. In one session we could go from discussing course problems to pure geometry to real applications of spaceflight to how those applications were implemented to coding. The logic was often unpredictable and beautiful. The bond between student and master was strong. When grades fell away, knowledge remained, and the depths of that knowledge seemed limitless. That is why I eschewed social norms on Halloween and was so eager to run home and code a problem. It was me, my computer, my teacher, and my knowledge of physics-communing with the universe at large. I thought this must have been what it was like for the Greek scholars and tutors in the classical era. This was not the first time I had experienced the pure joy of learning. In sophomore year I took an independent study in differential equations with a math instructor I'd worked with in freshman calculus. I had had bad experiences with calculus during high school, and this teacher gave me a huge confidence boost. So, when I started asking for assistance with differential equations, she was happy to help. When she found out the reason I was having trouble (getting the Braille book on time), she decided to help me act to change the situation. With a bit of help from the math department, I decided it was best to drop differential equations on the stipulation that I would have an independent study covering some math material, some visualization techniques for other courses, and a final "Best Practices for Instructors" paper. This all worked beautifully, and I learned more about differential equations that semester than when I had to take the course again the next term. Future-proofing was the goal, and it paid large dividends in my later physics courses. To this day I enjoy solving differential equations (ordinary or partial), and I attribute that to the instructor who took the time to teach me not only math but the joys and potentials of independent learning. Future-proofing was also the goal in modern cosmology in my last semester. Because of a time conflict, this was also an independent study course; my professor knew I was thrilled about this. That Greek-scholar feeling returned every week as we explored the theoretical framework for the origins of the universe. He made sure I had Braille notes and a textbook to carry me to the future-graduate school. To me those volumes are worth their weight in gold-which, if you have experience with Braille, you know is quite a lot. As graduation approaches, I am excited for the future but will never forget the people who have helped me accomplish this thing in my life called a physics degree: Braille Services at Virginia Tech, and all those professors and instructors who believed in me and went the extra mile to prove it. They often didn't do this just because of an accommodation request or administrative decree but because they saw an eager student ready to soak up what they offered; it was a challenge they rose to as well. Indeed, my favorite academic memories of college will probably not be of sitting in a lecture hall but of concentrating in a quiet, often small office, taking in knowledge about nature and conversing in the language of discovery and tactile toys. My philosophy for choosing college courses has always been, "If it's not challenging or interesting, why take it?" And I believe I have lived up to that motto. I've treated every course as a new adventure, a chance to take a plane for a test flight and see what it can show me about our world. Some flights I've taken are routine but always insightful; some flights find me flying around in a fog until that beacon called finals appears; some flights find me exploring little islands and caves that I might not return to, but it is great to know they exist. My absolute favorites, however, are those flights that go beyond the airplane, those that rocket off the ground and, whether theoretically or practically, take me to the realm of outer space itself. ---------- The Basics of Carb Counting: How the Carbs You Eat Add Up to Blood Glucose Control by Allison Tsai >From the Editor: This article originally appeared in the May issue of Diabetes Forecast magazine. Though it is written specifically for diabetics, discussing how they can balance carbohydrates and insulin, it can be useful for those who are pre-diabetic, those whose diabetes can be managed with diet and exercise, or those who simply want to create more healthy eating habits for themselves. People without diabetes may glance at their dinner and see salmon, a salad, or a bowl of soup, but those with diabetes are faced with numbers- specifically, carbohydrate grams. If you're new to diabetes, you may wonder why you need to carb count at all. Read on to find out why carb counting is an important thing you can do to ensure blood glucose control, how to determine your carb needs, and which carb counting method is best for you. Why Do Carbs Matter? Carbohydrates are naturally found in certain foods. Grains, sweets, starches, legumes, and dairy all contain carbs in varying amounts. When foods and drinks with carbohydrate are digested, the carbs break down into glucose to fuel our cells, and the body's blood glucose level rises. In people without diabetes, blood glucose levels rise after eating, but the body's insulin response keeps levels from rising too high. "[The] pancreas will release a squirt of insulin to help facilitate getting the glucose from your bloodstream into your cells, where it can be used as fuel," says Alison Evert, MS, RD, CDE, coordinator of diabetes education programs at the University of Washington Medical Center and a dietitian and diabetes educator at the Endocrine and Diabetes Care Center there. If you have diabetes, the process doesn't work as designed. How carb counting can help your blood glucose control depends on your treatment regimen and whether or not your body makes insulin. . Type 1: If you have type 1 diabetes, your pancreas no longer makes insulin, so you need to take background insulin as well as offset the carbohydrate in your food with mealtime insulin doses. To do this you have to know exactly how many carbohydrate grams are in your meal-cue carb counting. . Type 2: Because people with type 2 diabetes are resistant to insulin and may have a diminished supply, they need to moderate their carbohydrate intake and eat a consistent amount at each meal throughout the day-instead of all at one sitting. People taking oral medications may use a more basic form of carb counting than those on insulin. How Do You Carb Count? The best carb counting method for you is the one that addresses your medication and lifestyle needs. If you take mealtime insulin, that means first accounting for each carbohydrate gram you eat and dosing mealtime insulin based on that count using what's known as an insulin-to-carb ratio. "People who take rapid-acting insulin-type 1 or type 2-at or just prior to food intake need to match the amount of carbohydrate in their meal to achieve glucose control," says Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, author of Eat Out, Eat Well: The Guide to Eating Healthy in Any Restaurant. This advanced form of carb counting is recommended for people on intensive insulin therapy by shots or pump, such as those with type 1 and some people with type 2. People with type 2 diabetes who don't take mealtime insulin may not need detailed carb counting to keep their blood glucose in line. Some do basic carbohydrate counting based on "carbohydrate choices." One choice contains about fifteen grams of carb. Others use what's called the "plate method" to eat a reasonable portion of carbohydrate-containing foods at each meal by limiting grains and starchy vegetables to a quarter of the plate. Others still stick with traditional carb counting, too. Which method is best for those with type 2? "There is no evidence that any of those methods works better than others to help the person achieve good blood glucose control," says Patti Urbanski, MEd, RD, LD, CDE, a diabetes educator with St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. The longer you practice carb counting, the more you'll remember the carb content of the foods you commonly eat, but it helps to reference nutrition labels, apps, books, and other sources that provide information about the carb content of specific food items. How Many Carbs Should I Eat? As for the ideal number of carbs per meal, there's no magic number. "How much carbohydrate each person needs is in large part determined by their body size and [his or her] activity level," says Urbanski. Appetite and hunger also play a role. In order to figure out how many carbs you should be eating, schedule an appointment with your dietitian or diabetes educator to work out an eating plan specifically for you. This service, when provided by a dietitian, is known as medical nutrition therapy. Diabetes self-management education sessions also may include creating an eating plan. During the sessions, you'll determine your carb needs and how to divide your carbs among your meals and, if desired, snacks. "Everybody's insulin response is going to be different, and we don't want to make the diet more restrictive than it needs to be," Evert says. That said, if you haven't figured out your individual plan yet, the general guideline for most adults with diabetes is forty-five to sixty grams of carbohydrate per meal, which is three to four carbohydrate choices. A snack would be around fifteen to thirty grams of carbs or one to two choices. That's just a starting point, however. Your total carb allowance should meet your energy needs, blood glucose targets, and weight management goals. What Should I Eat? Whether you count each carb gram or use one of the other meal planning methods, you'll want to choose foods that are rich in nutrients. "The quality of carbs is an important aspect," says Evert. Opt for foods that are unprocessed and in their natural state, such as whole grains, vegetables, and fruit that hasn't been broken down into smoothies or canned in syrup. "I encourage people to eat their carbs instead of drinking them," says Evert. "That will be a lot more satisfying." Try to eat more whole foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, which are minimally processed and free from additives and artificial substances. Processed foods, such as packaged cookies, crackers, and canned fruit usually contain added salt, sugar, carbohydrates, fat, or preservatives. Eating more whole foods and less processed foods will also make your body work harder to digest them, which is a good thing for weight management. If you eat mostly whole foods, and limit highly processed foods- whether that's swapping a doughnut for a bowl of fruit and yogurt for breakfast or switching from white to whole grain bread-you'll get plenty of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and fiber. As a bonus, you can indulge in a dessert from time to time, Urbanski says, "as long as you're thinking about the amount of carbohydrates in it and recognizing that you're not getting a lot of good nutrition in return for those grams of carbohydrates." It can be hard to change your eating habits overnight, so start by making small changes and sticking to them. Just knowing which foods are better choices is a step in the right direction. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Cary Supalo in his lab] The Blind in Science and Beyond by Cary Supalo >From the Editor: Cary Supalo has become well known to many Monitor readers as he has moved from young student to graduate student and now to research scientist at Purdue. He is the president and founder of Independence Science, a small business that promotes the development of access technologies to provide hands-on learning science experiences for blind students. Cary won two scholarships from the National Federation of the Blind, one in 1994 and as a tenBroek Fellow in 2001. Here is what he has to say about setting a goal, working to achieve it, and encouraging other blind people to follow their dreams in fields many consider off limits for the blind: Have you ever wondered why ice melts, why food spoils, or why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west? These are all examples of scientific questions people have asked over the centuries. What is this thing we call science? Some would say it is the quest for knowledge. Others would say it is us trying to understand phenomena in the world around us. Still others would define science as the quest for understanding. Whatever your definition, the most important correlation here between these is a desire to want to know more than we do. This wanting to know more is simply our innate human nature. With science comes the ability to make and test hypotheses. What is a hypothesis? Most of you know that this is simply the asking of a scientific question and offering a tentative answer. What can that scientific question be about? About anything: Why aren't more blind people employed? How can I make more money? What do I want to do for a career? There is a typical format for a hypothesis. It comes in the form of an if/then statement. If I go to college and obtain my bachelor's degree in physics, then this will lead to full-time employment with a company like Northrop Grumman. Another example might be: If I don't take no for an answer, then I will succeed in my professional development as a blind person. It is this last hypothesis that I wish to focus on for a moment. We blind people are told so often we can't do x, y, or z that we tend to believe it. Further, we start to make up excuses why we can't do something, so soon we conflate the outer pressure and our inner dialogue and therein deprive ourselves of some wonderful opportunities. Often people ask me how I became a chemistry professor. The short answer is that I first set that as my vocational goal and then stuck to my guns as I talked with my rehabilitation counselor. Fortunately I was able to persuade him to believe in me and that this was a reasonable goal. After changing my major seven times while I was an undergraduate student at Purdue, I wasn't sure sometimes that this was truly the path for me. Eventually I committed to and stayed on my path, despite some faculty shunning the idea of my majoring in chemistry. Although I had my critics, others at Purdue were supportive and believed in my ability and my dream. Upon successful graduation from Purdue, I went on to graduate school at Penn State University. One of the first things you must do as a graduate student is choose your research advisor. For those of you interested in pursuing advanced degrees that require this step, this is the most important decision you will make in your education. To that end I was required to interview with four chemistry faculty. The first two I met with were nice and happy to tell me what their research was about. The third guy, after avoiding me several times and not showing up for my scheduled appointments, eventually did. He told me about his research. It was interesting. We then got into the discussion of my joining his research group. He told me no; he would not support that. He forthrightly told me he viewed me as a financial liability and did not think I would be a productive student. This honest commentary really set me back on my heels. So taken aback was I that I was afraid I could not attend my last appointment of the afternoon. I was upset, thinking that perhaps he was right and that I wasn't good enough; maybe the truth was that I could not do it. When I arrived at my next interview, I sat down and tried to display as much confidence as I could, hoping the fact that I was rattled didn't show. I was quite nervous. I explained how I would do my bench work, working with the undergraduate students I would supervise. We talked about how I would work with chemical literature and interpret spectroscopic data using raised-line drawings. Upon the conclusion of our discussion, Dr. Mallouk welcomed me into his research group. I was surprised by this. I asked him if he had any questions about my proposed research methods. He said no. "Cary, you have been problem-solving your entire life to overcome challenges, and that is the epitome of what a scientist does." For me this was revolutionary. I am referring to the idea that blind people are all lifelong problem-solvers in one way or another. Thus it makes sense to tap into this population of problem-solvers and to incorporate them into the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce. This is what I spent the next several years working on. I completed my master's degree in inorganic chemistry with an emphasis in catalysis. I made materials that lowered the activation energies of various chemical reactions. I had varying levels of success in this endeavor. I then obtained a National Science Foundation grant to fund the Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind or ILAB project. This project was an educational research study that hypothesized that, if there was a suite of talking and audible lab tools to be used in the high school chemistry class, then blind students would develop a greater interest in STEM. My data indicated, after field-testing the ILAB tools in fifteen high schools across the United States, that this was true in fourteen cases. Therefore, hands-on science learning is valuable to the blind just as it is for the sighted. This equality for all parallels something that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." The path to a STEM career requires lots of persistence by the blind, and simply getting over the fear of not having all the answers along the way as you progress up that staircase is key. Depending on your problem- solving skills to figure out how to meet the challenges you will encounter is perfect on-the-job training for becoming a STEM professional. Dr. King was quite a visionary, as were Dr. tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, and Dr. Maurer. These are examples of leaders in the blindness movement who have been visionaries in their own right, who have supported us, and who have demonstrated faith that we can do whatever we put our minds to. We can't take no for an answer; rather we must persevere and work hard to stay on the path to making our dream-whatever it is-a reality. ---------- Giving a Dream One of the great satisfactions in life is having the opportunity to assist others. Consider making a gift to the National Federation of the Blind to continue turning our dreams into reality. A gift to the NFB is not merely a donation to an organization; it provides resources that will directly ensure a brighter future for all blind people. Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or beneficiary . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first- class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB planned giving officer. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeanette McAllister] Helping Those I Meet Look Beyond My Differences or Conditions by Jeanette McAllister >From the Editor: How many of us can relate to the frustration generated when people talk with us about our blindness and yet will not name it, calling it our condition or situation or our challenge. It can be difficult when they imply that it is a shame that we can't visually observe something beautiful or that we are blessed because we do not have to look at something terrible. It is difficult to explain that we too have things to appreciate in a sunrise or sunset, the beauty of a stream, the flapping of a flag, and the wonderful feeling that comes after a rain, whether or not we see the rainbow. Whether we see the horror of the war on our television screen or witness the picture of the starving child halfway across the world, we know these things exist, grieve about them, and search in our souls for a way to change them. How do we get people to understand in their hearts and in their minds that blindness means the loss of physical sight but need not make radical changes to who we are and does not alter our innate humanity? It is one of our characteristics but by no means the most important. Jeanette lost her vision suddenly in December of 2010 after a head injury exacerbated a dormant eye disease. Since then she has worked hard to learn Braille and about various adaptive technologies. She owns a staffing company where she not only assists both blind and sighted people in finding employment, but also spends time educating employers about the capabilities of the blind. She was recently appointed to the Employment Committee of the National Federation of the Blind and has also been asked to serve on the State Rehabilitation Council for the Virginia Department for the Blind. Here is what Jeanette thought it better to write than to emotionally say to her family and friends: After several conversations with family members and acquaintances about what they so lovingly refer to as "your condition," I have to clarify some things. Let me start with a few questions: . Do you not get up every morning anticipating and wondering what the day will bring? . Do you not have your own style of dress? . Do you not require food and drink when you are hungry or thirsty? . Do you not need to get from point A to point B? . Do you not cry when you are hurting? . Do you not feel fear, anxiety, worry, or anticipation? . Do you not interact with others, whether it be family, friends, or acquaintances? . Do you not yearn to feel loved and needed? . Do you not feel frustrated or angry at times? . Do you not feel the need to be a contributing member of society, whether it be through work, volunteering, or play? I have the same needs, wants, and desires as you. The only thing that keeps you from clearly seeing this is that I often do things differently and may appreciate things differently from the way you do. Please allow me to elaborate: . I cannot see the sunshine in the mornings when I wake, but I can feel it on my skin and anticipate what it offers: the promise of a beautiful day. . Just as you, I decide for myself what I am wearing for the day. I know what my favorite colors are and if I like jeans or slacks. I may not see the colors as you do, but I use a labeling technique or technology to tell me what color I have chosen. I may not see the style I have chosen, but I can tell from the feel of the fabric if it is what I prefer. . When I am hungry, just as you, I can prepare a meal. Instead of using visual cues I use timers and my other senses: hearing, touch, and smell. . I cry tears and respond to them just like you do. I can't see the tears on your face; but more often than not I can hear them in your voice before your first tear falls. . I feel fear, anxiety, worry, and anticipation just as you do. Whether sighted or blind, we all cope with these feelings in our own way. Where's the difference? . I enjoy interacting with others just as you do. True, I cannot see their faces, what they are wearing, or who they are with-so I do not make judgments based on their appearance but rely on how they speak, who they associate with, and what they have to say in drawing conclusions about them. . Love and the desire to feel needed are human nature. I want and need this just as badly as you! I work just as hard at giving and receiving these, if not more so. I want to be accepted on my merits, not made to feel inferior because of my blindness. . Just like you, I feel frustrated and angry at times. Unlike you, I can't see the clenched fist at your side, but I can hear you speak through clenched teeth. I may not see your brow furrowed, but I can hear the change in your breathing and the inflection in your voice. . Like you I yearn to be a contributing member of society. Where you may drive a vehicle to work, your volunteer activities, or to play, I walk with a white cane or a guide dog, and I use public or private transportation when needed. . When it comes to doing my job, where you can see the computer screen, I use adaptive technology such as a Braille display and screen reading software to get that same information from the screen and into my brain. Where you may read with your eyes, I read with my fingers and my ears-the methods are different, but the outcome is the same. . I no longer judge by appearance or by a person's current status; I don't assume someone can't accomplish something. I have had to learn techniques to overcome things I once did with sight, and my daily life requires that I seek out alternatives to meet the challenges each day poses. If I can do it, so can others, and this is what I'm about- encouraging, challenging, and rejoicing with those I help. Before you conclude that I can't accomplish something because of my "condition"-what exactly do you think my condition is? Obviously it is much more than the fact that I do not see. You assume a great many things based on my lack of vision-bless your heart. So let's channel your concern, your goodwill, and your desire to help into areas that will really make a difference. Watch me and learn what it really means to be blind; then take up my cause, join me in the good fight, and together let's change the attitudes that are the single-largest problem I face. Together let's change the world, not only for me but for others who are blind. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Christine Hall] A Costa Rica Adventure by Christine Hall From the Editor: Christine Hall is a long-time member of the National Federation of the Blind, who has served as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico and as the president of the Seniors Division. But, as you can see from this article, Christine is not all work and no play. Here is her account of a recent vacation taken with her daughter: Last November my daughter Candy and I went to Costa Rica. Costa Rica has been on my bucket list, one of those places in the world I wanted to visit, so now I can take it off the list. What an adventure it was for both Candy and me. It was a yoga retreat in a beautiful retreat center with the jungle all around us: trees, plants, and all kinds of jungle animals. We spent the first night in a hotel in San Jos?, a three-and-a-half hour ride from the retreat center. The first morning at the retreat center, some of us went on a walking tour through the Cahuita National Park, a tropical jungle. Usually wild animals can be easily spotted in the middle of the abundant, colorful flora. On that day there did not seem to be too many animals, but our guide was able to point out a few: a couple of viper snakes (very poisonous), a monkey or two, some sloths hanging from the trees, and lots of carpenter ants. Some of the group split off and went snorkeling, where they saw many colorful fish and beautiful coral, which they were careful not to touch. Candy went snorkeling, something she had never done before. I had been snorkeling, both in the Caribbean and in Hawaii, so I chose not to go. When I went snorkeling in the Caribbean, I still had a bit of sight and was able to see some of the colorful fish; what a delight! When we woke up in the morning at the retreat center, we would hear a noise coming from the jungle that sounded like a mountain lion. We found out much to our surprise that the sound was from howler monkeys doing their mating call. These monkeys are quite small, and it is hard to believe something that loud could come from such a little creature. It was reassuring to know that a mountain lion was not nearby. Speaking of monkeys and other jungle animals, the highlight of the trip for me was our visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center. Our guide Dexter gave me a hands-on experience with some of the animals-not including the snakes, which was fine with me. As a group we all went into the monkey enclosure. Before going in, I asked Dexter if he thought it would be okay for me to take my white cane, and he said yes since the monkeys would probably love to play with the cane. He was so right. They were climbing on my cane, on my arms, shoulders, and head. It was so much fun feeling them and just being in their presence. They were young monkeys who had lost their mothers and would be rehabilitated and returned to their natural habitat. When I first went into the monkey enclosure, a volunteer immediately put a howler monkey on my lap, and he just lay there and slept. The spider monkey and a white face monkey had fun playing with my cane. I also got to get hands-on with an anteater. I got to feel her entire body as Dexter held her in his arms. Her hair was very coarse, her nose-as you would expect-very long and pointed, and her tail long and skinny. They have only three claws. The one in the middle is very long to dig out the ant hole. She then puts her long tongue in the hole to retrieve ants. In addition I got to go into another enclosure and sit on the ground with a young ocelot (jungle cat). Dexter made sure I checked out her paws, which were quite large for her size. She was soft and calm, and she did not seem to be aware of me while she was eating a treat from the ground. Dexter then asked me if I was up for what might be considered a scary experience. I said sure since I have always been a risk-taker. So we went out to an open area, and he put a heavy glove on my hand. He then told me to raise my arm as high as it would go and proceeded to put a live mouse on the tip of the glove. He whistled and a hawk came swooping down and flew off with the mouse. I know it may be sad to hear about the mouse being devoured by the hawk, but that is just nature. I could hear the hawk as it flew off with the mouse. While most of the women went zip lining, another retreatant (Edie) and I visited a small cacao tourist attraction. The cacao tree is a tree that produces chocolate. Once again we had a great guide who took us through every stage of how the chocolate eventually comes to us. When we got to the tourist site, I asked about mosquitoes, which seemed to be flying all around us. They love me, and I am always protecting myself with insect repellant. Our guide said I would probably love the mosquito by the end of our guided tour since they are the insect that pollinates the flowers on the cacao tree, and, without the mosquito, no chocolate. I would be very sad if I did not have my chocolate. We learned of the history and science of chocolate, the transformation from the raw cacao bean, which we tasted-to the chocolate bar-very yummy. We took our chocolate bar back to the retreat center and shared it with our friends. Generous of us, wouldn't you say? The chocolate is much purer than what we are able to get in the United States. Costa Rican chocolate is exported primarily to European countries such as Switzerland, with a very small percentage going to the United States. If you like dark chocolate, you would love it-much better than what we have in the States. I will conclude this article saying I had a wonderful experience, and it was an example of our NFB message: "You can live the life you want." ---------- A Unique Disability by Ruth Silver >From the Editor: Ruth Silver surmounted the challenges of vision loss and later hearing loss to become a successful teacher and service provider for children and adults with special needs. She is the founder of the Center for Deaf-Blind Persons in Milwaukee. She served as executive director for seventeen years. For the next eleven years she continued to work part-time as consultant, outreach presenter, teacher, coordinator of new projects, and support group facilitator. Currently Ruth is a consultant and community outreach presenter for the center, while independently participating in book events for her recently published autobiography, Invisible: My Journey Through Vision and Hearing Loss. She has a bachelor's degree in the education of the deaf, graduate credits in the education of the blind and in counseling, and certification in support group facilitating. Ruth lives in Milwaukee with her husband. Deaf-blindness is not simply deafness plus blindness. It is not two disabilities put together; it is one unique disability. Let me explain. I am totally blind, having gradually lost my vision starting in childhood. In young adulthood I started losing my hearing. With hearing aids I am able to understand some speech in a quiet environment. When I was only blind, I could socialize with many people at a gathering. Now at best I can converse with the individual next to me. When I was only blind, I could interact with people in a room where the radio was playing, dishes were clattering, and laughter abounded. Now, with background noise, I can understand nothing and be alone in a crowd. When I was only blind, I could sense sadness, joy, anger, and agitation from a person's tone of voice. That is no longer possible, and the loss sometimes causes misunderstandings. When I was only blind, I could hear the softest footsteps. Today I am repeatedly startled by the voice of a person who has entered the room with no forewarning. When I was only blind, I could identify a person by his/her voice. Now I cannot tell who is talking to me unless I first hear a name. When I was only blind, I could move quickly with my white cane and in familiar surroundings without it. Now I walk cautiously to avoid bumping people since I cannot hear if others are around or where they might be. When I was only blind, I could retrieve a dropped item in seconds by hearing where it fell. No longer able to localize sound, I must now search on my hands and knees and even then may not locate the item because it rolled behind a door or into another room. When I was only blind, I could stand unsupported in the middle of a room, bend over, turn sharply, or jump out of bed quickly. This is no longer the case. Like many others with hearing loss, I have balance problems which prohibit abrupt movements. When I was only blind, I had no difficulty hearing the ring of the telephone or doorbell. Today, even with amplified ringers, my responses are inconsistent, and I must consider using a vibrating alert system. When I was only blind, talking on the telephone was fun. Now, even with hearing aids combined with a volume-control phone, I miss some words and misunderstand things. Sometimes I use a Braille-type telephone, which is slower and does not convey the emotional nuances of the voice. When I was only blind, I spent hours listening to Talking Books. Most voices now sound muffled. When I was only blind, my husband and I enjoyed movies, and he provided an occasional description, but movies are now confusing and no longer pleasurable. When I was only blind, life had minimal stress. Now, piecing together bits of information, localizing difficulties, and coping with balance problems, misunderstandings, the attitudes of others, and unpredictable drops in hearing increase daily stress and fatigue. The list of challenges is equally long for individuals who are deaf and have lost or are losing vision. Deaf people rely on their vision to compensate for their hearing loss. Blind people use their hearing to compensate for their vision loss. Deaf-blind people are able to compensate for the loss of both sight and hearing only by learning deaf-blind-specific adaptations that focus on developing and integrating touch, taste, smell, kinesthesia, and any remaining vision or hearing. When I acknowledged the need and learned new ways of doing old things, my splintered pieces combined into a complete, though narrowed, whole. I rejoice once again in being able-differently able. ---------- Standing on Their Shoulders: Giants Who Helped Build Our Affiliate in New Mexico by Peggy Chong >From the Editor: Peggy Chong loves history and is determined to recognize those blind men and women who have played a role in creating what we have today. Here is her story of a dozen blind people who played a part in our formation. Some of their contributions were spectacular, and some were less than stellar. Even those who might have done better by their fellow blind brothers and sisters demonstrate that blind people represent a cross- section of our society and show once again that none of us do all the good we can or live the lives we would have lived if living life was as simple as constructing a story. Here is Peggy's article: The New Mexico affiliate came along many years after the founding of the National Federation of the Blind in 1940, but its members did their best to catch up with and contribute alongside their fellow Federationists across the country. New Mexico became a state in 1912, the forty-seventh state to join the Union. Although New Mexico is the fifth largest state in land size, it is the thirty-sixth state in population. The school for the blind was opened in the fall of 1906 in Alamogordo, a medium-sized community in the southern part of the state. Beyond the school for the blind there were few options for blind people. The state had no agency for the blind and only a few workshops. The land of enchantment had few notable blind people in its early history. Elizabeth Garrett was quite famous. Although she was educated at the school for the blind in Texas, her family was from New Mexico, and her father was the famous sheriff, Pat Garrett, who shot Billy the Kid. Elizabeth Garrett wrote the state song, "O Fair New Mexico." She was also one of the few blind teachers at the school for the blind in Alamogordo in its first decade. In the spring of 1956 blind people and members of the state Lions Clubs canvassed the state, inviting blind people to come to Albuquerque and hear about the National Federation of the Blind. One Lions member in particular was helpful in organizing the new affiliate: Fred Humphrey of the Los Almos Lions Club. The organizing convention was held at the El Fidel Hotel at Copper in Albuquerque, on Saturday, June 2, 1956. More than fifty people attended, including blind people from throughout New Mexico. Among those who joined that day were some members of the staff of the school for the blind, an institution that also ran the largest sheltered shop for the blind in the state. One of the first national activities that the new affiliate took on was hosting the 1959 National Convention in Santa Fe. The four-day convention was from June 26 to 29. Hotel rates in the six official hotels for the convention ranged from $1.50 for a cot in a dormitory room of the Hotel De Vargus to $12.00 for a double at the Desert Inn. Some rooms had a bath, and some even had air conditioning. Harmony, or the lack of it, mirrored what was happening on a national level. Because many of the NFB of New Mexico members were graduates of the school for the blind, the primary provider of services to the blind of the state, when NFBNM leaders wanted to introduce legislation to create a commission for the blind in New Mexico, dissension occurred; the school did not want competition. That institution tried to get control over the new affiliate and almost succeeded. When their efforts were thwarted, representatives of the school pressured the members of the NFBNM who were alums, causing many to leave the organization. All of this happened within the first decade of the affiliate's existence. Yet this affiliate and its strong leaders maintained and strengthened the affiliate. Brief biographies of some of these leaders follow: Maria Alvarez was the daughter of Abram and Estafana Alvarez. She was born blind, but her family was reluctant to send her away to school until the parish priest and the county sheriff convinced them that Maria needed to go to school. Maria was a graduate of the New Mexico School for the Blind in 1944. Her family home was in Socorro, New Mexico, and that is where she returned after graduating. In the 1950s she got a job as a typist and transcriber at the county welfare office in Socorro after attending a secretarial school in Santa Fe. When the 1956 organizing meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico took place in Albuquerque, Maria was there. She was elected the first secretary of the new affiliate. In early 1957 she was chair of the Resolutions and the Publicity Committees for the upcoming state convention. Maria was employed as a typist at the state welfare department in Bernalillo County and served as the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico. In the spring of 1958 state president Albert Gonzales and his wife Virginia stood up for her when she decided to marry the state president of the Vermont affiliate, Clarence Briggs. The two had met the previous year at the national convention of the NFB in New Orleans. After convention they corresponded using recordings and decided to wed. Briggs came to New Mexico, and the couple was married at the Episcopal Cathedral in Albuquerque in May. Marie went back to Vermont with her husband for several years. The couple grew their family and the affiliate. They moved back to Albuquerque for almost two years, where husband Clarence served on the board of the New Mexico affiliate. Apparently deciding Vermont was more to their taste, they once again returned there. Walter Frady was a blind vendor from Gallup, who operated the vending location at the Gallup Post Office. He was at the first two state meetings and was looking forward to the 1958 state convention, but he died in late April of 1958. His wife Frieda attended the convention in his honor, expressing to all how much Walter would have loved to be there. Born in Nebraska, he was a salesman for the Goodyear Tire Company for many years. While in his forties Walter began to lose vision. He kept on working. When he moved to New Mexico in the 1940s, he began working the vending location at the Gallup Post Office. Walter was active in the local community as a member of the Elks Club. He also was a past director of the Gallup Lions Club, chairing some of its fundraisers. In 1957 he and two other men from Gallup attended the international Lions convention in San Francisco. When Walter died, the new affiliate lost an energetic, outgoing member. Owen Henry Shillinglaw was a business owner in Las Vegas, New Mexico. A severe case of arthritis caused him to lose his vision. The arthritis that affected him and his brother William was noticed when Owen was a young child, and by high school he had lost most of his vision. About 1930 Owen went to work for Alfredo Coca Sr., often called Cokey, at the New Mexico Fuel and Lumber Company in his hometown of Las Vegas. Owen did everything, including loading the burros to carry firewood and coal up the gravel mountain roads to its customers. In 1938 he purchased the company from Cokey and renamed it Owen Shillinglaw Fuel Company. Sometime around 1948 he brought his father in as an office manager to help coordinate the new offerings of his ever- expanding company. This also allowed him to spend more time out of the office, expanding his customer base and the number of products for sale. In front of his business was a large, single piece of coal, about four or five feet wide. This piece of coal was there for many years as a symbol of his trade. In 1950 a strike at the local coal mines occurred. It lasted about two months. To be sure that Shillinglaw's could continue to serve its customers, Owen approached the Santa Fe Railroad company that owned the local rail yard and asked for permission for his workers to "mine" the rail yard, where hundreds of tons of discarded and sub-standard coal had been left behind when the railroads converted to diesel. He was able to provide work for men and keep his customers happy. His wife Deborah would drive him to work many mornings because it had become physically hard for him to walk. Owen would check his Braille watch and time her from the time they left their home at 711 Dalby Drive to the intersection of Mills Ave. He knew how long it should take. Many times Owen would catch her going just a little faster than the local speed limit would allow and tell her to slow down. There is no indication that Owen received blindness training or read Braille, his trusty watch being the exception. The arthritis made it difficult for him to use his fingers for delicate work. Owen took an active role in Las Vegas city council matters and hearings. He was one of those who addressed concerns that the city of Las Vegas was growing too fast and lent his voice to the need to extend the city limits in 1953. As a member of the Jaycees he served on many committees, including the city's Distinguished Service Award Committee. Some of Owen's pet projects were heading the fundraising efforts for the Las Vegas Hospital and the St. Anthony Hospital. He also led the community fund drive and as a member of the Chamber of Commerce led the "Short Line" committee that brought the Santa Fe Engine 1129 to Las Vegas as a centerpiece for the city park. He supported local sports teams, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Red Cross, and more. He held a position on the board of the Arthritis Foundation and local Rotary Club as well. He served as a trustee and elder in his Presbyterian Church. Owen was a member of the NFB of New Mexico. He took an active interest in the affairs of the organization early on. When the Federation hosted a three-day seminar in Glorieta over the Labor Day weekend of 1957, Owen and his wife were in attendance. There he met and got to know National President Jacobus tenBroek. In the spring of 1958 he and his wife drove to Santa Fe to attend an executive board meeting for the state affiliate at the home of President Albert Gonzales, even though Owen was not on the board. In May of 1958 Owen attended the state convention of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico in Albuquerque at the Knights of Columbus Club. At that meeting he was elected first vice president. The new organization was attractive to Owen because of its work to better the lives of the blind of New Mexico, working to improve the training for blind New Mexicans so they could become self-supporting members, a goal he was proud to have achieved for himself. Owen died on September 26, 1958. On September 13 he had taken a fall at the office. He had gotten out of the passenger door of a truck that he and his staff were loading with a display to transport to Albuquerque. Owen stepped on a brick, lost his balance, and struck his head on the bumper of the truck. In 2014 the Shillinglaw Company still holds his name, even though the business has passed out of family hands. The name of Shillinglaw was well known in all parts of the business community, and the company was awarded many state contracts beginning in the 1940s. Keeping the name, even decades after Owen's death, was good business. Mark Shoesmith was born in Idaho. At the age of twelve he was blinded when the dynamite percussion cap he was playing with exploded in his face. His family enrolled him at the school for the blind in Salem, Oregon, from which he graduated in 1930. While attending the university, he became interested in sculpting, just to see if he could do it. It turned out that he had a real talent for this form of art. After graduation he did sculptures of Franklin D. Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park and a bust of Robert Ripley. One of his sculptures was displayed in the palace in Argentina. One of his most famous pieces was a bust of the well-known tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, Lauritz Melchior. Mark and his wife moved to New York to pursue his art career, but, as most artists know, the art one loves does not always pay the bills, and his task was made more difficult by the Depression of the 1930s. Mark began teaching at the New York Institute for the Blind and later at the Goodwill Center for the Blind in Dayton, Ohio. His craft damaged his hands so much that he had to give up reading Braille for pleasure. In 1948 the Shoesmiths moved to Alamogordo to teach art at the New Mexico School for the Blind and to head up the adult training program, the broom shop located at the school, where many of the students ended up after leaving the academic program. As he had in other locations, he became active in the community, joining the Lions Club and becoming president for a term in Alamogordo. He continued his craft even after taking the position at the school. In 1954 he was commissioned to do a piece of art for the Blind Golfers Tournament in Toronto, Canada. He came highly recommended for the honor by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The trophy was carved from New Mexican marble. It depicted two eagles and two crossed golf clubs. Mark knew the dual significance of the eagles: first, eagles mean courage in many circles; double eagles also signify a score of three under par for any hole. Nineteen fifty-four was a good year for him artistically; he was selected to display his artwork for at least two years in Santa Fe. When the NFB of New Mexico was formed in 1956, Mark was at the first organizing meeting. He spoke on the agenda as well. In 1958 he was elected second vice president of the NFB of New Mexico; however, his participation in the organization did not last much longer. As an employee of the school and the man running the broom shop, he must have felt conflicted when the Federation did not support sheltered employment, an occupation at which he was earning his living. During the 1960s, Mark would testify against NFB legislation to bring a commission for the blind to his state, doing this as a representative of the school. By the late sixties he no longer paid his dues to the NFB of New Mexico. Because he was a blind person with skills and a position, he held influence over those who attended the school. Some students remembered him fondly. Those who worked under him in the broom shop who wanted to organize a union in the late 1950s did not. His supervisors told Mark to fire the union organizers "or else," and he did. Ironically, in 1972, when the Federation legislation to establish a training center for blind adults was established without a workshop attached to it, legislation which Mark actively opposed, he was appointed as its first director. This position he held for only a year, before retiring to pursue his art career. Pitaci "Pat" Salazar was born about 1917 near Pajoaque. Partially blind from birth, he was sent to the New Mexico School for the Blind and graduated in 1938. He returned to his parents' home and could find work only in a broom shop. He also sold blind-made items on the side to help make a living. But it was not enough. When Pat took the bus, moving to Santa Fe in 1941, he had only $26 in his pocket. He got a loan from the Santa Fe Lions Club to set up a cigar stand at the capitol. At that time the Lions Clubs were securing locations for blind vendors, helping them with business planning, and, in the case of Pat, providing financial assistance to purchase stock. The state employment agency did provide training in vending, but it would be several years before a formal Randolph-Sheppard program would be established in New Mexico. Within eighteen months the small cigarette and newsstand in the Bataan Building was self-supporting. Salazar had repaid the Lions Club its loan to him. He worked hard to build up his business, focusing on his ability to recognize customers after their first visit. After greeting them and engaging them in conversation, he would look for something about them to help him associate a name with a voice. Salazar became a member of the 20/20 social club, where he served as an officer. This may have later turned into a local chapter of the NFB. He was a member of the St. Francis Cathedral, taking an active part in church activities. He served a term as president of the Holy Name Society at his church. About 1946 Pat lost the rest of his vision. Pat operated the cigarette and cigar stand in the basement of the state capitol until 1952. When the capitol was remodeled, the state added into their floor plan more space for his business. His expanded offerings included coffee, sandwiches, and other items he could make in the small kitchen space allotted to his facility. Most people liked Pat and appreciated his service, but this did not spare him from the occasional break-in, resulting in the loss of cash and valuable merchandise. Pat would hire blind people and others with handicaps to work in his business. During the legislative sessions he would often work up to eighteen hours a day, walking home long after midnight and returning as the sun was coming up. He was not a complainer and did what was required to make money. A move of his business in 1954 to the Bataan Building allowed him to serve complete meals. When the Roundhouse was built and many state employees had offices and worked in other buildings, he would do catering for them by loading up carts and sending over the beans, chili, or whatever the special of the day was. Pat worked to secure passage of what was called the "Little Randolph- Sheppard Act" in New Mexico. The bill was passed in 1957, giving blind vendors preferential consideration for vending locations on state property. To ensure that the governor would sign the legislation, Pat sent a note to the governor's office, reminding him of the legislation and that his birthday was the next day. Pat told the governor that, if he were to sign the bill on that day, it would be a great birthday present for Pat. The bill was signed. Pat worked for the State Employment Services, the department that oversaw blindness programs, where he served as a trainer for potential blind vendors. For a year he served on a committee that explored employment opportunities for the blind as telephone and switchboard operators for the Mountain Telephone and Telegraph Company. Pat married a fellow student from the school for the blind, Eugenia Baca of Socorro, in 1958 in Santa Fe. That was the same year that he was elected state president of the NFBNM. Eugenia had been elected to the state board in 1956 at the first meeting of the NFBNM. His wife majored in music while at school. After they were married, she was active in their church as well, participating in the music programs, playing the piano and organ for church functions. She also taught piano and music from their home to those in the Santa Fe area. At the end of 1976 Pat decided to call it quits and retired from his vending location at the state capitol. Joe A. Salazar was born blind, as were several of his siblings. Their father did not allow the children to sit idle while at home. The blind boys had to work on the farm as much as their sighted siblings. Joe was an optimist, finding pleasure even in his farm chores. The blind Salazar children were sent to the school for the blind in Alamogordo. There Joe discovered a talent for and love of music. The school for the blind was near the military base at White Sands. In 1942 teachers from the school presented programs for the military, including a performance in May for the USO. Joe, Remijillo Chavez, Silviano Chacon, and Serafin Griego had a band at the school. The boys performed as a group, and other students from the school also performed musical numbers and readings. Beginning as a young boy, Joe performed for his church, continuing to do so all of his life. In 1946 he moved to Santa Fe, where his brother Pat had rooms at 212 De Fouri Street. Pat had graduated a few years earlier from the school for the blind and was operating a vending stand at the state capitol. Needing funds, Joe took a job as a gardener for Henry Dendahl, caring for the man's many flowers and rose bushes. Having come from a farm, where plants provided food for the table, he told the priest, Father Francis, that he had a new appreciation for the flowering plants that provided so much beauty and fragrance to the world. Joe also said that he was surprised that he was paid so well for his gardening services. Joe was one of the few graduates of the New Mexico School for the Blind to receive a one-year scholarship to the Perkins School for the Blind to continue his studies. He graduated in 1946 and, using the scholarship, went to Boston for the following school year. In the fall of 1947 Joe went to the University of New Mexico, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music and a minor in English and speech. He was a member of the University of New Mexico Mixed Choirs. He had a wonderful baritone voice that was so extraordinary that every choir director Joe worked with commented upon it. As a college student Joe had few books in Braille, but sometimes he was fortunate enough to find some Braille music. To handle his reading load, Joe hired readers and used volunteers. In the fall of 1952, just after graduating from college, he began teaching music for the Pojoaque, New Mexico, school. He was the first music teacher for the school system and the first blind teacher in the district. Each day he taught music and choral to over 150 students. Discipline in his classes was never an issue, though this is often the concern expressed by school administrators when considering the applications of blind teachers. Two students who decided to see if Joe could maintain discipline in his fifth grade class soon found themselves staying after school to clean his room. But Joe wanted to do more than discipline these boys: while they worked, he talked with them about common interests in basketball, other sports, and the things Joe remembered being interested in at their age. He was able to take two mischievous and sometimes rebellious children and make them a contributing part of his class. Joe stayed in Pojoaque for two years. He then spent one year in Santa Fe, acting as the county school's music supervisor and was also given the teaching of English as part of his teaching load. He then took his dream job at Santa Cruz. There he brought his love for all kinds of music to his students, and in 1956 he led a chorus of over three hundred young people from grades one to twelve in performing at an Easter presentation. He wanted to challenge his students and engage them at the same time. This he did by talking about the music, ensuring that the children understood what was unique and fun about even the classical pieces. In 1970 Joe got his PhD from the University of New Mexico, something he had wanted to do for many years. While in the Espa?ola School District, where he taught speech and drama, he would on occasion bring in one of the Talking Books that he was reading to engage his students and to show them what a good reader could add to a story. In 1975 Joe was voted teacher of the year by his colleagues. He was a member of the Espa?ola Education Association, EEA. In 1978, after the EEA had negotiated an agreement with the Espa?ola School Board and the school board went back on its agreement, Joe was one of the EEA leaders who spoke out at public hearings. He tried to force the school board to restore the confidence and security of teachers. He knew how to work the press and took advantage of his leadership skills to help himself and those who were too easily intimidated by their principal and district officials. Joe used Braille music both as a student and throughout his teaching career. Much of his Braille came from New Mexico Braille Services in Albuquerque, a group that encouraged its volunteers to be certified in the Braille codes by the Library of Congress. As noted earlier, he also enjoyed reading Talking Books from the Library of Congress. His reading interests spanned many topics, for he had a genuine interest in learning and broadening his perspectives on life. No matter where Joe was, he wanted to be of benefit to his fellow man, especially his blind brothers and sisters. One of his neighbors was losing eyesight and becoming very bitter. Joe tried to help him, but, like so many people losing vision, the newly blinded man was not ready to receive help. Joe was persistent and finally got him to sign up for books through the library for the blind. Within a short time the neighbor's attitude began to improve as he regained his ability to read and stay in contact with the rest of the world. For many years Joe walked to Santuario de Chimayo, from Santa Fe to the holy church, a pilgrimage made by thousands of the faithful to the holy site, observing the Easter holiday. Joe said he did this for personal reasons: spiritual, intellectual, and physical-for the walk. In 1992 he, three of his grandchildren, and his golden retriever, Dooby, left the Holy Cross Church in Santa Fe at about 6:50 a.m. and arrived in Chimayo at about 10:30 that morning. He took no water for himself in the pilgrimage, but did take some for his grandchildren. Joe was elected as first vice president of the NFB of New Mexico in 1956 and served in that office for several years. He met Dr. tenBroek and Dr. Jernigan at many events and was very committed to the NFB. He wrote for the Braille Monitor. He was appointed as the publicity chairman in advance of the 1959 National Convention. In this role he informed delegates about lodging and convention attractions they would find in Santa Fe. In the late 1990s significant tension existed between the school for the blind and the NFBNM. Joe was the only blind member of the board when Director Kirk Walters was hired in 1996. Joe voted against his hiring. Then Jim Salas, another blind man, was appointed and two blind people sat on the board of regents during 1997. When a second vote was taken, he too voted to dismiss Walters, who was a controversial administrator. The vote in the summer of 1997 and the events leading up to it caused quite a firestorm, resulting in bad feelings that lasted for years. This issue was extensively covered in the Braille Monitor between 1996 and 2000. Serafin Griego Jr. was one of many blind children in the Griego family. He was born in Vaughan, New Mexico, to Serafin and Celestine Griego. Blind from birth, he attended the school for the blind in Alamogordo. After he left the school, he married Helen, and they had two children: a daughter, Maria Rita, and a son, Paul Vincent. In the 1950s the Griego's formed a family orchestra that played for many community and private events in the Santa Rosa and Vaughan area. The group was called the Griego Orchestra and was made up of Mrs. Maggie Griego on drums, brothers Efren and Serafin, and Salomon Mandragon, a fellow classmate from the school. In 1955 Serafin moved to Albuquerque. An accomplished musician, he played both piano and violin. He became a founding member of "El Mariachi del Norte" in 1956, the first and longest-running Mariachi band in Albuquerque. The band performed for more than three decades. Serafin was determined to be self-supporting and provide a good income for his family. When they had work, the income from their music was good, and playing was fun, but more was needed to meet the family's needs. Serafin often played for local dances as well as events sponsored by radio stations KABQ and KDCE. He was also trained in electronics and worked as an electronics technician. In 1959 Serafin was elected to the NFB of New Mexico's state board as the corresponding secretary. He effectively supported many activities of the organization through his vast community contacts. In 1961 he was elected first vice president. In 1965 he assisted in the organization of a picnic for the blind at the Albuquerque Zoo, coordinating two busses to pick up people from different locations. He was elected sergeant at arms at the 1965 state convention. At the time of his death, Serafin ran a telephone service from his home. He was a dispatcher for the American Auto Association. One October morning Serafin had a heart attack at his home. He was rushed to an Albuquerque hospital but died shortly after. He was taken much too early, being only forty-four. Pauline Gomez was born into a prominent New Mexico family with roots in the state dating back to the 1600s. The Gomez family strongly believed in serving their community. Pauline was born with little vision and even it deteriorated over the course of her childhood. She was sent to the New Mexico School for the Blind when she was five, graduating in 1940. After graduation Pauline won a scholarship from the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, to continue her education and to become certified to teach school. She was the first blind student from the school for the blind in New Mexico to win such a scholarship. She did an internship in Santa Fe at the public library, where she conducted educational programs for children and was praised for her work. But when Pauline tried to find teaching jobs in the public and private schools, no one would hire her. Not to be thwarted in her desire to be productive and earn a living, Pauline then enrolled at the University of New Mexico in the fall of 1941 in Albuquerque, the first blind student to attend the university there. She became the first blind person to graduate from the University of New Mexico. Still no teaching job was offered. If no one would hire her, she would hire herself. Pauline decided to open a nursery school in her home. On October 1, 1946, Los Ni?os Kindergarten School opened in the back room of her adobe-style home in Santa Fe. Eight children were in her first class. In those early days she managed the school, promoted it in the community, and single-handedly worked as its only teacher. Six years later, as the enrollment continued to grow, Pauline built a separate and larger classroom building on her property. The new building had a formal outside play area, a large classroom, an office, and an elevated area to allow parents to view their children while they were at school without disrupting the class or distracting from the tasks at hand. For decades Los Ni?os prepared the young children of prominent families in Santa Fe to enter the first grade. Pauline kept her notes in Braille, typed up student reports, and used a tape recorder to keep track of student activities. Los Ni?os was the only preschool, school, or day care facility that provided parents with detailed reports on their children's educational activities. To add to the special services that set her school apart from others in Santa Fe, she held parent seminars where strategies for educating young children and the benefits of medical inoculations were discussed. Her school also presented holiday programs that were open to the public and the media. Los Ni?os graduations included caps and gowns for the five and six year olds, these garments made by Pauline and her mother. Such above-and-beyond efforts caught the attention of the Department of Public Education, and Pauline was asked on several occasions to help the state of New Mexico write the policies, guidelines, and strategies on early education for the department. Pauline was one of the blind people who helped to bring the National Federation of the Blind to New Mexico. She wrote letters to many blind people throughout the state, talking with them about the Federation in 1955. She attended the first organizing meeting in the spring of 1956. She was first elected to the state board as its secretary in 1958. Over the next thirty years she would serve in many capacities, including president for several terms and the national delegate from New Mexico on many occasions. She represented blind vendors in disputes with the state and also was an advocate for other blind people who needed assistance, whether they were school-age children or seniors needing people in authority to listen to them. Passing Federation legislation was also a major concern for Pauline. Her father had served as governor for a term, and her aunt served in the state legislature at the same time as Albert Gonzales. With the many contacts she had, Pauline had a strong impact on the outcome of proposed legislation. She also developed the blueprint for the Federation's legislative strategy that would result in the Federation's most successful attempt to influence the legislature of New Mexico in the session that spanned 1966 and 1967. In this session the NFB supported six bills, all were introduced, and all were passed. On a national level Pauline addressed several sessions of the National Federation of the Blind's conventions, many of those presentations focusing on the need for an adult training center in New Mexico. She was also called on to translate from English to Spanish for international guests. Pauline was a founding member of the Teachers Division in 1970 and received the first Blind Educator of the Year award from the national body of the Federation in 1987. Through her national contacts she brought interesting, non-stereotypic, and challenging blind people to the state to help demonstrate to the community what the future could be for the blind of New Mexico. In 1962 she helped bring a blind photographer, Harry Cordellos, from California to address the Santa Fe Lions Club. Cordellos carried a white cane that was longer than the ones used by the blind of New Mexico. He told the Lions about the California Orientation Center and how it taught skills that helped blind people lead full and successful lives. This was done by preparing them for the attitudes that would stand in their way and teaching them the blindness skills that would let them accomplish those things normally considered to require sight. He talked about how difficult it had been to get into college, especially when officials learned that his desire was to become a photographer. He used the pictures he had taken in his presentation, lending credibility to the reasonableness of his goal. In 1983 Pauline decided to retire as the administrator of her preschool. She stayed active in her many civic activities that had and continued to contribute greatly to the Federation's success and prominence in Santa Fe over the years. Each year she walked and helped organize White Cane events in Santa Fe. In 1989 the Governor appointed Gomez to the State Advisory Council on Libraries. She remained active in all her church, civic, and Federation activities until her death in 1996. Albert Torres Gonzales was born in Roswell, New Mexico, and is the most documented of all of the early NFB of New Mexico leaders. Albert admitted that he was a daredevil and loved publicity. Blinded while showing off at a training exercise at a military camp, he was sent to Washington, DC for medical treatment. During the year he was there he met other blind people who encouraged him to finish his education. When he returned to Las Cruces in 1931, he began classes at the New Mexico Agriculture and Mechanic Arts College, but not without a fight and intervention from a US Senator. After graduating, he spent some time in California, where he met a blind attorney who inspired Albert and helped to define his future. He went to Georgetown University, where he received his law degree. Albert returned to Las Cruces, passed the bar, set up his law firm, and found that, although many townspeople said they admired his efforts, they did not trust him with their legal cases. Determined to succeed, Albert ran for the office of State Representative for Dona Anna County on the Democratic ticket. He won. He then moved to Santa Fe to be close to the capitol and to set up his law practice in that city. He hoped that people would be more open to hiring a blind attorney given his service in the legislature. Gonzales served three terms as a state legislator. During his terms in office he tried to pass legislation to benefit the blind, even calling on Helen Keller, a fellow Lion, to add support to his legislation to provide for a separate department of rehabilitation for the blind. Though he tried hard, the state was not ready to embrace his faith in the blind or his ideas to better their lives. His law practice did much better than in Las Cruces, but not to his financial benefit. Most of his clients were the poor who needed a bilingual attorney. These were the clients that other lawyers didn't want to take on because they seldom could pay. Albert was often paid in kind, being given produce, labor to repair his homes, livestock, and even land. To get the cash necessary to pay his bills, Albert began selling insurance. In the late 1940s he began to invest in property. He purchased a home for his family and rented out the home they had previously occupied. When given land, Albert sold or developed it. He soon was purchasing land in downtown Santa Fe. The rent from his properties was what made Albert Gonzales a wealthy man in his later years. Although Albert had represented famous or infamous clients such as Reies Tijerina, a 1960s-era Mexican-American civil rights leader who led the raid on the Tierra Amarilla County Courthouse, he received little compensation. Nor did his high profile cases bring in the wealthy business clients he was hoping for. He served as district judge for many years, fining Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for speeding, and then a year later, holding them over for trial on a charge of espionage. Albert did his best to see that the press knew about his efforts and his successes, but still his clients were the poor of the state. Beyond the personal satisfaction of helping those who really needed him, the one benefit of having such a client base was that they were the ones who came out to vote for him when he ran for state representative, judge, school board, county commissioner, and other positions he held over a thirty-year period. When the organizing meeting of the Federation occurred in 1956, Albert was front and center. He had helped publicize the meeting as well as getting some from Santa Fe to attend. He was easily elected as the affiliate's first state president. For the next twenty years he held an office and chaired important Federation committees. He was a shoe-in for the new affiliate's legislative committee and played a big part in making a pitch for the 1959 National Convention to come to Santa Fe. He worked hard to see that the convention was a success, and it came off remarkably well, given the small community of blind people available to work on it and their newness to the Federation. Albert worked closely with national leaders such as Jacobus tenBroek, Kenneth Jernigan, and others to bring new ideas and programs to the affiliate and to its legislative efforts. News articles about the Federation were frequently in the New Mexico press, thanks to Albert's contacts and his love for publicity. With his energy, know-how, and broad- based support, Albert helped ensure that the first dozen years of the affiliate were successful, even in the face of significant internal and external pressure. Albert was still strong and vital in the 1990s, though he had by then lost most of his hearing. He continued to be active in the affiliate, served for a time on the board of the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, and was eventually granted an honorary doctorate by the university that originally opposed his entrance as a college student, the institution now known as New Mexico State University. Life was not always easy for the pioneers discussed here, but they managed to be successful despite the perceived limitations imposed by their blindness. They did all of this without formal programs to help them, against the resistance of institutions of higher education to accept them, and without much of the technology we take for granted today. They were not content to create quality lives for themselves, foolishly proclaiming to the world that they had been given nothing and had done it all on their own. Instead, they gave a part of their treasure, time, and talent to helping other blind people. They certainly understood that this effort would in some measure help them, but they did not argue about whether it takes a village to help the blind or whether it takes the blind to help make a hospitable village. The work demanded concrete action, and this is what they gave. We in 2015 stand on their shoulders. Let us do what we can to make them proud and lend our imagination, our treasure, and our hearts to advancing the opportunities for blind people as these pioneers did for us. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Darlene Laibl-Crowe] Nothing Comes Between Me and My Technology by Darlene Laibl-Crowe From the Editor: Darlene is an active member of our Florida affiliate and works hard to help us with projects involving communication and telling the story of the National Federation of the Blind. Although it is seldom apparent when corresponding with her, she faces some interesting obstacles in communicating. In this article she both describes the challenges and tells us how she goes beyond them. This article originally appeared in Vision Access Magazine on May 2, 2015: Nothing comes between me and my technology! Growing up sighted and wearing bilateral hearing aids, I didn't know the full depth of what technology would do for me. By the time I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) at the age of twenty-eight, I had some knowledge of computers and other equipment due to my employment, but nothing like what is available today! Little changed for me in 1986 after being diagnosed with RP. I was a single mother with a full-time job. I received white cane orientation and mobility to help with the progressive loss of peripheral field or vision. I gave up driving, which meant relying on others for transportation. Fast forward to 2008. I began to lose more vision and hearing. I was struggling because I could no longer read print, write, or see faces to read lips to accommodate for what I could not hear. Using a reader to complete forms or use an unfamiliar recipe became a challenge. I kept misunderstanding what was being said. Talking to my children, I often had to ask them to repeat themselves; I would repeat what I thought they said, only to have them end up-literally-rolling on the floor in laughter because I had gotten it wrong, and that was not at all what they had said. It might have been funny to them, but it was no laughing matter for me! In 2011, after meeting others with combined vision and hearing loss, I learned that there are varied degrees of blindness and deafness. I had never considered myself "deaf" while growing up. I remember telling someone once: "I'm not deaf; I can hear something," a misconception that many have, just like with blindness. Many believe that being blind means being in the dark. Meeting others who shared these challenges empowered me to identify myself as deaf-blind, which allowed me to open myself to a whole new world of resources. I want to share what I learned-so where do I begin? I found that by changing my desktop display to "high contrast black" that I could see my monitor much more easily. This means that everything is in a black background with white text. I also use Zoom Text magnification software (), which allows me to adjust the magnification and to change the pointer, focus, cursor, and other features to continue to use my residual vision. For example, since my screen is full black background and white text, it was hard to follow the mouse. I changed the pointer to bright orange, a color I can see but not as well as I used to. Around the pointer arrow there is a green ring that blinks, making it very easy to find. The software also comes with a screen reader that will speak documents to me when my eyes are tired. I received a laptop and refreshable Braille display through the National Deaf Blind Equipment Disbursement Program , which loans deaf-blind individuals equipment such as computers, iPads, iPhones, refreshable Braille displays, and other devices to enhance communication. This program is available in every state and is sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission. I was appointed by the governor to represent deaf-blind Floridians on a state board and use my laptop during quarterly meetings at various locations in the state. During these meetings I receive accommodations, as do others on the board who are hard of hearing or deaf. The members of this board represent various state departments and organizations that serve consumers who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind. These accommodations are provided to promote smooth and professional communication among members of this board, and these accommodations include Communications Access Realtime Transmission (CART), a Support Service Provider (SSP), and interpreters. A captionist types the transcript of the meeting (similar to a court reporter), and the transcript appears on a website for each of the board members to read. Some on the board are profoundly deaf and rely on sign language. Interpreters relay communication through sign and voice, allowing all in the room to understand what is being said. I am the only blind person on this board. While using my laptop, I use my Braille display when my eyes are tired. I also use an SSP, who sight guides, relays visual information, assists with communication needs, and in some cases provides transportation. As the SSP guides me into the meeting room, he/she tells me how the room is arranged and leads me to the area where I am to set up my equipment. When I sit, he/she tells me who is sitting where. Using me as six o'clock on the clock face, I am told who is sitting at twelve o'clock, one o'clock, and so on, along with the location of exits or other important features in the room. This helps me to be oriented to the room, people, and objects. Once the meeting begins, the SSP becomes my eyes and ears by observing everything. As the meeting progresses, I follow the agenda by reading the document that I Brailled prior to attending. If I want to make a comment, I raise my hand. My SSP then lets me know that I have been recognized by the chair by signing to me "hold," "one minute," or "wait," depending on the situation. Once it is my turn to speak, the chair will call my name. I reach out, turn on my microphone, and speak. The SSP helps me to complete forms, and, if I need to read a document quickly, he/she will do so for me in a separate room during break--all to give me the ability to be professional and be the best advocate that I can for the deaf-blind. On a personal note I have to admit I am especially proud of my digital hearing aids made by Phonak. I can hear much more clearly with them; however, the accessories are what make my ability to function so much easier. I wear a neck loop device called a ComPilot, which is paired to my iPhone or other devices with Bluetooth capability. The ComPilot has a vinyl- coated wire that hangs around my neck with a rectangular box that lies against my chest. It is two inches wide, three inches tall, and one-half inch thick, with buttons for volume and a switch to turn the device on and off. I can adjust the volume for my hearing aids and for my devices that are connected to it. My favorite device to use with this is my iPhone. The ComPilot allows me to hear voiceover clearly. The sound goes directly into my ears through the hearing aids. A caller's voice does the same thing-giving me clarity like never before. I also use inverted colors, zoom, and large bold text with the voiceover on my iPhone, all to help me understand what is being said. The reason for this is that comprehension is not easy when you have hearing loss. It is easy to misunderstand words and, you know what? I believe Siri has a hearing problem, too, because she seems to misunderstand me quite a bit! Believe me, I have been called out on some of the things that I have texted and emailed...let me tell you, I can still blush! When my phone rings, it chimes into my hearing aids. I don't have to search for it in my purse. I simply push the button on my ComPilot. I say "hello" right into the microphone at the top of the box; the caller's voice is clear while the background noise is slightly muted. I can hear what is being said and also some of what is said around me. It can be disconcerting for some people when they realize this blind woman is not talking to herself but on the phone. Two other devices that came with my ComPilot are the microphone and the TV link. The microphone can be clipped to someone's shirt when I am in a noisy environment such as a crowded restaurant. This allows me to hear what he/she is saying. Unfortunately, it mutes the background noise slightly, and I cannot hear anyone else. This means that the person who is wearing the microphone must relay to me what is being said. The TV link can be inserted into any audio jack on a music/book player, television, or computer. The link sends the sound to the hearing aids through the ComPilot. I have been able to listen to my book player from inside the house while working in my yard. I was invited to participate in a webinar and speak about the deaf- blind and their resources. I was told that I needed a microphone to speak. Since I wear hearing aids, a headset is not an option because of feedback- squealing noise that the hearing aids make when something is too close to them. I did some research and found the Seinhausser BT USB. By inserting the USB device into my desktop, I was able to use my ComPilot as a microphone and to hear what was being said during the webinar. It is absolutely amazing how technology changes and evolves so that we are able to function in daily activities and thereby be productive members of society! Now I am ready for the keys to my driverless car! Bring them on, I am ready to get back on the road again! Nothing comes between me and my technology! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan speaking at the 1990 National Convention] The Federation at Fifty >From the Editor: Last month we reprinted an address by Dr. Jacobus tenBroek about the Federation on its twenty-fifth anniversary. This month we'd like to reprint an address delivered at the 1990 National Convention in Dallas, Texas, by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan on the Federation at fifty. Of course, next month in our August/September convention issue of the Monitor there will be speeches about the Federation at seventy-five, allowing us to track the course of our amazing organization. Here is what Dr. Jernigan said in 1990: If the engineers of 1800 had possessed complete drawings for a transistor radio (one that could be bought today for $10), they couldn't have built it, not even if they had had billions or trillions of dollars. They lacked the infrastructure, the tools, the tools to build the tools, and the tools to build those; the plastics, the machines to make the plastics, and the machines to make the machines; the skilled work force, the teachers to train the work force, and the teachers to train the teachers; the transportation network to assemble the materials, the vehicles to use the network, and the sources of supply. All of this is generally recognized, but it is far less well understood that what is true of material objects is also true of ideas and attitudes. In the absence of a supporting social infrastructure of knowledge and beliefs, a new idea simply cannot exist. So far as I can tell, there are only three possible reasons for studying history: to get inspiration, to gain perspective, or to acquire a basis for predicting the future. In 1965 Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, the founder and leader of our movement, spoke at our twenty-fifth banquet, reviewing the first quarter century and charting the road ahead. We were meeting in Washington, and more than a hundred members of Congress were present. I was master of ceremonies, and some of the rest of you were also there. Tonight (twenty-five years later) we celebrate our Golden Anniversary, and the time has once again come to take stock. Where are we, where have we been, and where are we going? In a sense the history of our movement begins in the distant past-in the medieval guilds and brotherhoods of the blind in Europe, in the tentative stirrings of organization in China, and even earlier-but the National Federation of the Blind is essentially an American product. Its genesis is native. Although (as we all know) Dr. Jacobus tenBroek presided at the founding of the National Federation of the Blind in 1940 at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, he had a teacher (Dr. Newel Perry), who laid the foundations and served as precursor. And Dr. Perry, in turn, had a teacher, Warring Wilkinson. Most of what we know about Wilkinson is contained in the eulogy which Dr. tenBroek delivered at the time of Dr. Perry's death in 1961, but our knowledge is sufficient to tell us that Wilkinson was a worthy teacher of the teacher of our founder. He was the first principal of the California School for the Deaf and Blind. He served in that capacity for forty-four years, from 1865 to 1909. He not only loved his students but also did what he could to move them toward the main channels of social and economic participation. Particularly, he saw the potential in young Perry, sending him from the California School for the Blind to Berkeley High to complete his secondary education. To do this Wilkinson (who was ahead of his time both in his understanding of education and the needs of the blind) had to overcome numerous obstacles. I was fortunate enough to know Dr. Perry, meeting him when I moved to California in 1953. He was then eighty, and he spent many hours with me reminiscing about what conditions for the blind were like when he was a boy. He came to the California School for the Blind when he was ten- "penniless, blind, his father dead, his home dissolved. Two years earlier he had lost his sight and nearly his life as the result of a case of poison oak, which caused his eyeballs to swell until they burst and which held him in a coma for a month." It was at the school, of course, that he first met Warring Wilkinson. While going to high school (from which he graduated in 1892) he lived at the California School for the Blind. He also lived there while attending the University of California from 1892 to 1896. His admission to the University (as had been the case with high school) had to be secured over strong resistance. Again, Wilkinson was the pathfinder, young Perry his willing and anxious instrument. "Wilkinson's role in Perry's life as a youth can hardly be overestimated: father, teacher, guide, supporter, in Perry's own words, 'dear Governor.'" After graduating from the university, Dr. Perry devoted himself to further education and to the search for an academic job. "He took graduate work at the University of California, meanwhile serving successively as an unpaid teaching fellow, a paid assistant, and finally as an instructor in the department of mathematics. In 1900, following a general custom of that day, he went to Europe to continue his studies. He did this for a time at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and then at the University of Munich in Germany. From the latter he secured in 1901 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics, with highest honors. "He returned to the United States in 1902, landing in New York, where he was to remain until 1912. He had about eighty dollars in capital, a first-class and highly specialized education, and all of the physical, mental, and personal prerequisites for a productive career-except one, eyesight. "During this period he supported himself precariously as a private coach of university mathematics students. He also applied himself to the search for a university position. He displayed the most relentless energy. He employed every imaginable technique. He wrote letters in profusion. In 1905 he wrote to 500 institutions of every size and character. He distributed his dissertation and his published article on mathematics. He haunted meetings of mathematicians. He visited his friends in the profession. He enlisted the aid of his teachers. He called on everybody and anybody having the remotest connection with his goal. "Everywhere the outcome was the same. Only the form varied. Some expressed astonishment at what he had accomplished. Some expressed interest. One of these seemed genuine-he had a blind brother-in-law, he said, who was a whiz at math. Some showed indifference, now and then masked behind polite phrases. Some said there were no vacancies. Some said his application would be filed for future reference. One said ironically: 'For what-as an encouragement to men who labor under disadvantages and who may learn from it how much may be accomplished through resolution and industry?' Some averred that he probably could succeed in teaching at somebody else's college. Many said outright that they believed a blind person could not teach mathematics. "Many of these rejections may, of course, have been perfectly proper. Many were not. Their authors candidly gave the reason as blindness." Dr. Perry failed not because of lack of energy or qualification but because the necessary infrastructure of attitudes and beliefs did not exist to allow it to be otherwise-so he did not find a job in a university. Perhaps it was better for the blind (for those of us gathered here tonight) that he did not-but for him what pain! What absolute desolation and misery! And he had to face it alone-no family, no supporting organization of the blind-only himself and the bleak wall of continuing rejection year after year. He might have quit in despair. He might have become embittered. But he did not. Instead, he returned to California and settled down to build for the future. If he could not have first-class treatment for himself, he was absolutely determined that at least the next generation of the blind would not be denied. He taught at the California School for the Blind from 1912 to 1947- and day after day, month after month, season after season he exhorted and indoctrinated, preached and prepared. He was building the necessary infrastructure of ideas and beliefs. Those who were his students went on to become his colleagues, and as the number grew, the faith was kept. There would be a state-wide organization of the blind in California. It did not happen until 1934, but when it came, it was built on a solid foundation. And there would also be a National Federation of the Blind-but not yet. Dr. Perry was to that generation what Warring Wilkinson had been to him. In the words of Jacobus tenBroek, his most brilliant student and the man who would lead the blind in the founding of their national movement: "We were his students, his family, his intimates, his comrades on a thousand battlefronts of a social movement. We slept in his house, ate at his table, learned geometry at his desk, walked the streets interminably by his side, moved forward on the strength of his optimism and confidence." Dr. tenBroek graduated from Berkeley High School in 1930 with, as he said, "plenty of ambition but no money." He was prepared to enter the University of California but was denied state aid to the blind, a program then newly instituted as a result of Dr. Perry's efforts in sponsoring a constitutional amendment, which had been adopted by the voters of California in 1928. In Dr. tenBroek's words, "The reason for the denial was not that my need was not great. It was that I intended to pursue a higher education while I was being supported by the state. That was too much for the administrative officials. Almost without discussion, Dr. Perry immediately filled the gap. Just as Warring Wilkinson had earlier done for him," said Dr. tenBroek, "he supplied me with tuition and living expenses out of his own pocket for a semester while we all fought to reverse the decision of the state aid officials. "It was," Dr. tenBroek said, "ever thus with Dr. Perry. The key to his great influence with blind students was, first of all, the fact that he was blind and therefore understood their problems; and second, that he believed in them and made his faith manifest. He provided the only sure foundation of true rapport: knowledge on our part that he was genuinely interested in our welfare." So the new generation came to maturity, and Jacobus tenBroek was to be its leader. Born in 1911 on the prairies of Alberta, Canada, he was blinded by an arrow in a childhood game and moved to California to enter the school for the blind. He went on to earn five academic degrees-from the University of California at Berkeley a bachelor's in 1934, a master's in 1935, a law degree in 1938, and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence in 1940; and from the Harvard Law School a Doctorate in Jurisprudence in 1947. There is no need for me to talk to this audience about Dr. tenBroek's brilliance-his learned articles and books, his chairmanship of the California Board of Social Welfare, his scholarly pre-eminence and national acclaim, his writings on constitutional law that are still the authoritative works in the field. Rather, I would speak of the man-the warm human being who fought for acceptance, led our movement, and served as my mentor and role model-the man who was my closest friend and spiritual father. When Dr. tenBroek was first trying to get a teaching position in the 1930s, the climate of public opinion was better than it had been a generation earlier, but he faced many of the same problems which had confronted Dr. Perry-and sometimes with identical letters from the same institutions. "It was," he said, "almost as if a secretary had been set to copying Dr. Perry's file, only changing the signatures and the name of the addressee." Here is what Dr. tenBroek wrote to Dr. Perry in March of 1940. At the time he was studying at Harvard: Last November a large Midwestern university was looking for a man to teach public law. Having read my published articles but knowing nothing else about me, the head of the department in question wrote a letter to the University of California inquiring whether I would be available for the position. Cal. replied that I would and accompanied the answer with a considerable collection of supporting material. However, when the department head learned that I was blind, the deal was off although none of the competing applicants had as good a paper showing. This incident seems to me of particular interest because, although I have been refused other jobs, this was the first instance in which blindness could be traced as the sole explanation for rejection. Of course, in other cases blindness was also the determining factor, but the fact could not be demonstrated as well. There were other letters and other rejections-but on June 8, 1940, Dr. tenBroek was able to write to Dr. Perry: We have justification for hanging out the flags and ringing the bells. I have been offered and have accepted a job at Chicago University Law School. The job pays $1,800, is denominated a half-time position, and lasts for only a year. But it is a job nevertheless. And the Harvard people, who exerted no end of pressure to get it for me, regard it as an excellent opportunity. The position is designated 'tutorial fellowship' and consists in supervising the research of the first-and second-year law students. It involves no actual classroom teaching, except possibly by way of an occasional fill-in job. This was how Dr. tenBroek (the man who fifteen years later was to win the Woodrow Wilson Award for the outstanding book of the year in political science and who was always the most sought-after professor at the University of California) was to begin his teaching career. Yet, even today there are sighted people (and also some of the blind-people who ought to know better) who tell me that the blind are not victims of discrimination. Yes, the tenBroek job search was fifty years ago, but you know and I know that we have not yet come to first-class status and equal treatment in society. The framework of ideas and beliefs to make it possible, though long in the building, is still not complete. Warring Wilkinson, Newel Perry and his students, Jacobus tenBroek and the founders of our movement, and the Federationists of succeeding decades have worked year after year to improve the climate of public acceptance and make opportunity available for the blind, but the job is not yet finished. Each generation has built on the work of the one before it. Each has fought and hoped, dreamed and drudged for the one to follow-and also for the blind then alive. What we have done must be seen in perspective; for no act of the past (no gain or denial) is irrelevant, and no present behavior of ours can be divorced from tomorrow. We are close to freedom, and we must finish the journey. 1940 was notable for something else besides Dr. tenBroek's debut at the University of Chicago. It was also the year of the founding of this organization. With the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 the federal government had supplanted the states in providing assistance to the blind. In 1939 Congress and the Social Security Board combined to pressure the states having the most forward looking programs (chief among them California but also Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Wisconsin) to repeal their progressive laws. This supplied the immediate impetus for the formation of the Federation, but of course the momentum had been building for a generation. The event occurred at Wilkes-Barre on November 15 and 16, 1940, coincident with the convention of the Pennsylvania Federation of the Blind. In a letter to Dr. Perry dated November 19, 1940, Dr. tenBroek said in part: "The confab at Wilkes-Barre gave birth to an organization, the National Federation of the Blind-of which you, vicariously through me, are president. The long-range aims of the organization are the promotion of the economic and social welfare of the blind, and its immediate and specific aims are the sponsorship of the principle of Senate Bill 1766 and an amendment of the Social Security Act. "Seven states were represented at the organizational meeting-- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and California. We arrived in Wilkes-Barre in the middle of Friday afternoon.... "On Saturday morning, while the Pennsylvania state meeting was going on, I had several back-of-the-scenes conversations with Pennsylvania leaders.... In the afternoon... we drew up a skeleton constitution, which we presented to a meeting of all of the delegates to the national meeting, beginning about four o'clock and ending about the same time twelve hours later.... The meeting was interrupted at 5:30 in the afternoon long enough to give the other delegates a chance to eat dinner, and the Pennsylvania leader (Gayle Burlingame) and me a chance to appear on the local radio, where we lambasted hell out of the Social Security Board." On January 4, 1941, Dr. tenBroek wrote to Dr. Perry concerning the details of getting the new organization started. "With the National Federation of the Blind not yet two months old," he said, "its permanence is definitely assured. The factor guaranteeing that permanence is the closely knit nucleus composed of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California. We three have now had enough experience with each other to know that we can make a go of it.... We can add to this trilogy the state of Wisconsin. "I had a letter from Minnesota yesterday to the effect that they are ready to pay their assessment but that they wish assurance that Pennsylvania and California are also ready before they mail their check. I also had a letter from Pennsylvania stating that it is ready but wishes assurance that Minnesota and California are ready. I have written to both of these states requesting them to make out their checks, payable to the Treasurer of the National Federation, and to send them to me, with the stipulation that I shall not forward them to the Treasurer until I have the dues from each of the states of California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. Consequently, if California is ready, I suggest that you follow the same procedure...." But the new president did not limit himself to procedural matters. The Federation immediately assumed its present-day role of working to improve the quality of life for the nation's blind. In a letter to Dr. Perry dated March 15, 1941, President tenBroek described the efforts he had been making to get changes in the administration of public assistance to the blind. Here, in part, is what he said: "After a week in Washington I have more unsocial exchange to report than specific accomplishment.... Gradually working our way upward, Gayle Burlingame and I first presented our case to Jane Hoey, director of the Bureau of Public Assistance, and her associate, a lawyer named Cassius. Next we went to Oscar Powell, executive director of the Social Security Board; and finally to Paul V. McNutt, administrator of the Federal Security Agency. Hoey is simply another social worker of the familiar type but with a higher salary than most. Cassius has lost none of his qualities since Shakespeare described him, except that his wit has been sharpened by a little legal training. Powell is a very high caliber man with a fine sense of argumentative values, a considerable store of good nature, and unusual perception. He simply is not a believer in our fundamental assumptions. McNutt, on the other hand, is a lesser Hitler by disposition and makes our California social workers look like angels by comparison. "Hoey and Powell had argued that the new ruling of the Board did not necessarily result in a reduction of a recipient's grant by the amount of his earnings or other income. McNutt took the position that it did and, moreover, that it should. `Are you saying to us,' I asked McNutt, `that blind people should have their grants reduced no matter how small their private income and no matter how great their actual need?' His answer was that he was saying precisely that. I formulated the question in several other ways, only to get the same reply. I can't say that I wasn't glad to get this official declaration from McNutt since it provides us with an official declaration by the highest administrator of them all that ought to be of immense propagandistic value to us. Moreover, McNutt's conduct during the conference has provided us with the most perfect example of the arbitrary and tyrannical methods of the Board that we could hope to have. "In the remaining week that I shall stay in Washington, we shall attempt to carry our appeal to the last administrative step. Senator Downey of California and Senator Hughes of Delaware are attempting to secure for us appointments with Mrs. and President Roosevelt. "As things stand, the only course open to the blind of California is to urge the legislature to retain the blind aid act in its present form and tell the federal government to go to hell. Even if we can get a favorable amendment to the Social Security Act, it certainly will not be until after the California legislature adjourns." This is what Dr. tenBroek wrote in 1941, and although we have often said in this organization that the first task which the Federation faced after its founding was to help the blind of the nation get enough money for bare survival, I sometimes wonder if we have made the point with sufficient clarity to convey the desperation of it. The report which was prepared following the 1941 convention of the Federation in Milwaukee says in part: "Mr. Stephen Stanislevic of New York City reported as follows: 'The blind population of New York State is roughly estimated at 13,000. Of these, more than half are in New York City. A very small number of our people, a few hundred in all, are at present employed in sheltered industries, on government projects, at newsstands, or in miscellaneous enterprises. The majority depend for sustenance either upon private bounty or upon Social Security grants. The average monthly grant per individual is $27 in New York City and $23 in the up-state counties. This is the paltry pittance which the wealthiest state in our Union sees fit to dole out to those of its citizens who are blind.' "Mr. Hugh McGuire explained that in Indiana there are approximately 2,600 blind and that between 2,200 and 2,300 are drawing assistance with the monthly average of $20." That was forty-nine years ago, and much has happened in the interim. Not that it happened by chance, of course. Mostly we made it happen. How many times since 1940 has the National Federation of the Blind led the way in social reform in this country, not only for the blind but also for others? To mention only three examples, we pioneered exempt earnings for the recipients of public assistance; we pioneered fair hearing procedures in rehabilitation and other public programs; and we pioneered jobs for the disabled in government service. As I have already said, our first task as an organization was to initiate programs to enable the blind to get enough to eat. In 1940 and the decades immediately following, most of the blind of this country were desperately poor, and there were almost no government programs to help. When people are hungry, little else matters. Later (although many of us were still in poverty-and, for that matter, are now) we worked on rehabilitation and employment, and today we emphasize civil rights and equal participation in society. But essentially our role is what it has always been--seeing that blind people get equal treatment and a fair shake. It is not only in basics but also in detail that our operation today is often much the same as it was in past decades. Let me give you a rather specialized example. I have made a lot of banquet speeches at these conventions, and certain key ideas are central to them all. I can sum up the essentials in a few sentences. The real problem of blindness is not the blindness itself but what the members of the general public think about it. Since the agencies doing work with the blind are part of that general public, they are likely to possess the same misconceptions that are held by the broader society. The blind, too, are part of that broader society, and if we are not careful, we will accept the public view of our limitations and thus do much to make those limitations a reality. The blind are not psychologically or mentally different from the sighted. We are neither especially blessed nor especially cursed. We need jobs, opportunity, social acceptance, and equal treatment-not pity and custody. Only those elected by the blind can speak for the blind. This is not only a prime requisite of democracy but also the only way we can ever achieve first-class status. These are the essential points of every banquet speech I have ever made. The banquet speeches are meant to be widely circulated. They have the purpose of convincing those in work with the blind and the public at large that they should rethink their notions about blindness. They also have the purpose of stimulating our own members to increased activity and added vigor. Hopefully the speech will be sufficiently inspiring, entertaining, and literate to make people want to listen to it-and later (when it is distributed) to read it. The difficulty is that just about the same thing needs to be said every year, but it has to be restated so that the listeners (and ultimately the readers) will feel that it is different-and maybe even new. After a while, putting it all together becomes quite a problem. I don't think I ever talked about this matter with Dr. tenBroek, and I certainly did not attend the 1949 convention at Denver. With this background let me share some correspondence with you. Kingsley Price was a Californian, who became a college professor and was living in New York in the 1940s. In a letter dated April 8, 1949, Dr. tenBroek wrote to urge him to attend the Denver convention. "The problem does not arise," Dr. tenBroek said, "out of an unmixed desire to enjoy your company. I would like to get you to give the principal banquet address. This is something that I have not been able to dodge very often in the seven conventions that we have had. [Conventions were not held in the war years of 1943 and 1945.] The banquet address," Dr. tenBroek continued, "is a kind of focal point in which the problems of the blind, their peculiar needs with respect to public assistance, employment, and equal opportunity are formulated and presented both with an eye to rededicating and stimulating the blind persons present and an eye to enlightening and possibly converting the many sighted persons who have been invited to attend. For me, this has always been a job of rehashing and repeating certain central ideas. My imagination and new methods of statement have long since petered out. The next alternative is to get a new `stater.' This is what I would like you to be. "We would, of course, introduce you as a New Yorker since there are far too many Californians in the limelight as it is. We also, if we thought hard, could find one or two other chores about the convention for you to do. "Please think this matter over as long as you want, but let me have an immediate answer." Among other things, Dr. tenBroek obviously wanted to get Price to become more active in the movement, and he probably thought the banquet speech might be a way to do it. There has always been a tendency for the successful members of a minority to try to avoid involvement. The only trouble with this behavior is that it won't work. At an earlier period many blacks tried to straighten their hair and hide in white society, but then they realized that it was better to make it respectable to be black. The corollary, if I need to say it, (and every one of us had better know and understand it) is that it is respectable to be blind. That's what the National Federation of the Blind is all about. No blind person in this country is untouched by our successes or, for that matter, our failures-and no blind person can avoid identification with the rest of us. This is true regardless of how the blind person feels about it and regardless of how we feel about it. Blindness is a visible characteristic, and all of us are judged by each other whether we like it or not. The feeling I have toward those blind persons who try to hide in sighted society is not anger but pity-and, yes, I am talking about those who are regarded (and who regard themselves) as highly successful. When Professor Price replied to Dr. tenBroek, he said that he might be able to come but would probably do a bad job making the banquet speech. He should not have been deceived by the light tone of Dr. tenBroek's letter of invitation, for Federation presidents take banquet speeches seriously. In a letter dated April 21, 1949, Dr. tenBroek set him straight: Dear Kingsley: I am not now, nor on June 20th shall I be, in the least inclined to accept a bad job in the banquet address. If I were willing to accept a bad job, I can think of at least a hundred persons of assured competence to satisfy the requirement. The banquet address is the focal point of the whole meeting. It has come to be regarded as the most important thing that is done at a convention. Many people of influence in the community are invited to hear it. The Governor of the State often is present, and the occasion is used to give him instructions as to what his policy should be towards the blind. The address is expected to be of such a character that it can be published and circulated the nation over with some advantage to the blind. The address must be on the subject of the nature of the problems of blindness, and the discussion should be frank and forthright. Amplification of points by way of personal experience is always helpful and attractive. One conclusion that must always be reached is that the blind should speak for themselves because they are the only persons qualified to do so. I enclose a copy of my Baltimore address, which may give you an idea of what needs to be said. The same truths have to be retold, but the hope is that they will be dressed up in a new and fresh style, even to the point of appearing to be different truths. One further word: It may be that the address will be broadcast direct from the banquet hall. Consequently, both speech and delivery need to be well in hand. I hope these admonitions are solemn enough to convince you of the importance of doing a good job and yet not so solemn as to scare you away. We are desperately in need of a new voice and a new brain to do this job and a man from New York has geographical advantages as well. Cordially yours, In considering our past I am mindful of the fact that except for inspiration, perspective, and prediction, there is no purpose to the study of history. Certainly we can find inspiration in the lives of Warring Wilkinson, Newel Perry, and Jacobus tenBroek. Often in lonely isolation they worked for a distant future which they knew they would never see but which is our present. Using meager resources that they could ill-afford to spare, they fought to build a framework of opportunities and benefits which constitute the underpinning and foundation of what we have today. How can we be unmoved by their story? It speaks to us across the years-calling us to conscience, giving us strength for the battles ahead, reminding us of our heritage, and underscoring our duty to those who will follow. Yes, there is inspiration in our history, and it also gives us perspective. Otherwise we might become discouraged. Even today, with all of our work, more often than not when we come to one of these conventions and talk to the press, they assign their medical reporters to deal with us. They want to write stories about our guide dogs, the causes of blindness, and how capable we are because we can do the ordinary tasks of daily living, like cutting our food or finding our way. But the balances are shifting. Each year a few more reporters are beginning to understand that our story is not one of physical loss, or courage in the face of deprivation, but lack of opportunity and denial of civil rights. A perfect example is the recent story in the Wall Street Journal about the blind who are running their own businesses. It contains not a scrap of pity, nor a wasted word about those who (though blind) are valiantly struggling to earn a living. Of course, it contains drama-but it is the drama of a people fighting to rise to first-class status in a society which treats them like children and wonders why they object. Recently I went to the White House and talked with the President of the United States about the problems we are having with the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration. We are being excluded from exit row seats on airplanes, but year after year the Federal Aviation Administration has said that there is no issue of safety in our sitting there. Now (because of pressure by the airlines) they have changed their minds. As we have become painfully aware, the issue of seating is only one tiny part of an overall pattern of bullying and harassment which blind persons face today in air travel. The difficulty which always confronts us when we try to discuss this issue is the talk we get about compassion and how commendable it is that we are trying to be independent-all of which is a bunch of nonsense. If we pose a hazard in exit row seats, we shouldn't sit there-and we wouldn't want to. If we don't pose a hazard in exit row seats, then we have as much right to sit there as anybody else, and to try to make us move is an infringement of our civil rights. In either case compassion has nothing to do with it. When I tried to convey these ideas to President Bush, his response made it clear that he had been thoroughly briefed-and by somebody who hadn't the faintest idea about the issues. In answer to my question the President said that if there was no evidence that we constituted a greater hazard than others in exit row seats, he would put an end to the rule if he had the power to do so-which, of course, he has. I wasn't very hopeful about the outcome because of two things. President Bush kept avoiding the word blind, gingerly referring to us as the non-sighted, and he said that Secretary of Transportation Skinner had personally tested an airplane door to see whether an individual without sight could open it-which is comparable to my going (with my lack of experience) to a hospital to see what can be done with surgical instruments. The President assigned his lawyer, Boyden Gray, to look into the matter and get back to me. The results were what might have been expected. Mr. Gray did not talk to us, nor did he look at the video tape of our test evacuation of an airplane. Instead, he talked with Secretary of Transportation Skinner, who told him that we constituted a safety hazard- which data he ceremonially transmitted to me. So was it just an exercise in futility? Not at all. This is where perspective helps. In 1940 Dr. tenBroek was not able even to get a hearing from President Roosevelt even though two United States senators tried to help him do it. Moreover, my talk with President Bush was only one brief skirmish in our long airline fight, and the history of our past efforts tells us that we will ultimately win. It is true that Dr. tenBroek did not get to talk with President Roosevelt, but it is also true that most of the Social Security reforms for which he fought have been adopted-and mostly they have been adopted through the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind. Likewise, we lost the recent motion to cut off debate on our airline bill in the United States Senate, but we had fifty-six votes. And when has any other group in the blindness field ever been able to bring a bill of its own to the floor of the United States Senate and have it be the pending business of that body for several days? Never-and never with the number of votes we mustered. Again, this was only a single skirmish in an individual battle in a long war-a war which has been going on for more than a century, a war which we are winning, and a war which we intend to finish. Yes, our history provides us with both inspiration and perspective-and it also gives us the basis for prediction. Of course, no individual can be sure of what will happen tomorrow, but I feel absolutely certain that this organization will continue to grow and lead the way in improving the quality of life for the blind. The outward appearance of the issues may shift, but the basics will not change-not until we have achieved equal treatment and first-class status in society. And we will achieve it. In examining our past I have not attempted to assess my own role and contributions. How could I? I have been too close, loved too deeply, put too much of my life into the process. All I can say is this: When Dr. tenBroek was dying, I made certain pledges to him. I have tried to keep those pledges. I shall always try to keep them. And when in 1986 I thought the time had come that the movement would best be served by my leaving the presidency, I did it. The decision was not easy, but I think it was right. I believe that President Maurer was the best person we could have chosen for the position and that he will lead this organization into the twenty- first century-stronger, more vibrant, and more committed than it has ever been. And there is something more: I think the new generation that is on the horizon will provide leaders and members who will be present fifty years from now when we meet for our hundredth anniversary. We must never forget our history; we must never dishonor our heritage; we must never abandon our mission. With love for each other and faith in our hearts we must go the rest of the way to equal status and first-class membership in society. Let us march together to meet the future. FOOTNOTES 1. All of the material concerning Dr. Perry except what I got from my own discussions with him is taken from "Newel Perry: Teacher of Youth and Leader of Men," by Jacobus tenBroek, Braille Monitor, February, 1976. The quotes from Dr. tenBroek are taken from letters in the files of the National Federation of the Blind. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kane Brolin] Taking Stock in One Another: How Barclays Bank Is Helping the Disabled Invest in Our Future by Kane Brolin >From the Editor: Kane Brolin is a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana and is a certified financial planner practitioner. In this article he speaks to those investors who are not only interested in a way to invest their money but who want to invest in a fund that considers their values and beliefs. Here is what he has to say: I have always found the story of the mythical ancient Greek King Sisyphus both disturbing and apropos as a figure for what it feels like to struggle in the world. In a story familiar to most who have been through literature classes in high school, after his death this king is forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch the boulder roll back down- thus having to repeat the same futile task over and over for eternity. What I did not know until I looked up details on this story is that Sisyphus's frustrating fate was reserved for him as a punishment for chronic deceitfulness. It's not hard to feel pity for Sisyphus-not just for the impossibility of his assigned task, but for the fact that he is doomed forever to repeat it, with no relief or resolution. Similarly, when the subject of disability-especially blindness-comes up in polite conversation among people at large, it seems that pity remains their most common response even today. And, while most wouldn't admit it, I have the distinct feeling that in the back of their minds many who consider themselves "able- bodied" still wonder whose fault it is when they see someone carrying a white cane, sitting in a wheelchair, or obviously struggling with a cognitive challenge. Note the disciples' first question to Jesus in the Gospel of St. John when they were confronted with a man who had been blind since birth: "His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'" Of course, we who actually are facing a persistent physical challenge such as blindness often do come to realize that it is not a fate worse than death, as some might imagine-that its impact can be reduced to that of a nuisance. But even a blind person who has developed a measure of confidence and productivity such as me can sometimes feel a lot like Sisyphus, especially when I look at unemployment figures for blind adults in the United States, which never seem to get much better. Cornell University reports that among non-institutionalized Americans between ages twenty-one and sixty-four with a visual disability, regardless of gender or ethnic background, 62.25 percent (or roughly five out of every eight) were still unemployed in 2012. In fact, one learns from these researchers' statistics that 54.6 percent of working-age blind adults in America (1,795,000 people) were not even in the labor force-thus, weren't even attempting to get work. Yet we can take heart in the knowledge that things are changing. Of those blind people who have cracked the employment barrier, more and more of us seem to be getting significant work as specialists in our chosen disciplines. Thanks to the pioneering work of Anne Cunningham and some of those connected with E.A.S.Y. LLC's tactile graphics revolution, this even includes the graphic arts. But imagine my surprise when I discovered this past winter that one of the most prominent financial institutions in the world has come up with a way for us to invest in firms who honor and serve disabled people. According to Wikipedia, Barclays is the seventh-largest bank in the world, with assets totaling $2.42 trillion at the end of 2011. Barclays reported net income of 845 million British pounds in the year 2014-about $1.3 billion in US terms. Barclays is so big, in fact, that it sponsors the English Premier League of professional soccer. So Barclays is unlikely to make business decisions based on goodwill alone, and certainly it does not base its activities on pity, either. What is my point? Simply that disabled people worldwide have become a formidable enough force that Barclays has decided to offer an investment to the public reflecting the one hundred publicly traded companies who best honor and serve them. On September 10 of last year, Barclays released to the investing public a new exchange-traded note based on the Return on Disability Index. Traded under the ticker symbol RODI, it is available using NYSE Arca, an electronic trading platform owned by the New York Stock Exchange and available through most brokerage firms and discount trading platforms. The Return on Disability Indices were created by and are managed by Fifth Quadrant Analytics, based in the Greater New York City area. They have created an index of one hundred US-based companies, and another consisting of fifty companies based in Canada. According to Fifth Quadrant's literature, these indices "are designed to capture the shareholder value creation indicated by publically traded firms acting in the global market of disability. Companies in the RODI are considered by Fifth Quadrant to be the top-ranked firms in disability with respect to creation of shareholder value." A white paper published in the year 2012 by Fifth Quadrant puts this into plainer English: "A Market the Size of China representing a population of 1.1 billion people with disabilities (PWD) are an emerging market the size of China[sic]. Their friends and family add another 1.9 billion potential consumers that act on their emotional connection to PWD. Together, they control over $9 trillion in annual disposable income globally. Companies and governments seeking new ways to create value for stakeholders must begin acting to attract this newly unleashed cohort." Bottom line: The world is beginning to recognize that disabled people have substantial buying power and earning power-enough to have a profound influence on global markets. On Barclays's website, one can gain some insight into how Fifth Quadrant screens the companies that are to comprise the Return on Disability Index: the index uses a quantitative ranking methodology to measure a company's publicly-observable activities relating to people with disabilities across three key areas: talent, customer, and productivity. This ranking methodology focuses on elements that have the potential to increase shareholder value in a company, such as using best practices for attracting and hiring candidates with disabilities, focusing on "ease of use" features in products and services, and implementing productivity- focused process improvements driven by people with disabilities. The phrase "disability market" refers to the 1.3 billion people globally who face challenges across three general areas-dexterity, cognition, or sensory abilities-as well as their friends and family. The index notionally tracks the returns that may be available from investing in a basket of up to one hundred stocks that are selected pursuant to the Return on Disability? Binary Ranking (the "RoD Ranking"), and meet certain market capitalization, trading volume, and financial viability thresholds. So which companies make up the RODI? At last report, Bloomberg cited firms covering a surprisingly wide array of industries. Represented in this index were firms such as Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Humana, Inc.; 3M Company; IBM; The Boeing Corporation; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Chevron Corporation; Capital One Financial Corporation; Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.; and even Carnival Corporation (operator of the cruise line). Clearly enough evidence exists to make a strong case that disabled communities in the developed world have become a force to be reckoned with in both the marketplace and the workplace. But if you're an investor considering the purchase of RODI as a component of your portfolio, is it a wise decision? This article is not meant to give an absolute answer to that question. What's more, an absolute answer does not exist, since your tolerance for the risks associated with this kind of alternative investment will be different from your neighbor's. But the following points are worth keeping in mind: Investing in RODI is not the same as investing in stocks. While the RODI has been developed to track a basket of stocks from companies whose policies favor disabled consumers and employees, it is not possible for anyone to invest directly in this or any other index. The product Barclays has created for retail investors is an exchange-traded note (ETN) that really is structured more like a bond than like a stock. RODI was introduced to the public with a par value of $50 per unit, and it has a maturity date of September 17, 2024. What's more, the value of an ETN depends somewhat on the health of the lending sector in the economy, not just on the fortune of the specific stocks which make up the basis of the underlying index. "ETNs can track the performance of anything from indexes to commodity futures to foreign currencies. In this way they resemble ETFs [exchange-traded funds]. However, while ETFs invest in securities to allow them to track the underlying benchmark, ETNs do not actually own what they are tracking. ... The value of ETNs is determined by several factors. The two primary elements affecting ETN value are the performance of the underlying benchmark and the credit rating of the issuer. For example, if an ETN is tracking an index, and the index is staying level but the issuing bank's creditworthiness comes into question, the ETN would likely lose value." The subtleties of ETN products lie far beyond the scope of this article, but before investing you should download and read the prospectus for RODI or any other ETN thoroughly before deciding to invest. Fact sheets and prospectus for all of Barclays's BARX Investor Solutions ETNs can be downloaded as accessible PDFs from . Alternatively, the reader can phone Barclays's Equity and Fund Structured Market Solutions hotline at (212) 528-7990 or send an email to . RODI is a very thinly traded product. This means that on most days, no one on the entire NYSE Arca platform is buying or selling this ETN at all. No trades whatsoever were made in February, March, and April of 2015. The official market price has gone up from the original $50-per-unit par value to $60.66 as I write this article on May 26, but no trades were made between May 11 and May 26, 2015. For this reason, in the event you should try to purchase it, it is most effective to put in a limit order-that is, specifying a particular number of shares that you are willing to purchase at a pre-stated maximum price. This makes it more likely the market will respond to you in a way you are prepared to live with. As the owner of RODI or another semi-liquid issue like it, you might not be able to get out right away under terms that would make you happy. So don't risk money that you know you may need to meet essential expenses in your life in the coming weeks. If you do, then you might be forced to sell out at a loss, depending on the mood of the market on the day you have to divest. In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I mention that I work in the securities industry, serving as the registered representative of a nationally recognized broker/dealer. This means that I directly manage money for clients and have the ability to purchase, sell, and advise on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, and other instruments-including exchange-traded notes. As of this writing, I and one of my clients have purchased a combined total of 160 units in RODI, and we have no immediate plans to sell them. While I am invested both emotionally and financially in this product, I have been given no monetary incentive to purchase this note for myself or for any clients, and no one has solicited me to write this article or has paid me for doing so. Finally, keep in mind that neither the Return on Disability Index nor the exchange-traded note it inspired are focused specifically on blind people. Neither Fifth Quadrant Analytics nor Barclays Bank, PLC is committed specifically to the policies and programs of the National Federation of the Blind. So buying units of RODI surely is no replacement for contributing to your Federation's state affiliate or for making regular payments into the Pre-Authorized Contribution plan. But it is an impressive way in which a huge, globally respected purveyor of investment and banking products has called the attention of the stock and bond investors to the growing influence of persons who live the life they want while dealing with significant challenges that involve dexterity, cognition, or sensory perception. Thank you to Barclays Bank, PLC, and its subsidiaries for recognizing that disability does not mean disempowerment and for presenting this truth to the marketplace. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Cheryl Echevarria with her husband Nelson] Don't Ruin Healthy Eating When You Travel by Cheryl Echevarria From the Editor: Cheryl Echevarria is the president of the National Federation of the Blind Travel and Tourism Division and also vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of New York's Greater Long Island Chapter. In 2012 she was selected by Governor Andrew Cuomo as the Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year. She and her husband Nelson operate Echevarria Travel. I've noticed that, as people become more conscious of how food affects their health, leaving home can sometimes present challenges for those who want to keep eating well, who want to avoid illness, or who have certain food restrictions. Here are some great tips from other seasoned travelers on how to enjoy your culinary adventures without compromising how great you want to feel. I'd love to know what other tricks or tips you have for eating well on the go. Send us your ideas to put on the NFB Travel and Tourism website at . To help avoid trouble with eating well when you travel, try these tips: One of the best parts of travel is getting to taste and savor all kinds of new and delicious foods, whether you're driving across the state or flying across the world. And without a doubt it's fun to let go a little and eat things you wouldn't normally eat during a week at home-that's part of the freedom and excitement of being on vacation. But we all know the feeling when we've had way too much for too many days in a row: the lack of energy, the bloating, the dehydration, the headaches, the hangovers, the pronounced jet lag, and the increased susceptibility to illness. All of these things can really get in the way of maximizing your travel enjoyment. And, if you're someone with food restrictions, a diabetic like me, you know the added frustration of trying to find good food that will be good to and for you. The great news is that it's easier than ever to make the kinds of food choices that will keep you healthy and energized while you're away from home and varying from your usual routine. Here are some simple ways to eat adventurously and well while you're enjoying the best moments of your trip: 1. Plan ahead. Often when we're traveling, we're out of our routine and aren't eating at regular intervals. Sometimes we can go several hours without eating anything. Contrary to the popular myth that you should hold off eating to save room for a big meal, going for long stretches without eating actually slows metabolism and causes your body to become sluggish and tired and to hang on to calories. Our bodies experience this food deprivation as mini-starvation, and this sends our brain into panic mode. To keep blood sugar stable and avoid energy lapses (which can then lead to overcompensating with high-sugar or fried foods), aim for eating a little bit every couple of hours while in transit and while you're out and about. Eat foods that are nutrient-dense and high in lean protein. Pack snacks for easy access: nuts, seeds, hard-boiled eggs, firm fruits (such as apples), veggies, hummus, or natural fruit-and-nut bars. If you know where you're staying, scout out restaurants in the area. Check with your hotel or resort to peruse menus and see what's available. Once you arrive, you can use an app like AroundMe (1) to locate healthier restaurants in your area. Check out these smartphone apps that can help you find gluten-and other allergen-free options while you travel (2). 2. Don't forget the grocery store. A supermarket, especially a local co-op, can be your best ally while traveling. You'll have easy, cheap access to fresh produce and healthy snacks. You'll find a wider variety of great foods that are free of gluten, dairy, and other common allergens at a reasonable cost. Plus many co-ops also have a deli, where you can get delicious sandwiches, salads, or wraps to take with you during the day. 3. Your mother was right: get your greens and take your vitamins. While you're traveling, your immune system is exposed to many new pathogens- especially on airplanes and other forms of mass transit. Make sure your body has what it needs to stay healthy, fight germs, and process toxins. Don't forget to pack your multivitamin and other supplements. If you can't get ready access to fresh greens, consider getting some powdered greens that you can bring and easily mix into a glass of water or a morning smoothie. 4. Speaking of morning smoothies-if you're really dedicated to getting your daily intake of fruits and veggies, you might even consider bringing along a travel blender (3). This might seem extreme to some, but consider this: most travel blenders are under $20, fit easily into a suitcase, and are easily put into the back of the car. This can be just the thing to make a power breakfast of fruits, nuts, and vegetables quickly that will keep you going all morning. 5. Drink more water than you normally do. Planes and hotel rooms are notoriously dry. Walking around all day expends energy and dehydrates your body. Often people drink alcohol or sodas with meals, and these are also dehydrating. Drinking more than your usual eight glasses of water a day will keep you energized, hydrate your cells, keep your skin glowing, and help flush out toxins. 6. Drink less alcohol than everyone around you is drinking. This can be challenging, especially on business trips, where drinking is a familiar pastime. But, in addition to worsening dehydration and jet lag, tossing back more than two drinks leads to more unhealthy eating. A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men take in an extra 433 calories on average from alcohol and food when they consume more than two drinks. 7. Try to get your eight hours of beauty rest-easier said than done, I know! But getting decent rest helps steady your metabolism, resets your adrenal system, and boosts your immunity. Being sufficiently rested will make every other choice you face on your vacation much easier. 8. Try the "one-and-done" rule. Let yourself have treats, and enjoy them-just keep it to once a day. Get that gorgeous piece of chocolate cake. Have an extra helping of steak fries. Order the thing that's generously doused with butter, and love every single bite. Then be done with the less- than-healthy food, and remember that you always have another day for that one little indulgence. References: 1. 2. 3. . ---------- Recipes This month's recipes are from the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. These recipes are from the NFBU's Project STRIVE "Cooking without Looking" program. The STRIVE in Project STRIVE stands for Successful Transition Requires Independence, Vocation, and Education. Successful Spaghetti Sauce While this recipe is fantastic, it became a "Success" when STRIVE participant Tynysha added half a bottle of parmesan and over half a bottle of Italian seasoning to it. Fantastic soon became totally yummolicious! Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (we used 1 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound ground sausage) 1 large onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 6-ounce cans tomato paste 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce 1 14 1/2-ounce can stewed tomatoes 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup water Method: Brown the meat in a large heavy-bottomed pot, then drain off the fat. Add the onion, green pepper, and garlic and saut? until the onion is tender, about five minutes. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, seasonings, and water. Simmer for thirty minutes. Let cool. The sauce will keep for several days covered and refrigerated. Serve over spaghetti or your favorite pasta. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Barbie Elliott] Transition Peach Cobbler by Barbie Elliott The butter and batter start out below the fruit, but by the end the fruit sinks, and the batter rises to the top. This "Transition" truly makes this peach dessert a tasty treat. Our co-director and Utah's Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DSBVI) home management instructor, Barbie Elliott, shared her expertise in creating this scrumdeliyumtuous dish. Ingredients: 1 stick butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 1 tablespoon baking powder Pinch salt 1 cup milk 1 large can sliced peaches in heavy syrup (I use 4 cups fresh sliced peaches) Cinnamon and nutmeg in 2 tablespoons of sugar (optional) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is preheating, melt one stick of butter in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Mix flour and sugar well. Add milk to flour and sugar mixture, and stir well so that it is not lumpy. Pour milk, flour, and sugar mixture over butter, be careful not to pour too quickly because it works best if you do not spread it but pour evenly over the top of the butter. Arrange peaches evenly on top of batter. Mix two tablespoons sugar and spices in a small bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture over the top of peaches. This step is optional; some prefer the cobbler without the extra sugar. Cook until crust is lightly brown; dough will rise to form a crust over the top of the peaches. Enjoy. ---------- Lava Cakes by Tara Briggs This recipe was taught by Project STRIVE and former DSBVI Braille and home management instructor Tara Briggs. She says it is best when you follow all requirements, especially using silicone cupcake pans. Tara also submitted this recipe and the next recipe for our Project STRIVE Cupcake Wars. Ingredients: 3 eggs 3 egg yolks 6 tablespoons sugar 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate 3/4 cups butter, chopped in small pieces 6 tablespoons flour Method: Melt chopped butter and chocolate together for sixty seconds. Stir the butter and chocolate and continue to melt in microwave for thirty seconds at a time until mixture is melted. Mix eggs, egg yolks, and sugar for five minutes. Add chocolate and butter and mix. Add flour a tablespoon at a time. If you are using an electric mixer, be sure to pour the flour into the middle of the beaters and then mix. Spoon batter into silicone cupcake pan and bake for twelve to fourteen minutes at 350 degrees. Yields twelve cakes. ---------- Independence Lemon Strawberry Cheese Cupcakes by Tara Briggs After four teams shopped for ingredients, the Project STRIVE Cupcake Wars were ON! Guest judges rated the finished products in the areas of flavor, texture, creativity, appearance, and clean-up of work station. A dedicated and determined team won with this deYUMMcious recipe, using strawberry tops with stems as garnish on their presentation platter. Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 8 ounces softened cream cheese (not light) 1 tablespoon lemon juice Vanilla wafers Foil cupcake liners Strawberry pie filling Fresh strawberries Method: Beat sugar, eggs, and cream cheese together until smooth. Place one vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each cupcake liner and fill half full with batter. Bake for fifteen minutes at 350 degrees. Cool in refrigerator, then top with drizzled-on pie filling and fresh strawberries. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marla Palmer] Vocation Creamy White Chicken Chili by Marla Palmer For some of us this recipe is forever attached to our first Successful Futures Seminar/Career Fair. We were well fed by hearing from our own Kristen Cox. Incidentally, she negotiated our funding through Utah's Department of Workforce Services. We were further filled by the experience and hands-on activity with a local blind mechanic, as well as by taking the opportunity to participate in mock job interviews. This recipe nourished us, as did the woman who submitted it. Marla Palmer, our program's original director, started the tradition that is now a favorite training recipe for students at DSBVI. Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken 1 medium onion 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon oil 2 cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained 1 can chicken broth 2 4-ounce cans green chilies 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup whipping cream Method: Saut? chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for thirty minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and cream and serve. ---------- Education: The Meat Doneness Touch Test by Willie Black Just in time for summer grilling. So maybe this isn't a recipe, but it's a great tool. This technique was taught at our very first "Cooking without Looking," and subsequent activities, by our very own Project STRIVE instructor and BEP manager, Willie Black. Besides the obvious, how can you know that your meat is raw? Open the palm of your hand. Relax the hand. Take the index finger of your other hand and push on the fleshy area between the thumb and the base of the palm. This is what raw meat feels like. (Test this the next time you have a raw steak to cook.) How can you know if your meat is well done? Now gently press the tip of your pinky and your thumb together. Again feel the fleshy area below the thumb. It should feel quite firm. This is what well-done meat feels like when you press on it. (Test this the next time you overcook a piece of meat.) How can you know if your meat is medium? Press the tip of your ring finger and your thumb together. The flesh beneath the thumb should give a little more. This is what meat cooked to a medium doneness feels like. How can you know if your meat is medium rare? Gently press the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb. This is medium-rare. How can you know if your meat is rare? Press the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb. The fleshy area below the thumb should give quite a bit. This is what meat cooked to rare feels like. Open your palm again and compare raw to rare. Adapted from . ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Virginia Legislature Commends NFB on Seventy-Five Years of Service to the Blind: INTRODUCED HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 914 Offered February 23, 2015 Commending the National Federation of the Blind. Patrons--Cole, Howell and Minchew; Senators: Howell and Reeves WHEREAS, in 2015, the National Federation of the Blind celebrates its 75th anniversary as the oldest and largest organization in the United States led by blind people, bringing them together to work collectively to improve their lives; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) was founded in 1940; its first logo featured the words "Security, Equality, and Opportunity," all of which were pressing needs for the nation's blind people; and WHEREAS, in the early days, the leaders of the NFB focused on those three goals by working to help blind people live independently, have equal opportunity in employment, and have equal access to housing, transportation, and places of public accommodation; and WHEREAS, the philosophy of the NFB is that a person's blindness should not be the characteristic that defines his future; the organization works to raise the expectations of the nation's blind people so that they can live the lives they want; and WHEREAS, a network of local chapters, state affiliates, and nationwide divisions make up the NFB; the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia, which is one of fifty-two affiliates, has fifteen chapters throughout the Commonwealth; and WHEREAS, the Virginia chapter of the NFB also consists of several divisions that focus on specific areas of interest to blind persons, including divisions for students, parents, and merchants; the Virginia chapter also has a deaf-blind division and additionally, it sponsors an association to promote the use of Braille; and WHEREAS, as the leading force for the nation's blind people and the voice of the nation's blind, the NFB and its Virginia chapter improves lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs that encourage independence and self-confidence; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the National Federation of the Blind on the occasion of its 75th anniversary as the oldest and largest organization in the United States led by blind people, bringing them together to work collectively to improve their lives; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Michael Kasey, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia, as an expression of the General Assembly's respect and admiration for the organization's tireless work on behalf of blind people. NFB-NEWSLINE Adds New Magazines: For all those aspiring and accomplished cooks out there, NFB-NEWSLINE is happy to announce the addition of two magazines to our service. Meredith Corporation has recently provided access to Diabetic Living and Allrecipes magazines. And, for our technophiles, we have added AppleInsider and Android Central to Breaking News. Diabetic Living is the largest and most active media brand for people living with diabetes. This magazine offers inspirational stories, heartfelt communications, encouraging information, and extraordinary advice for people diagnosed with diabetes and their loved ones. Food is at the heart of Diabetic Living because "what to eat?" is the number one question asked by people with diabetes and their caregivers. That's why all recipes are tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen and feature complete nutritional information including serving size, carb count, and diabetic changes. Guided by our independent advisory board of national health professionals, Diabetic Living is dedicated to providing action-oriented information to help consumers improve their quality of life. In a world of unlimited recipe choices, Allrecipes magazine sifts through and serves up the best from Allrecipes.com, the world's largest online community of cooks. Combining our digital insights and editorial expertise, Allrecipes shares recipes from the people, for your people, with ratings, reviews and motivation to make it your own. It's guaranteed that, when you cook what they cook, you'll get your own five-star reviews. To find these two exciting new magazines using the telephone access method, log into NFB-NEWSLINE, choose 7 for Magazines off the main menu, and search for them under All Magazines Alphabetically, or under General Interest. And remember, you can easily press #9 to email articles to your inbox, which is a great way to refer back to the recipes you'll find in these magazines. To find these publications using the web or your iPhone, you can search for them alphabetically under publications. For those wanting to keep up with the ever-changing technology out there, we're also adding AppleInsider and Android Central. AppleInsider launched in 1997 and quickly grew to become one of the internet's premier sources of information for all things Apple. Each day you'll find the most in-depth coverage and analysis of the latest Apple rumors and insider news surrounding the company, its partners, and adversaries. Android Central was launched in September of 2008 under the guidance of Dieter Bohn (now with The Verge), with Casey Chan (now with Gizmodo) at the helm. A little more than a year later, current editor-in-chief Phil Nickinson left an eleven- year career with a daily newspaper in Pensacola, Florida, to head Android Central full-time. The site saw exponential growth alongside Android and soon became the go-to resource for scoops, reviews, videos, and podcasts. In February 2010 Android Central was named one of PC World's "Fifty Smartphone Blogs to Watch." Both of these dynamic technology publications can be found using the telephone access method by pressing 5 off the main menu and then selecting 1 for Breaking News, or alphabetically by name using the iPhone or web access methods. Cancer Survivors to Meet at NFB National Convention: The NFB Cancer Survivors Support Group will hold its meeting at the seventy-fifth National Convention in Orlando, Florida. We're looking forward to meeting all cancer survivors and supporters. Join us in helping cancer survivors get well, stay well, share preventive measures, and provide accessibility to information that may enhance the lives of all cancer survivors. Our meeting will take place on July 7 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. in room W202B on level two of the convention center, across from the exhibit hall. We are here for one another-come, help, and be helped. Pen Pal Wanted: Hello everybody. My name is Valentina Ermolaeva. I am from Russia. I love English language. I want to learn and improve English. I would like to find pen friends from the USA. In return I can help them study Russian language. Please contact me on Skype: or email me at: . In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Now Accepting Applications for 2016 Ski Season: Sierra Regional Ski for Light (SRSFL) < www.srsfl.org> is accepting applications for the 2016 ski season at Tahoe Donner Cross Country in Truckee, California. SRSFL offers guided cross country skiing and snow shoeing for blind and visually impaired children and adults. Each skier and snowshoer is matched with a trained guide. SRSFL welcomes beginners to advanced skiers. Scholarships are available. Call one of the leaders below for more information and to sign up. 2016 ski schedules: Saturday Day Trips: January 23, sign-up deadline January 16 February 6, sign-up deadline January 30 April 7, sign-up deadline March 26 Please contact Betsy Rowell by phone at (916) 362-5557, or by email at < betsy.rowell2 at gmail.com>. Twenty-Fourth Annual Three-day Event (adults only): Saturday, March 5 through Monday, March 7, 2016. Lodging will be at the Best Western in Truckee, California. Skiing will be at Tahoe Donner Cross Country, Truckee, California. We recommend lodging at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Rancho Cordova Friday night for out-of-town participants. Please contact Cindy Quintana by phone at (510) 483-2948 or by email at . Resource Handbooks for Five States Available: I have created five screen-reader-friendly resource handbooks containing resources pertaining to the blind and visually impaired for use by consumers and professionals. This handbook is for the residents of specific states and includes the many organizations for the blind and visually impaired covering areas such as employment, housing, transportation, and more. Currently the handbooks are for Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, and Hawaii. The handbooks include contact information on the local, regional, and national level. For more information on pricing and formats please contact Insightful Publications by email at , by phone at (808) 747-1006, or by visiting for more information on pricing, formats available, and state resource handbook order form. New Newsletter The Blind Perspective: Have you ever desired a newsletter where everything is from a blind perspective-a newsletter that is loaded with informative articles such as interviews with the movers and shakers of the blind community, modern and future technologies, book reviews on already existing audio books, or even crafts that are specifically tailored to being blind friendly? You may need to search for a Braille device or sell an electronic gadget. We have the perfect venue to advertise the sale or the desire for such unique items. Wait no more! Here is a new and exciting newsletter. It will be distributed through email as an attachment at the beginning of each month. Even more exciting is that it will not cost you a penny. It is completely free to its subscribers. If you want to add your name to the email distribution list (and be assured we will not use your email for any other reason than to send you the monthly newsletter), send an email to with the word "subscribe" in the subject line, and we will add you to the email list. Feel free to go to for periodical updates and developing news as it happens. Be plugged into The Blind Perspective, where we aim to keep you entertained and informed! Monitor Mart The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. Trekker Breeze GPS for Sale: This one-year-old Trekker Breeze made by HumanWare would be perfect for someone who has low vision or who is blind and finds it difficult to get to specific places independently, but does not want to get a smartphone. I am asking $400 Canadian plus shipping. For more information please email Matthew Hoare at . ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Wed Sep 2 23:50:56 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2015 23:50:56 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, August/September 2015 Message-ID: <201509030650.t836ou0g006547@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 8 August/September 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark A. Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 58, No. 8 August/September 2015 Contents Illustration: Not All Business at Convention The 2015 Convention Roundup by Gary Wunder Presidential Report 2015 by Mark A. Riccobono Awards Presented at the 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind Meet the 2015 Scholarship Class of the National Federation of the Blind The Federation at Seventy-Five: The Determination of Value and the Reflection of Hope by Mark A. Riccobono The 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind: A Personal Reflection by Marc Maurer The Blind of the World: Spreading the Federation Message by Fredric K. Schroeder The Impact of the Organized Blind Movement: Perspectives from a Friend and Champion in the Maryland Legislature by Brooke Lierman Adjusting Attitudes: A Landmark Victory in the Iowa Supreme Court by Aaron Cannon 3DPhotoWorks Helps Commemorate History of the Organized Blind by Anna Kresmer Special Commemorative Jewelry and More by Jeannie Massay We Can Bank On It: The Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence and the Future presented by Randy Rice Resolutions from the Diamond Convention by Sharon Maneki Convention Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: A friendly hand of poker at Monte Carlo night] [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Erickson and Connie Urban prove it don't mean a thing if you've got a cane, you can still swing!] [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono and his wife Melissa cut a rug on the dance floor.] Not All Business at Convention A lot of serious business happens at national conventions: elections are held, both for the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors, and for many of the divisions of the NFB. Resolutions are proposed, discussed, and voted on during the convention. And lots of money is handed out in awards and scholarships to those deemed worthy by the committees that present them. But convention isn't all serious business. Convention is also a chance for friends from across the country to meet in person and have some fun together. This convention will always be special to Giovanni Francese and Mary Kay Jorgensen for it was there that they became engaged. Wednesday, July 8, was an evening for such fun and social activity. The National Association of Blind Students hosted a Monte Carlo night, and the seven original state affiliates hosted the Diamond Anniversary Ball. The 2015 Convention Roundup by Gary Wunder No convention in modern times has been as anticipated as the seventy- fifth convention of the National Federation of the Blind. We have planned for it through the appointment of a diamond anniversary committee, engaged in the first joint hosting of a convention in my memory if not the history of the organization, and added to the excitement by planning to break a world record. What words might we use to characterize the 2015 NFB National Convention: how about anticipation, participation, celebration, and rededication? Meetings began on Sunday, July 5, and the morning, afternoon, and evening were packed full of program items for people of all ages and interests. The National Organization of Parents of Blind Children hosted what might modestly be called a mini convention, and the theme was Crafting Your Diamonds: The Four C's of Bringing up Blind Children. And what are those four Cs? They are competence, confidence, creativity, and community. The keynote address delivered to the parents division by its president, Carlton Walker, will appear in an upcoming issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: President Riccobono speaks to the children] But before that keynote address was given, President Riccobono came to the meeting and sat on the floor to chat with the children. He talked with them about the special celebration that would occur because of our seventy-fifth anniversary, told them how the diamond was the symbol for this event, and explained that these children were all diamonds, created to shine. He said that the most important work of the Federation was to see that they had every opportunity to become all that they can be and to shine like the finest diamonds. He said that, when they are more than four feet tall, they will be asked to start taking on the responsibilities involved in Federation leadership and the work of the organization. After that moving introduction he asked if there were questions, and the very first was "Do you like lobster?" "Eating them or playing with them?" he asked, without missing a beat. Other questions followed, such as how one could find her friends in a crowded place, how to make friends in high school, and what President Riccobono was going to do when he became the president of the United States. To this latter question he said that he had no plans to run for that office but that he believed one day a blind person should run for it and that many of us should be found in the halls of Congress. President Riccobono's interaction with the children and his answers to their questions revealed a leader who is kind; humorous; and, without being preachy, a teacher. It was clear to all that our new president likes children, is accustomed to their questions, and projects the warmth and kindness that interest and inspires these young people. On Sunday evening at 8:00 p.m. first-time conventioneers attended the Rookie Roundup, a meeting offering an opportunity to learn about what would happen in the week to follow, to meet veteran NFB members, and to meet the leadership of the organization. Immediate Past President Maurer spoke encouragingly to the group, and many got to meet him for the first time. President Riccobono also offered his greetings and stayed to circulate among the crowd. But the person who stole the show was the First Lady of the Federation, Melissa Riccobono, as she talked about being a blind person, her family, and the fact that she is a blind parent raising two blind children. She made it clear that, while she has certainly been and continues to be a leader, first and foremost she is a member, and those who listened felt the sincerity, love, and compassion she warmly represents. Monday morning began with a special time for sponsor-level exhibitors. Many members came to the exhibit hall both to say thank you for the support of the National Federation of the Blind that these exhibitor- level sponsors had demonstrated and to take advantage of the specials offered to honor the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind. Sponsors of our diamond anniversary convention were: Accessibility Champions: Google and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. Corporate Volunteerism: UPS Platinum: Delta Airlines, Target Gold: Uber Silver: AT&T, Freedom Scientific, H&R Block, HumanWare, and Pearson Bronze: Chris Park Technology Designs White Cane: 3D PhotoWorks LLC, Ai Squared, BAUM USA, En-Vision America, HIMS Inc., Learning Ally, Onix Networking, and VitalSource Technologies Our generous sponsors contributed just over half a million dollars to our work, and for this we are tremendously grateful. Monday afternoon began with a session titled "Filing Your Taxes with H&R Block," and a session about non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder for those whose sleep problems were not caused by their taxes. Ai Squared offered a session for those Microsoft users who employ Window-Eyes. The people from HIMS Inc. held a seminar to discuss their products, and the Microsoft Corporation held meetings between convention attendees and Microsoft engineers to provide information about upcoming releases and to get consumer input based on product experiences. But for most delegates and members the most important gathering of the afternoon was the meeting of the Resolutions Committee. The meeting began promptly at 1:30 p.m. with twenty-nine resolutions to be considered. A full report of the work of the committee and the resolutions adopted will be printed elsewhere in this issue. This meeting was immediately followed by the annual mock trial presented by the NFB National Association of Blind Lawyers, and, like so many events at this year's convention, it had a record-breaking crowd in attendance. Users of the K1000 could attend the Kurzweil 1000 users group meeting, and affiliate presidents and treasurers were encouraged to attend a meeting on managing state finances and meeting the reporting requirements of state and federal authorities. The Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research conducted a seminar on how to write a professional article for publication. The National Association of Blind Students held its annual business meeting, the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille met to discuss Braille-related research and technology for producing hard copy and refreshable Braille and to discuss progress in implementing the new Unified English Braille Code. All told, convention attendees had to decide among nineteen meetings and events that afternoon and evening, all of which would play a role in shaping the lives and future opportunities of blind people. When the board meeting was gaveled to order at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the voice calling the convention to order was not the one the convention had heard for twenty-eight years. The voice that enthusiastically brought the meeting to order was, however, quite familiar and belonged to none other than President Mark Riccobono. The crowd responded with a cheer that took over where the coffee left off, ensuring that all present were awake and ready to do business. When the roll was called, all board members were present and ready to do business. A moment of silence was observed for those who were taken from us this year. President Riccobono discussed elections that would take place during the convention. Positions needing to be filled included the office of first vice president, and board positions that were currently being held by Parnell Diggs of South Carolina, Sam Gleese of Mississippi, Ever Lee Hairston of California, Cathy Jackson of Kentucky, Jeannie Massay of Oklahoma, and Joe Ruffalo of New Jersey. Positions not up for election were president Mark Riccobono of Maryland, second vice president Ron Brown of Indiana, secretary James Gashel of Colorado, treasurer Pam Allen of Louisiana, and board members James Brown of Tennessee, Amy Buresh of Nebraska, Patti Chang of Illinois, John Fritz of Wisconsin, Carl Jacobsen of New York, and Alpidio Rol?n of Puerto Rico. Parnell Diggs asked for the floor and announced that he would not be seeking reelection. President Riccobono thanked him for his service on the board and as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. He said that he had recently asked Parnell to serve as our manager of governmental affairs, a position which he accepted. Parnell will replace Lauren McLarney, who is going to law school in the fall. Last year the National Federation of the Blind passed an amendment to its constitution creating the position of chairman of the board. The board of directors elected Pam Allen to the position, and she was introduced for her remarks. After offering greetings to the convention, she said: "As we reflect this week on our history, celebrate our accomplishments, and plan for the future full of opportunity for all blind people, we know that we have been blessed with incredible leaders like Dr. Jernigan and Dr. Maurer, who have nurtured us and mentored us. President Riccobono, you have shown us through your dedication and service what it truly means to lead with love. Sarah Ban Breathnach said, 'The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.' In the National Federation of the Blind we know that with love, hope, and determination, we are transforming dreams into reality." [PHOTO CAPTION: Patti Chang stands behind her co-chair of the host committee, Ever Lee Hairston.] After the remarks of the chairman President Riccobono said, "In honor of our seventy-fifth anniversary, our seven original founding states came together to serve as a committee to make this one of the most dynamic conventions we've ever had, so the states of California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have come together to host the convention. We had a host committee chaired by two dynamic ladies, members of our national board, and now I would like to introduce to you for words of welcome from our host committee Patti Chang and Ever Lee Hairston." Co-chairman Patti Chang took the microphone to talk about a special tour available only during the convention and to promote the seventy-fifth anniversary ball that would take place on Wednesday, July 8. The ball would feature the Z Street Band, would run from 8:00 until midnight, would cost ten dollars for admission, and would provide drinks and light snacks. The seventy-fifth anniversary ball ran concurrently with the Monte Carlo Night sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind National Association of Blind Students, and Patti encouraged people to come and go as they pleased, enjoying the best that each event had to offer. Ever Lee Hairston was introduced. She told the board meeting that the seven affiliates, along with help from our divisions and other states, raised $7,775.75 to be awarded as door prizes at the banquet. There will be seven special door prizes, the largest being for $1,775.75. She talked about the affiliate suite being hosted by the original seven, with the Ohio affiliate coordinating the suite's activities, and each of the seven states taking its turn at staffing. She gave special commendation to the Merchants Division for the significant donations it has made in providing food for the affiliate suite and funding for other necessities. The co-chairs concluded by promising that we would be treated to a wonderful opening ceremony befitting our seventy-fifth anniversary, and they were as good as their word. President Riccobono next announced the author of a new book. Ever Lee Hairston told the convention that civil rights had long been one of her passions and that coming to know the National Federation of the Blind helped her more fully to appreciate that there was yet another civil rights battle for her to embrace. She has chronicled the story of her life and the civil rights battles it has represented in a new book entitled Blind Ambition: One Woman's Journey to Greatness Despite Her Blindness. She presented a copy of her book to President Riccobono. The President introduced our new director of convention arrangements, John Berggren. He has taken over the responsibilities that were for many years filled by Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan, who celebrated her fiftieth consecutive convention in 2015. John came to the microphone to talk about convention logistics such as our guide dog relief areas, our Guinness World Record attempt, and our convention streaming. His message was that, whether or not you can be with us, you still have a chance to join, and he asked all who could tweet, post on Facebook, or advertise on our listservs to tell people about the convention streaming. For this year's convention we preregistered 2,163 people, but as of the close of registration on Monday, our number stood at 2,625. In addition to a large delegation representing the United States of America, the National Federation of the Blind also hosted guests from sixteen countries. To talk about one of the mechanisms we use to raise funds from those not directly involved with us, President Riccobono called to the stage Anil Lewis, the chairman of our Imagination Fund. He observed that many people support our programs and wish to help us who are not members of the National Federation of the Blind. We need to make sure that they know about the mechanism for making contributions. This is why we have created our Imagination Fund. When people admire what you do, let them know what part the National Federation of the Blind has played in your life, and encourage them to support you in the work we all do together. President Riccobono told the audience that all the resolutions presented to the committee on the previous day had passed and that all were available for inspection on the NFB website. Since time would be short, he asked that everyone take a look in advance so that they could offer questions and concerns ahead of time. He reminded all of those listening that the resolutions appearing on the website were not policy statements of the National Federation of the Blind until they had been passed by the convention. The president observed that the Federation is a membership organization and that all who wish to are welcome to join. He said that our website now has on every page a button saying "Join the NFB," an expression of the emphasis we place on welcoming to the Federation those who will be influenced by and can help influence the policies of the organization. The Shares Unlimited in the National Federation of the Blind (SUN) fund is chaired by Sandy Halverson, and she was introduced for her annual report. The goal of this committee is to secure the financial future of the NFB by providing a fund that can be used in times of financial emergency. It is similar to the savings accounts that we as individuals set up to protect against a rainy day. This year we raised slightly over $13,000 for the fund, and our current total is $1,994,008.70. Scott LaBarre took the podium to talk about the Preauthorized Contribution Program, which is now in its thirty-ninth year. Coming into the convention, the PAC Plan generated $459,000 for us, but Scott expressed the hope that we could increase that amount to at least half a million dollars by the end of the convention. This program is critical because it allows our members to contribute on a monthly basis to the direct support of the National Federation of the Blind. It is a way to give automatically and to help provide the predictability we need in establishing a budget for the programs the Federation supports. Joining Scott LaBarre was Everette Bacon, the newly appointed co- chair of the committee. He took the floor to announce contests that would be sponsored during the convention to reward those who signed up for the PAC Plan, those who increased, and the affiliate or division responsible for the largest number of increases. The person who increases his or her PAC Plan the most will win a prize. The person who starts a new PAC Plan with the largest amount will also win. The state that increases its PAC Plan the most will also take home a prize, that being the PAC Rat. The state that has the largest PAC Plan donation during the convention will win the PAChyderm. The division that increases its PAC Plan contribution by the greatest amount will win the PAC Mule. If PAC contributions can be increased to $500,000 or more, there will be a prize of $750, and anyone who starts on the plan or made an increase will be eligible to win it. The Jernigan Fund was created in honor of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the end of his life, and its purpose is to help first-timers attend the national convention. This year, in honor of our seventy-fifth anniversary, it awarded seventy-five scholarships. The Jernigan Fund is supported by donations and by the sale of two different tickets. A $10 ticket enters one into a drawing which will provide one winner with transportation for two to the convention, two banquet tickets, registration, and $1,000 in spending money. The $5 ticket for the second drawing is a limited raffle providing one winner a check in the amount of $2,500. This is a most worthy fund that has provided a tremendous opportunity for many men and women who now make attendance at the convention an annual event as a result of their introduction to it. Diane McGeorge warned the convention that there would be changes in next year's Washington Seminar and asked that we all be alert to upcoming messages. One substantial change will be that the hotel will be taking our reservations directly, but the traditional Great Gathering-In meeting will still be on the last Monday in January, this one falling on the twenty- fifth. The Vehicle Donation Program is another way in which we can help fund the work of the National Federation of the Blind. In the first six months of 2014 we received ninety-one vehicles, which raised just over $37,000. In the first six months of this year we have received 176 vehicles, raising just shy of $70,000. This means that donations this year are up 93 percent, so this program is definitely trending in the right direction. Cars have been received from forty-eight of our state affiliates, which means that we have great participation, but in our seventy-fifth year we are going to try to get seventy-five cars in seventy-five days starting on July thirteenth. President Riccobono introduced the next program item by saying that we have given scholarships for fifty years and that our chairman is now in her fifth year in this role. He introduced Patti Chang to present to the board of directors and the convention the class of 2015. The remarks the scholarship finalists made will appear elsewhere in this issue. After the introduction of this year's class, the board of directors unanimously voted to continue the scholarship program in 2016. Dr. Schroeder next came to the microphone to talk about the need for Federationists to write letters in support of phasing out Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. He asked that letters be directed to a special committee within the Department of Labor that will consider this proposal. The ARC organization is currently writing to support the retention of the subminimum wage, and Dr. Schroeder asked that we do our best while at convention to generate letters that would address our experience with sheltered employment and the need for every worker in America to be paid at least the minimum wage. Immediate Past President Maurer was next introduced to discuss several matters with the assembled. The first was transition: the transition from the Maurer administration to the Riccobono administration. He said that, before becoming president of the National Federation of the Blind, he was the chairman of the PAC Plan Committee, and in this transition and during this convention he plans to spend much of his time back at that table, encouraging those who can to give in support of our programs. He finished his comments about transition by saying, "I was a joyous Federationist before I came to be the president of the organization, I was joyous in the presidency, and I still am joyous. I look forward to sharing that joy with you as we go forward." He went on to announce that the KNFB Reader now belongs to the National Federation of the Blind, and we have great plans for its future development, including a soon-to-be released version of the application that will run on the Android Operating System. During the convention the KNFB Reader went on sale for $75 in recognition of our seventy-fifth anniversary. Apparently the Apple company has difficulty in selling applications for a price that includes two zeros after the decimal point, so the price of the reader was actually $74.99. The Federation has invited the World Blind Union to the United States for its 2016 meeting of the general assembly. It will be held at the Rosen Centre Hotel, and many of us will be needed to make this event run smoothly. Ending his presentation in the way he ended many presidential releases, Dr. Maurer asked, "What do you call a belt made entirely of watches? A waist of time." The president of the National Federation of the Blind of California was recognized and presented a donation from the state affiliate to the national treasury in the amount of $23,668.61. This donation has come as a result of a bequest received by the California affiliate, and, in keeping with our national policy, the board of directors and the members of the National Federation of the Blind of California gladly sent it to be used in the service of the Federation nationwide. The chairman of the Jacobus tenBroek Memorial Fund, James Brown, took the microphone to address the need to fund the building that is known as the National Center for the Blind, where the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind and other worthwhile charities are housed. Certainly maintaining this space costs money, the new roof we placed on the building last year being but one example. Contributions are always welcome for the maintenance of our facility and should be directed to the Jacobus tenBroek Fund, 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230. Anna Kresmer was next called upon to talk about an exhibit created for us by 3D PhotoWorks. It was available outside the convention hall and represented the timeline of the National Federation of the Blind both tactilely and audibly. An extended version of her remarks will appear elsewhere in this issue. Jeannie Massay was recognized to talk about jewelry that has been created to commemorate our seventy-fifth anniversary. An article about these items and where they may be obtained appears elsewhere in this issue. Our general counsel, Mehgan Sidhu, talked about the need for us to get more information about kiosks. Many business and government services that were once performed by human beings are now relying on these machines to sell tickets and groceries and even to take applications for Social Security benefits. Kiosks are also becoming prominent in the healthcare industry, not only for checking in and checking out, but also for interacting with a doctor. Anyone who has had difficulty using these kiosks is encouraged to contact our legal department by calling Mehgan Sidhu or Valerie Yingling at the National Center for the Blind. One of our priority issues has always been getting blind people jobs, and, more frequently than we would like, we are finding inaccessible online employment applications and inaccessible employment tests. Those who have experiences to relate regarding these tests are also encouraged to contact our general counsel or her assistant. The board meeting concluded with special recognition for longtime Federationist and former staff member Duane Gerstenberger. Mr. Gerstenberger began his work with Dr. Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for the Blind and later moved to Baltimore, where he served for a number of years as the executive director of the National Federation of the Blind. At the conclusion of the board meeting conventioneers were faced with the daunting challenge of deciding which event or events they would attend. "I Can't Hear the Whispers!" was sponsored by the Deaf-Blind Division of the NFB; the Diabetes Action Network began the afternoon with expert presenters and ended with a business meeting; the National Association of Blind Lawyers spent the afternoon examining laws that affect blind people and those with other disabilities and addressing ongoing struggles to gain equal access to websites, employment, legal texts, and examinations; the NFB in Computer Science discussed how to enhance nonvisual access to information technology and how to improve the ability of blind IT professionals to compete in today's world. The National Association of the Blind in Communities of Faith was addressed by speakers who explained how their faith has helped them face and overcome challenges and by presenters representing faith-based libraries and publishing houses describing what their organizations do. The Public Relations Committee held a seminar to discuss what a successful media interview looks and sounds like and to give attendees the opportunity to learn from experts and share ideas and strategies on how to harness the power of the media. The National Organization of Blind Educators met to discuss techniques they use in their classrooms and to allow participants to break into small groups where they could develop relationships and create mentoring opportunities that would serve them in their profession. The National Association of Blind Merchants focused on the topic "Moving Forward: Making a Difference in and around Randolph-Sheppard." The National Association of Blind Rehab Professionals provided a space in which rehabilitation professionals could network, share mutual interests, find placement strategies, and examine and discuss concerns and current issues. During the afternoon-and in fact throughout the week-Microsoft held a number of accessibility meetings encouraging people to talk with company engineers to learn about new releases, to provide feedback on product experiences, and to participate in focus groups. The Human Services Division focused on learning effective ways of advocating for accessibility of electronic health records and for addressing the lack of accessibility of practice/licensing examinations required for entering many professions. NFB-NEWSLINE? held an open house to acquaint people with its services, sign them up, or help those who are already NFB-NEWSLINE subscribers in getting more out of the service. For those who wanted a different twist, there was an opportunity to experience tactile art as a creative way to gather and share information and ideas, which took place from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. and culminated in an art exhibit in which all of the items were touchable. And what would board meeting and division day be without the annual Braille Book Fair? To celebrate the NFB's seventy-fifth anniversary, the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults donated 750 print-Braille books to the Braille Book Fair. This was definitely a book lover's dream come true. Later in the evening a meeting of the United Blind Industrial Workers of America was held, and Federation colleagues held a wide-ranging discussion about improving working conditions and wages for all blind workers and developing strategies to ensure that all disabled workers are paid at least the minimum wage. The National Association of Guide Dog Users held a seminar and business meeting at which it celebrated thirty years of education and advocacy on behalf of guide dog users in the United States and throughout the world. The NFB Community Service Division discussed how important it is for blind people to be active contributors in our communities, how to find out about community opportunities, and how to take the plunge and get involved. This is but a brief overview of the opportunities for learning and participation that occurred. A detailed description of all of these events and more can be found in the convention agenda and by contacting the presidents, chairpersons, and coordinators who conducted the sessions. Even as the meetings ran long into the evening and many of us took advantage of the opportunity to socialize with people we meet only at the convention, we knew that we had to be ready bright and early on the following morning, for a big task lay before us: the breaking of a world record. So it was that many of us rose after only a few hours of sleep: some to work on arranging the large parking lot so that people would know where to stand; some to go over the route so they could marshal the crowds that would soon come; some to coordinate the publicity and bring to fruition the work that had been painstakingly done for weeks in advance; some to grab an early breakfast because they knew there would be no time between the breaking of the world record and the dropping of the gavel to begin the first business session of the convention. Hundreds of us were in the lobby at 7:00 am, and the elevators worked overtime for the next hour and a half as we processed out of the building into the large parking lot, were given our wristbands and umbrellas, and found our places in anticipation of creating the largest umbrella mosaic ever displayed. The orderly procession of Federationists from the hotel to the parking lot and to the spaces they would occupy was a tribute to the discipline of our members, the work of dedicated marshals who served as our audible signposts, the diligence of staff members and volunteers who helped us find our places, and the efforts of Kevan Worley and Gabe Cazares, who provided the enthusiasm, ongoing commentary, and frequent updates in English and Spanish that ensured we were all informed and coordinated. Even at 8:00 a.m. it can be hot and muggy in Orlando, and, although Florida sunshine may produce some of the best oranges in the world, it was very tempting to raise one's umbrella early as a shield against those penetrating rays. When we had cleared the hotel, when all of those who had patiently waited in line outside were in place, and when those who had marshaled and ushered were all a part of the mosaic, it was time for the real event to begin. A request for silence came from the podium so that everyone could observe, whether visually or audibly, the spectacle that was about to occur. When the letters N-F-B were spoken, there immediately followed a great whoosh, and more than 2,000 umbrellas displayed the logo of the National Federation of the Blind along with our tagline "Live the life you want." Our mosaic had to be displayed for at least five minutes to meet the qualifications of the Guinness World Record organization, but soon the adjudicator sent from GWR came to the microphone to say that the National Federation of the Blind was amazing and that we had broken the previous record of 2,170 umbrellas by raising 2,480 of them to tell the world who we are and what we want for blind people. On Wednesday morning at 9:45 am, the first business session of the convention was gaveled to order by President Riccobono. The enthusiasm with which this session was greeted might well have set a world record of its own had the Guinness World Record adjudicator been equipped with a measuring device capable of measuring sound in the hundreds of decibels. When the cheering subsided and a door prize of $100 was drawn, President Riccobono introduced the co-chairwomen representing the committee of seven states who were hosting the seventy-fifth annual convention. Ever Lee Hairston began by reading the names of all of those who traveled by train to the convention in 1940: California, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Hazel tenBroek; Illinois, Collins and Miss Mary McCann; Minnesota, Frank Hall; Missouri, Lucille Debeer, Ellis Forshee, Marlo Howell; Ohio, Glenn Hoffman; Pennsylvania, Harold Alexander, Robert Brown, Gayle Burlingane, Evelyn Burlingane, Enoch Kester, Frank Rennard; and Wisconsin, David Treatman and Emil Harndt. There followed a roll call of these seven states in the voices of Former President tenBroek, Former President Jernigan, and our Immediate Past President, Dr. Maurer. The constitution passed at the first meeting of the National Federation of the Blind was then read by JW Smith of Ohio and Jennifer Dunnam of Minnesota. There were seven articles in that document, and the audience was moved to applause by the reading of the word "of" in the phrase "of the blind," and by the phrase "Delegations shall represent organizations of the blind controlled by the blind; but individuals may be admitted to membership with all the privileges and duties of representative members except that they shall not be entitled to vote or hold office." Our founding document reads as follows: Constitution Article I. The Name: The name of this organization is The National Federation of the Blind. Article II. Purpose: The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is to promote the economic and social welfare of the Blind. Article III. Membership: Section a) The membership of the National Federation of the Blind shall consist of delegations from each of the states of the United States. Section b) Each state shall have one vote. Section c) Delegations shall represent organizations of the blind controlled by the blind; but individuals may be admitted to membership with all the privileges and duties of representative members except that they shall not be entitled to vote or hold office. Article IV. Officers: Section a) The officers of the National Federation of the Blind shall consist of president, first vice-president, second vice- president, secretary, and treasurer. They shall be elected biennially. Section b) The officers shall be selected by majority vote of the states. Section c) The National Federation of the Blind shall have an executive board which shall be composed of the officers plus four members selected in the same way whose regular term shall be four years but at the first election two shall be elected for two years. Article V. Duties of Officers: The officers shall have such powers as are usual to their respective officers and they shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order revised. Article VI. Proceedings: Robert's Rules of Order revised shall govern all proceedings. Article VII. Amendments: This constitution may be amended at any annual meeting by a two-thirds majority vote of those present and voting. Adopted and effective from Nov. 16, 1940 The crowd celebrated the seventy-fifth year of the National Federation of the Blind by joining in clapping along with the song "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. Mark Zauss and the Z Street Band then treated us to a popular song from the 1940s, a hint of the kind of music we would have at the seventy-fifth anniversary ball that evening. This was followed by more contemporary tunes. The seven-state welcome concluded with the playing of the song "Love Train" by the O'Jays, and the members of the seven-state committee were recognized and applauded for their service. [PHOTO CAPTION: Julie McGinnity sings "The Star-Spangled Banner."] The president of the National Federation of the Blind National Association of Blind Veterans, Dwight Sayer, was next introduced to recognize those at the convention who have served our country in the armed forces. Thirty-seven veterans walked across the stage and were applauded, and President Sayer then introduced Impact of Orlando, who escorted the National Association of Blind Veterans color guard into the room. In the presence of the color guard the audience rose and said the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Julie McGinnity led us in the singing of "The Star- Spangled Banner." [PHOTO CAPTION: President Riccobono with the certificate from Guinness World Records] President Riccobono announced that a framed document was on stage, and he read what it said: "The largest umbrella mosaic was achieved by the National Federation of the Blind (USA), depicting their icon with 'Live the Life You Want,' in Orlando, Florida, USA, on 8 July 2015." Following is the tagline "OFFICIALLY AMAZING," and a silver seal of approval. After announcing that our registration at the beginning of Wednesday morning stood at 2,746, the President began the roll call of states. In answering for the District of Columbia, Shawn Calloway noted that among the attendees from DC was his six-month-old daughter Camille, and Sean observed with pride that she sat through the first twenty minutes of resolutions without crying, something he said in a tone making one wonder if all members of the Resolutions Committee could make the same claim. Hawaii observed that at this year's convention they have a record number of attendees with thirty-five. When the state of Kansas rose to answer the roll call, they announced that they would soon be receiving a bequest in the amount of $75,000, which they would split with the national treasury. The convention expressed its appreciation for what would be coming from Kansas as did President Riccobono. When Pam Allen answered the roll call for the state of Louisiana, she said this was a very special year for the National Federation of the Blind, not only because we were celebrating our seventy-fifth anniversary, but also because the Louisiana Center for the Blind was celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. She also noted with pride that six of the thirty scholarship winners in the class of 2015 were graduates of the Louisiana Center for the Blind. President Sharon Maneki announced that the state of Maryland had secured passage of the law that says that all blind students in the state will be presumed to need orientation and mobility instruction, a significant accomplishment legislatively and one the National Federation of the Blind will have to ensure is enforced. Cassie McKinney, president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire, told the convention that her state would be celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year and that the affiliate would soon be graced with a new member whose last name will also be McKinney. The convention congratulated the New Hampshire affiliate on both counts. Not to be outdone, the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico also said that this year would witness its sixtieth anniversary. When President James Antonacci rose to be recognized from the state of Pennsylvania, he proudly declared that his state was the first to join the National Federation of the Blind, that its state convention would be held over the weekend of November 13 to 15, 2015, and that the event would be held at the Genetti Hotel, the very establishment where the National Federation of the Blind was born. In addition to these interesting tidbits gleaned from the roll call of states, it is uplifting to observe how many states are now holding a BELL Program, with many of them holding as many as three. A number of affiliates also said they would be expanding their affiliate conventions to four days, just one more indication of the depth and the programs we are engaging in at the affiliate level. Yet another sign of our growth and vigor is found in the number of newly elected state presidents answering the roll, the transition to younger members being a normal and healthy trend in organizations that are vital and growing. The roll call of states being the last order of business for the morning, the convention recessed. Some went off to find lunch, others to visit the exhibit hall and Independence Market, and still others joined the Louisiana Center for the Blind alumni reception. Shortly before 2:00 p.m. the crowd began to assemble, every member wondering what the newly elected president of the National Federation of the Blind would say in the annual presidential report. Many Federationists regard this as one of the two major speeches of the convention, and what President Riccobono said and the way he presented it left no doubt that in 2014 we elected a worthy successor to our longest-serving president, Dr. Marc Maurer. In his first report as president of the National Federation of the Blind, Mark Riccobono talked about the importance of celebrating the past but focused on the imperative of building for the future; discussed legal confrontations but focused on the need to turn adversaries into allies; and stressed repeatedly that we must balance the pride we feel in the organization we have against the absolute imperative of envisioning and growing into the organization we must become. President Riccobono's report appears elsewhere in this issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum] Somebody always has the unenviable task of delivering remarks after the presidential report; this year the job fell to Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, a partner with the law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP. Her topic was "Protecting the Bonds of Love: Progress in Defending Our Right to Parent." She began her presentation with these comments: "Good afternoon, proud and dedicated members of the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you, President Riccobono and Dr. Maurer, for giving me the honor of speaking to this incredible audience. I feel passionate about the issue that I will be talking about and saddened and angry about what I have seen. I speak to you today from the perspective of an attorney and a parent. Let me start by saying that I am tired of hearing judges, caseworkers, psychologists, and lawyers ask me whether my client is capable of taking care of his child merely because he is blind." With that introduction, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum went on to make a presentation that was certainly worthy of the buildup provided by her introduction. Her comments will appear in a future issue of this magazine. [PHOTO CAPTION: Tom Bickford] During the roll call of states the previous day, at least two affiliates bragged about the fact that they were celebrating their sixtieth anniversary, but next on the agenda was a man who has spent sixty years in the Federation. His name is Tom Bickford, and the title of his presentation was "Sixty Years of Living and Singing in the Federation." Tom is a member of the Sligo Creek chapter in Maryland, and many Federationists will recognize his contributions in the songs that have been written, recorded, and distributed by this most talented group. Tom told us how he came to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind, how he learned from some of the masters of the organization, and the things he did that represented a true first for blind people. His comments will appear in a later issue of the Monitor. [PHOTO CAPTION: Brooke Lierman] President Riccobono introduced our next topic and presenter as follows: "The next item we have is 'The Impact of the Organized Blind Movement: Perspectives from a Friend and Champion in the Maryland Legislature.' Part of what we do is move the policy agenda, and we do it more effectively than anybody else in the blindness field and probably more effectively than most nonprofits around. We have been fortunate over the years to have relationships with individuals who come to understand our philosophy and believe in our mission and bring that to the work they do for civil rights in state and national legislatures. Our next speaker is doing that; she is young in her political career, but I believe that she has a bright future, based on what we have seen of her work as a lawyer and a community leader in Maryland. She now represents the Forty-Sixth District of Maryland, which is the district that includes the National Center for the Blind. A true friend of ours who has a long career ahead of her, a person who is blind at heart, here to talk with us about her experience in the legislature: Brooke Lierman." Delegate Lierman's mission was to convince members that we need to be involved in politics, and, as we would expect from a lawyer, she laid out a very convincing case. Her challenge was for us to become so involved in the legislative process that we could convince members of state legislatures from each of our affiliates to attend. What a pleasant problem it would be if we were faced with trying to decide which public officials to offer time on our program agenda. Her remarks appear later in this issue. President Riccobono observed that we spend a lot of time and a lot of money helping blind people but unfortunately helping them is no guarantee that they will see the justice in our cause and the necessity of people like them becoming involved in it. The next presenter on the agenda has received our help, has remained a strong and active member, and is an active participant in his community. He is a husband, a father, and a software engineer, but the topic on which he came to address the 2015 convention was "Adjusting Attitudes: a Landmark Victory in the Iowa Supreme Court." The presenter was Aaron Cannon, and he came to talk with us about his desire to be a chiropractor, the resistance he has encountered from Palmer College, the long legal battle that has ensued, and the effect this battle has had on his life. Aaron concluded his remarks in this way: "The Federation, as I'm sure you all know, does not seek out conflict; we don't fight because we want to. We do it because we must; we do it to protect our freedoms and our livelihoods and our children. And make no mistake: when we go to battle, we go to win." The presentation Aaron made will appear later in this issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: Debbie Kent Stein] [PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre] One of the projects undertaken to help celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind was the writing of a book. Spearheading that effort was Scott LaBarre. The committee hired Debbie Kent Stein, a well-known author and longtime Federationist, and together she and Scott spoke on the topic "We Wrote the Book: Reflections on the Federation." Scott began by noting that on our fiftieth anniversary we wrote a book entitled Walking Alone and Marching Together, a comprehensive history spanning some 1,116 pages. In writing the book to commemorate our seventy-fifth anniversary, the goal was not to repeat what is found in the first book or to try to match it in length. Instead, the committee decided to create a shorter book, one that reflects the changes in the power of the written word when linked with the technology of today. The book that was written is meant to be an ebook, meaning that it will be read from the device of one's choice, and, using links found throughout the book, one can explore a topic in as much or as little detail as desired. Our book will be released in EPUB 3, a completely accessible digital format out of the box. It will be available by Labor Day, and information about how and where to get it will be made available in these pages as well as on the internet, on presidential releases, and through social media. As an appetizer, the table of contents and the first chapter were released while this presentation was in progress. It can be found at . It is also available on NFB-NEWSLINE. As a special treat, that first chapter, authored by Mary Ellen Jernigan, is available in her voice. And the chapter lives up to everything we have come to expect of her as a student of blindness, an expert in our philosophy, and a talented writer. Debbie Kent Stein opened with these remarks: "Working on this book has really been an extraordinary experience. It has increased my respect, my sense of history of our organization, what we have done in the past seventy-five years, where we have come from, and where we have arrived at- it's really extraordinary. I have enormous appreciation for all of the Federationists who worked on this project and who made time in their extremely busy lives to do research, to write, to rewrite, and to do all that needed to be done in order to create the chapters that they contributed. Twenty-six authors and co-authors are represented in this book- to say nothing of all of the people on the staff at the national office who worked on photographs, looking in the archives to find material, putting together the EPUB book, and in dealing with all of the technical tasks required." [PHOTO CAPTION: John Blake] The afternoon session concluded with a presentation from the president and chief executive officer of Freedom Scientific, John Blake. His presentation was entitled "Building Technology to Enhance Employment: the Next Generation of Innovative Innovation at Freedom Scientific." In introducing this presentation, President Riccobono said, "We have a long and sordid history with Freedom Scientific; we have a love-hate relationship with some of its products; and over the last two years, since this gentleman has taken over the company, he has brought a different personality to the leadership, he brings twenty years of career experience with Eastman Kodak, he has experience in consumer electronics both hardware and software, and he brings his knowledge of industry and experience to the work that's happening at Freedom Scientific. I think he also brings a new era of partnership with the organized blind movement, and here is John Blake." Mr. Blake began by acknowledging that President Riccobono and the executive director of the Jernigan Institute, Anil Lewis, visited Freedom Scientific several months previously, and their visit prominently figured in an episode of FSCast, the Freedom Scientific podcast for those interested in JAWS for Windows and other Freedom Scientific products. Mr. Blake said it was important for technology companies to understand not only what is happening now but what is likely to happen in the future. Undoubtedly computers will continue to get lighter, cheaper, and faster. What may be less obvious is that working remotely is a trend that will definitely continue and expand, as will the need to collaborate with others in the creation of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. In addition to what we might consider traditional word processing, spreadsheet construction and manipulation, and the construction of presentations using PowerPoint and other tools, we must begin to deal with what is known as the "internet of things" in which the internet is expanded to wearable devices, sensors, and machines traditionally controlled only through being onsite and pressing buttons. Blind people must be involved in all of this, but we dare not be reactive but must be proactive, anticipating where the industry is going and making sure there is a place for us there. Mr. Blake said that he has always held firm to the conviction that "You've gotta believe in what you do, and you've got to do what you believe." He says that Freedom Scientific believes in blind people and that this is evidenced by the fact that more than 20 percent of the company's workforce is blind. Many of these people are in highly skilled positions and exercise tremendous influence in the company. The chief technology officer for Freedom Scientific is blind, as is the vice president and manager of hardware. Blind people are represented in all parts of the company including sales, marketing, testing, and technical support. Mr. Blake concluded his remarks by highlighting the specials that were inaugurated as a result of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind, by talking about a new agreement with Wells Fargo that will put the JAWS screen-reading software on more than six thousand terminals throughout the country, and by expressing both his hope and commitment that this is just the beginning of relationships with banks and other institutions where significant accessibility needs cry out to be met. In concluding he said, "Do not be satisfied with technology that merely duplicates what you did in a different manner beforehand-frankly that's immature technology, and that's a manifestation of so-so products. Good products and good technology allow you to do something you were never able to do before. Demand that of your technology companies, and I can tell you we demand that at Freedom Scientific." On the recess of the afternoon session, breakout sessions were offered on self-advocacy in higher education, an open house by the Colorado Center for the Blind; a reception sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind, with welcoming remarks from Carl Augusto, AFB's president and chief executive officer; and a meeting of the National Federation of the Blind Employment Committee in which job applicants were invited to bring their r?sum?s and talk about themselves. The exhibit hall was also open from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m., and the Parents of Blind Children Division continued to offer concurrent seminars with panels for everyone interested in issues around parenting, the individualized education plan, and adopting a blind or visually impaired child. For young people ages eleven to eighteen there was "Deal Me in: Learning Poker and Other Card Games," a thinly-disguised effort to train people for future Monte Carlo nights sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind National Association of Blind Students. But the big highlight of the evening was the Diamond Anniversary Ball, sponsored by the original seven states that came together to form the National Federation of the Blind in 1940. The Z Street Band made its second appearance of the day, and their music, the dance floor, the light snacks, the cash bar, the greeters, and the enthusiastic crowd all resulted in an event that is best captured by the word "classy." The Z Street Band was an excellent choice, playing the big band hits of the 40s, rock 'n roll of the 50s, and popular songs from every succeeding decade to the present. With Thursday morning came the second day of convention sessions, and President Riccobono began by saying that our Guinness-World-Record-breaking umbrella mosaic had gone viral. Diane McGeorge opined that she wasn't sure if she knew what that meant, but she assumed that it had something to do with Facebook and Twitter and all of that Google and internet stuff. Our first item of business was to review the financial report, jointly presented by Immediate Past President Maurer and President Riccobono. Because the financial report is based on the calendar year, Former President Maurer discussed the first half of the report, while President Riccobono took the second and discussed trends that are obvious in observing the data from January through May of this year. Last year when then-President Maurer presented the financial report, he warned that our investment in the Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader was significant, that there was the possibility that the company would be dissolved, and that we would do everything we could to see that the patents and the programming developed to further the project of a reader in one's pocket, the KNFB Reader, would remain the property of the National Federation of the Blind. However, we should be prepared to see a decline in our assets as work to secure the KNFB Reader went forward. This was certainly evidenced in the report given on this morning, the bad news being that we suffered a loss of almost $9 million in our assets. On the positive side of the ledger, had it not been for this expense, our income would have met and slightly exceeded expenses for this year. So far in 2015 we are in the black, and, although the challenge of fundraising is always one of the most significant we face, there is every reason to be optimistic about our ability to maintain and grow the programs that are improving lives in every state in our union. Following the acceptance of the financial report based on two motions, one covering the time while Dr. Maurer was president and the other covering the ongoing presidency of Mark Riccobono, the convention turned its attention to the honor roll call of states. As a result of state, division, and chapter contributions, $36,085 was raised for the White Cane Fund and $26,325 for the Jacobus tenBroek Fund. The convention next turned its attention to elections, and the chairman of the committee, Second Vice President Ronald Brown, gave the report. A motion to adopt the report was made and seconded, at which point Garrick Scott asked for the floor. He thanked the committee for its nomination of him for an at-large board seat, said how much he appreciated the confidence of the committee, but respectfully declined it after reflecting overnight on the many issues he knows must be addressed in his home state of Georgia. The report as amended was accepted. The name of Pam Allen was submitted by the committee, and she was unanimously elected to be the first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind. In accepting her election, Pam Allen said, "Thank you President Riccobono and my Federation family. When I attended my first convention in New Orleans in 1991 as a national scholarship winner, little did I know how my life would forever be changed. Though I was very grateful for the scholarship, the true gift I received was the National Federation of the Blind. Dr. Jernigan, Dr. Maurer, and countless others have taken time to mentor me, to show me the true meaning of leadership and commitment. Henry David Thoreau said, 'I have learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.' The National Federation of the Blind has shown that, with love, hope, and determination, our dreams as blind people have been transformed into reality. As I stand here before you today, I am inspired by the power in this room: the imagination, dedication, and most importantly the love. Because of the work of each of you, the National Federation of the Blind is the most powerful force in our nation and the world, shattering misconceptions, changing lives, setting world records, and shaping the future-one that is full of hope and opportunity for all blind people. I have been privileged and blessed to serve as your treasurer for more than eight years. I am honored to serve in my new role as first vice president of this life-changing organization, where, because of all of you-our dedicated members-we are changing the world and helping blind people live the lives they want. Thank you, President Riccobono, for your leadership and loving example, and thank you my Federation family for your trust, support, and most of all your love." Given Pam Allen's elevation to the office of first vice president, Jeannie Massay's name was presented to the convention as treasurer, and she was elected unanimously. Sam Gleese was nominated to fill board position one, and he was elected unanimously. For board position number two the name of Ever Lee Hairston was submitted, and she was elected by acclamation. For board position number three the name of Cathy Jackson was placed in nomination, and she was elected unanimously. For board position four the name of Norma Crosby was placed in nomination. She was elected by acclamation. In accepting her election, Norma said, "Good morning, fellow Federationists. I grew up in the red dirt hills of Texas. I was a little girl who was often introduced as 'This is my daughter Norma, she doesn't see very well.' My parents loved me, and they did the best they could, but until I found the National Federation of the Blind, I didn't understand that it was respectable to be a blind person. As soon as I attended my first convention, I recognized the power of this organization. You know we are a diverse and a dynamic organization made up of all kinds of people, and, as I think about what Jeannie said, I wish to echo it because our most important role is as members. I'm proud to be one of you, I'm proud to be a member of this organization, and I make the promise to our national membership that I made to my state membership when they elected me in November: I will wake up every morning and work hard to help build the Federation. Thank you very much." Given that Garrick Scott withdrew his name from consideration for board position five, nominations were taken from the floor, and Everette Bacon of Utah was nominated. After comments in support of this nomination were made by Garrick Scott, Everette Bacon was elected by the convention unanimously. He addressed the convention, saying: "Thank you, Mr. President. I am truly honored and truly humbled to be considered for this position. I want to let you know that I come from a long history of blind people. In my family blindness is hereditary, and it goes back thirteen generations. I grew up, though, never knowing about consumer organizations; the blind people I knew were just plain people who were doing their own thing. Some of them had jobs, some were homemakers, but I didn't know anything about a consumer organization. "I didn't get an opportunity to learn what a consumer organization could do for blind people until the year 2003 when I faced discrimination from a company that no longer exists, Blockbuster Video. They discriminated against me-I lost my job, a really good job I had there, and an email blast went out to anyone and everyone from my lovely wife. That email just happened to reach the email box of Scott LaBarre. Scott LaBarre reached out to me, found out about what happened, and said, 'Everette, I and the NFB want to take your case,' and they represented me against Blockbuster Video, and Blockbuster Video settled out of court. I had never seen what the outpouring of love from an organization could do for somebody until that moment. Scott LaBarre was very strategic in getting me involved in the Utah affiliate because I was moving there. I met great leaders like Karl Smith, Ron Gardner, Norm Gardner, and so many more I could mention. They were all so good to me and taught me about the great things that the National Federation of the Blind does. Then I was introduced to Dr. Maurer, President Riccobono, Jim Gashel-so many other leaders-so many people who go out there and change lives with hope and opportunity and determination and love. I am so proud and honored to be a member of this board, and I will work hard to help this board and administration to do everything it needs to do. "I want to leave you with a quote from C?sar Ch?vez: 'Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un- educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.' "Come, be active in your local chapters, your divisions, and be a part of this movement as we join together to make up the National Federation of the Blind." For board position six the committee placed in nomination the name of Joe Ruffalo. He was elected by acclamation. [PHOTO CAPTION: Serena Olsen] Following elections, Serena Olson came to the platform to speak on the topic "Sharing the Spirit of Our Movement Around the World: A Federationist in the Peace Corps." Serena drew amazing parallels between the blind of 1940 before the Federation and conditions for the blind today in the Kyrgyz Republic. She knows that the expertise and the commitment of the National Federation of the Blind can make a world of difference in Kyrgyzstan, and all of us were invited not only to visit this wonderful country but to help bring people to the United States for instruction so that they may return and provide the excellent skills training and the positive attitudes spawned and nourished by our organization. This presentation will appear in its entirety later in the fall. "The Blind in the World: Spreading the Federation Message" was the topic next addressed by our own Fredric K. Schroeder, currently the first vice president of the World Blind Union and a candidate for the presidency of that organization. His words embodied everything we have come to expect in Dr. Schroeder's well thought out, clearly articulated, and strongly felt presentations. His speech will appear elsewhere in this issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: Rick Johnson] Following the enthusiastic response to Dr. Schroeder's speech, President Riccobono introduced the next presentation with these words: "The last item on this morning's agenda is an important one. We have been on a long quest to get equal access to ebooks, and we have been seeking leadership in that area from those working on ebook technologies. I think the next gentleman to speak represents true partnership and innovation with the blind of America in that effort. He is the chief technology officer and one of the founders of VitalSource, and VitalSource has made a true commitment to building accessibility in a way that includes blind people and access to ebooks. This gentleman brings a long history of working in the digital publishing space and in technology, so I'm pleased to introduce to you for an item entitled 'Celebrating Excellence in eBooks: a Commitment to Equal Access'; here is Rick Johnson." Mr. Johnson began his presentation by explaining that he created this company in the mid-1990s in part as a result of contact he made with a blind college student who used music to create beautiful performances that helped to move Mr. Johnson to an appreciation of music using his ears, his hands, and the rest of his body to feel the vibrations of the instruments that he had never felt before. The role of VitalSource Technologies is to work with content providers to make what they sell not only accessible based on the various checklists that exist in the world, but to see that they are truly usable by blind people. They also strive to do more than convert content: their goal is to change the supply chain fundamentally so that the needs of people who are blind are considered as content is developed. The result is not only enhanced educational opportunities for blind people but a fuller and richer experience for all who use ebooks. "It's been a while, I realize, since I've been in education, and, if you could look at me, you could see that I have a gray beard and graying hair, and I see many of you out there like me-it's been a while since you've worried about a textbook, I realize that. But you have a unique position: you are the leaders, the advocates-you are the advocates for the rest of the community, the voice of tomorrow, the voice of our children, the voice of our next generation-and we are all lifelong learners. Access to learning materials cannot be about special versions, special applications, special processes: it needs to be mainstreamed; it needs to be there where everyone else is getting access." The convention affirmed its agreement with these sentiments through prolonged applause for Mr. Johnson and his forward-looking company. At the end of the morning session conventioneers had their last opportunity to visit the exhibit hall and the Independence Market. In a further effort to share fundraising tips and tricks and to take advantage of events we already host, a meeting was held of the Cash and Caring Committee with the goal of creating some short state and local publications that use fewer words and rely more on pictures. More information about the work of this important committee can be had by contacting Ramona Walhof at . [PHOTO CAPTION: Randy Rice] "We Can Bank on It: the Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence and the Future" led the afternoon session as Randy Rice, director, Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence, and executive vice president, audit and risk management, addressed the audience. We have had a long and difficult battle with Cardtronics, but the presentation by Mr. Rice leaves little doubt that there has been a significant change in direction on the part of the company, and once again we have been able to build a relationship in which we began as adversaries and now work together as committed partners to make ATM accessibility universal. Mr. Rice concluded his remarks by saying, "Let me conclude by saying again that we are proud to be your partner and to underscore this partnership by asking that Dr. Maurer and President Riccobono join me here to receive a presentation from Cardtronics. Dr. Maurer, your immediate past president, has provided leadership and perseverance for over ten years to get the three of us together on this platform. President Riccobono, with whom I'm also proud to say that I attended the University of Wisconsin, is now providing the leadership for our partnership going forward. We at Cardtronics are pleased to work with the NFB, America's leading advocacy group for the blind, and to support your efforts to improve the accessibility of ATMs for all blind Americans. On behalf of Cardtronics, as our contribution to your ongoing efforts, we are proud to present to you a big check-it's four feet long-and for $1,250,000. Thank you, Dr. Maurer, thank you, President Riccobono, and thank you all for having us here this week." In thanking Cardtronics, President Riccobono said, "Randy, I'd like to say that we truly do believe that what we're doing with you will dramatically change opportunities for blind people to participate in our society and in the banking industry. We really appreciate Cardtronics' leadership in not only taking on an obligation to create a center of excellence but actually taking it on as a responsibility and a point of competitive advantage for Cardtronics. We appreciate that together we can innovate, and Cardtronics can make substantial gains made on that innovation; we recognize that that means we've expanded our participation in the society and helped transform your thinking, and your presentation exhibits that spirit, so thank you very much." The remarks made by Mr. Rice can be found elsewhere in this issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeannie Massay] Following an update on our progress in raising PAC contributions, President Riccobono introduced the next presentation in this way: "The next item on the agenda is 'Living the Lives We Want: Opportunities and Strength in Numbers.' As you know, for our seventy-fifth year, one of our primary initiatives has been to again re-energize and refocus our organization on building and strengthening our local chapters. Last fall we had a very successful seventy-five days of action, where we built and strengthened new chapters throughout the fall. This year we set an ambitious goal of bringing 750 new members into our Federation family. Helping to lead this effort is our next speaker. She is chair of our Membership Committee, she serves as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, she's now treasurer-elect of the National Federation of the Blind: here is Jeannie Massay." Jeannie recapped the seventy-five days of action, offered a heartfelt thank you to the members of the committee, and talked about our goal to recruit 750 new members by the end of the year. She used her own life story to remind us just how important the Federation can be in helping people dare to dream, in giving them the tools to accomplish their dreams, and then in letting them share their difficulties and successes with other blind people so that our forward momentum continues. To make it easier to join, people can go to . From this link one can get in contact with a local chapter or state affiliate. Yet another resource for those wishing to join is an email address which can be used to contact our chairman directly. It is . [PHOTO CAPTION: John Par?] Our next agenda item was to receive an Advocacy and Policy report, and the first presenter was John Par? Jr., executive director for advocacy and policy for the National Federation of the Blind. He began his report by talking about his life before blindness, his loss of job, his finding the National Federation of the Blind through NFB-NEWSLINE?, and eventually the restoration of the belief he once had in himself as a competent and capable human being. When he came to understand that the organization that could provide him with such a fine service and help restore his confidence also needed him, this realization is what caused him to apply for a job and what now motivates him to do the work he does for other blind people. John's introductory remarks and much of his report will appear in the October issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: Rose Sloan] No one who knows the staff of our governmental affairs team will be surprised by the observation that what was presented was a spectacular review of the legislation we are supporting and the passion that will carry it through to become the law of the land. Lauren McLarney and Gabe Cazares spoke about the Stimulating the Marketplace to Make Accessibility a Reality Today (SMART) Act. Rose Sloan roused the group with a presentation discussing the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act, as well as legislation to improve the work incentives in the Social Security Disability Insurance Act while simultaneously convincing Congress to avert the possibility that the fund will go broke in 2016. This report will appear in the October issue of the magazine. In thanking the policy and advocacy staff for their report, President Riccobono said, "And, Lauren, I expect you to get this SMART Act passed even while you're in school. I've been dealing with this higher-ed thing for quite a while as well-I served on the Accessible Instructional Materials Commission a number of years ago-the only representative from an organization of the blind-and Lauren has done a tremendous job in pushing back against the continual custodial attitude that blind people and access to technology are in opposition to innovation in higher education, and we know, because we've had her on our side, that we're going to win this battle." Turning from the implementation of policy, the convention focused on making that policy in the form of twenty-nine resolutions. Twenty-eight of those are now policy statements of the organization, and a full report of the resolutions adopted will appear elsewhere in this issue. The afternoon session was recessed, but this just meant that smaller group activities were in order. The evening featured a session on advocacy skills for blind parents, a workshop on advocacy strategies for blind parents in the context of family law proceedings, interactions with the Department of Social Services, and participation in K-12 public school systems. "Social Security and SSI: What You Should Know" helped those who wanted to learn more about Social Security and SSI benefits, eligibility criteria, the application process, and reporting obligations. The National Association of Blind Office Professionals conducted a seminar on Braille proofreading, demonstrations and training were conducted for those interested in the KNFB Reader, and the fifteenth annual Showcase of Talent was held by the Performing Arts Division. Last but not least, those wishing to engage in friendly competition were invited to Trivia Night, where they competed to determine who knew the most about seventy-five years of music and seventy-five questions about the Federation. [PHOTO CAPTION: James Brown (center) smiles as Richie Flores (far left) sings along with the band.] Earlier in the week the convention talked about how we wrote the book, but the Friday morning session began with "The Rhythm of the Movement: the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary in Song." This item was presented by Richie Flores of Texas, James Brown of Tennessee, the Performing Arts Division, and the Diamond Anniversary Choir. After James Brown treated us to a tune by the arguably more famous singer of the blues, the group played "Glory Glory Federation," the fight song of the organization since 1969. This was followed by a new song written by JP Williams entitled "Braille Is Beautiful." Following was a performance of "Tap That," highlighting our free white cane program, and next a new song about the efforts in which we are involved to increase the accessibility of technology. Michelle Clark sang "We Shall Overcome," followed by Stansel Tootle, the Blues King of Georgia, singing "The Blind Workshop Blues." This song was immediately followed by "M-O-N-E-Y," a commitment to address many of the problems that are highlighted in the song "Blind Workshop Blues." The final song performed by the choir was "Live the Life You Want," and the Diamond Anniversary Choir was joined by none other than President Mark Riccobono. No written account can begin to convey the skill with which the songs were performed and the enthusiasm they generated in the hall, but readers of the Braille Monitor can listen to this performance at . [PHOTO CAPTION: Chad Allen] Our next presentation was made by Chad Allen, entitled "The Art of Illusion, Determination, Imagination, and Skill with No Vision Required." The presenter of this agenda item was a person very familiar to Federationists for his long participation in the organization. While magic is often thought of as a visual art, Chad considers it an art which relies on imagination and sometimes uses vision to illustrate the fruits of that imagination. To show that magic does not have to be visual, the audience was treated to two tricks in which we were invited to participate, and neither required vision to be appreciated. [PHOTO CAPTION: Anil Lewis] Our next agenda item was "The Federation Philosophy at Work: Transforming Dreams into Reality Through Our Jernigan Institute." To present this item was a gentleman who has been with us a long time. He started out as a rank-and-file member, was elected to be a chapter president, came to be the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia, was hired to work at the Jernigan Institute, and now serves as its executive director. The presenter was Anil Lewis, and he talked about his first year in his new position. He talked about the departments that make up the Jernigan Institute, acknowledging all of the people who play a part in the progress he is privileged to stand and report. He said that in his first year as the executive director he decided to follow one of the principles articulated by Stephen Covey: seek to understand, and then seek to be understood. In these past twelve months he has worked hard to understand the programs and activities of the Jernigan Institute and the inner workings of the National Federation of the Blind. Now he is ready to be understood, and what he shared were some of the visions he has for the future of the Institute. Our executive director came to the National Federation of the Blind after working for the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation, now known as the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Recently he made a presentation to that organization, and, as he observed the interaction in the group, he heard one young woman say, "I don't use my cane because I don't want to be treated any differently." Anil instantly realized that this is what he was used to, and this is what he had run away from. But immediately one gentleman in the room said, "You need to understand that you are being treated differently because you're not using a cane." He then gave examples, saying "that this is why people think you are awkward or regard you as being drunk." Anil was cheered, for he thought that organizationally there had been some progress. Unfortunately, as the gentleman began to elaborate on why one should carry a cane, it became clear that his view was that one could and should get all kinds of help when carrying it. He was not at the place where he understood that the cane meant that he could now do all kinds of things independently, only that this cane would help him get more help. The epiphany for Anil, of course, was that he was there once, as most of us have been. Like most of us, he doesn't know exactly how or when his view of blindness changed or when he came to regard differently the value of the tools we use as blind people. He reminded us that his challenge and our challenge is to remember back to those days and to help others find what we have found through the philosophy of the Federation. We must celebrate not only where we are now but the journey that got us there. This requires self-reflection, a listening ear, and patience with others, but it also requires that we believe that the transformative miracle we have been blessed to share will come to others and help them in their struggle to find what life really has to offer them. Anil observed that one thing that is clear from all of the traffic on our lists is that we are constantly being asked to provide researchers with blind people willing to share their experiences through surveys and interviews. Of course we have more than blind people to offer: what we have to offer, something that is every bit as valuable, is our expertise, and this we need to use to ensure that we are at the center of important research being conducted in the field. Anil is keenly interested in hearing from anyone who would like to assist in forming a research committee. He can be reached by calling the National Center for the Blind or by writing to him at . [PHOTO CAPTION: Angel Ayala] "#NCBYS: Making the Connection and Equipping the Next Generation" was the title of our next presentation, and the young man presenting it was Angel Ayala, apprentice, National Federation of the Blind STEM2U program. Angel gave a first-hand report on the difficulties blind children have in moving through the educational system: not being challenged at the school for the blind; finding more academic challenges in public school but having to face the social misunderstandings that come with blindness; and realizing that, through participation in programs such as the NFB STEM2U program, one can build self-confidence, sow the seeds for that confidence in others, and come away with a commitment to create even greater opportunities for the blind people who will follow. Angel's presentation can be heard in its entirety at . [PHOTO CAPTION: Christopher P. Lu] President Riccobono introduced the next agenda item with these words: "'Raising Expectations: a Commitment to Full Participation in the Twenty- First Century Workforce' is our next topic. Since our founding in 1940 the National Federation of the Blind has been working on raising expectations for blind people in employment. We have been trying to make it possible for blind people to be paid a fair and meaningful wage. Recently we have been building a relationship with the United States Department of Labor around efforts to promote competitive, integrated employment. So we are very pleased to have with us this morning a partner and a friend in our effort for fair wages and competitive employment, the deputy secretary of the United States Department of Labor, The Honorable Christopher P. Lu." Mr. Lu's presentation directly addressed much of the work we are doing in the National Federation of the Blind to see that blind people have a chance at getting and keeping good jobs. It is clear that the Department of Labor understands the problems posed by inaccessible job applications, websites, and the hardware and software used in the work setting. His remarks will appear in full in an issue later in the fall. [PHOTO CAPTION: Kannan Pashupathy] President Riccobono moved the agenda by saying: "This next item is about technology. It is about our growing work with the Google corporation, and it is entitled 'A Growing Partnership for Accessibility: Google and the Organized Blind Movement.' The presenter was Kannan Pashupathy, who serves as the director and chief operating officer for research, Google Incorporated. I mentioned in the presidential report that Google is well aware of our concerns about the Google suite of apps and accessibility, and there have been times in the past when we have been disappointed with Google's delivery on the promises that they've made to us. On the other hand, as we expressed in our resolution yesterday, in the last year Google has been making significant progress. It's not enough; it's not fast enough, but they have made a real commitment: they are putting more energy, effort, and leadership into it, and accessibility is a growing part of the culture at Google. Here to give us an update on Google's progress is the director and chief operating officer for the research division of Google, a friend of ours and a partner we've been working with; here's Kannan Pashupathy." Mr. Pashupathy talked about the effect attending his first convention had on his desire to make products accessible, but also how the experience resulted in his commitment to himself to make fundamental changes in the way in which Google would approach the notion of accessibility from design to implementation to launch. "To do this, we started training programs in accessibility for every new engineer, product manager, and user experience designer who joined the company." He was surprised to learn that accessible design is not something that is taught in universities, so this is something he is also trying to encourage. Kannan Pashupathy's remarks will appear in this publication in full later in the fall. [PHOTO CAPTION: Eileen Bartholomew] "Pushing the Limits: Changing the World through Big Ideas" was next on the agenda and was delivered by Eileen Bartholomew, senior vice president, prizes, at the XPRIZE Foundation. She began her presentation by saying, "At XPrize we like to say that the day before something is a breakthrough it's a crazy idea, and you know the world needs a lot of crazy ideas. Never before has the world been poised to take individuals and empower them to make those crazy ideas the breakthroughs we need." With this as the framework for her comments, Ms. Bartholomew riveted the audience with her remarks, and they will appear in a future issue. [PHOTO CAPTION: John Jendrezak] When the applause subsided following Miss Bartholomew's remarks, the President said, "The final item for this morning is 'Increasing the Investment in Accessibility: Nonvisual Access in Microsoft Products and Services.' Microsoft has not been as responsive lately as Google has, but, as I reported, we did have a meeting with the chief executive officer at Microsoft, and we were given certain commitments that we intend to hold Microsoft to. One of the things that is clearly happening at Microsoft is that there is a change in leadership and that there is a more significant commitment to working on accessibility amongst the leaders at Microsoft. It isn't just Mr. Satya Nadella, the CEO, but amongst the next layer of managers. Our next speaker is part of that. John Jendrezak is the partner director of project management, Microsoft Corporation. He has responsibility for the Microsoft Office suite of products. He has been at the convention; many people at Microsoft have been here as well. There have been a number of focus groups happening to get our feedback, and I think you'll find that John is a perfect example of the change in leadership at Microsoft and a renewed understanding about accessibility because of the dialogue we've been having. Here is John Jendrezak." Mr. Jendrezak discussed Microsoft's new commitment to accessibility, the imperative to hire fully qualified engineers to be a part of the development and testing teams, and the way this kind of involvement changes the perspective of everyone on the team, the result being a product in which accessibility becomes a core part of the design. Mr. Jendrezak's comments will appear in an upcoming issue of the Braille Monitor. President Riccobono announced that shortly before the convention the director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Karen Keninger, fell and broke her leg. Nevertheless, he said that representatives from the National Library Service would be available over the lunch hour to talk about the ongoing work of the organization and to answer questions from interested patrons. When the Friday afternoon session began, Everette Bacon, the co- chairman of the Preauthorized Contribution Program, delivered the happy news that we had just reached annualized giving of half a million dollars due to the efforts made at the convention. This was wonderful news, but, as we were to learn at the banquet, there was still better news to follow. President Riccobono announced the first formal presentation of the afternoon in this way: "To start off this afternoon, the last day of our seventy-fifth anniversary convention, we have a gentleman who has been our president for more than a quarter of a century and a leader in our organization for nearly half a century. He continues to be a significant contributor to the work that we do in the legal area and in other aspects of our advocacy-most certainly in the philosophical shaping of our understanding of blindness and how to expand the limits of what we can do together. He serves as our director of legal policy on a day-to-day basis- as I said he is the immediate past president of the National Federation of the Blind, but many of us, including myself, know him as a friend and mentor. Here is Dr. Marc Maurer." With that introduction former President Maurer delivered a speech entitled "The Nature of Blindness." In it he speculated that blindness is often not what we think it is, and, while many of us can easily list those things we consider disadvantages, there are a number of situations in which blindness is indeed a positive attribute. Former President Maurer's remarks will appear in the October issue. Jim Gashel, the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind and the person who also serves as the vice president in charge of marketing for KNFB Reading Technologies, next came to the stage to do a product demonstration of the KNFB Reader. He said that everyone was familiar with the point-and-shoot technology that has for so long been a part of the product, but this time he brought a reading stand, a book, and a piece of hardware running the Android operating system. He placed the hardware with the KNFB Reader on the stand, placed the book under it, and began turning the pages of the book. After quickly scanning five pages, Jim instructed the KNFB Reader to recognize and read those pages, which it did. This demonstration showed that the KNFB Reader is no longer just a pocket-sized reader for small documents but, with the assistance of a stand, can be used to read entire books. As Jim said, "If you had told me forty years ago that blind people would have a reading machine that they could buy for less than $100, I would've told you you were crazy." [PHOTO CAPTION: Ray Kurzweil] With this transition, "The Next Seventy-Five Years of Blindness: Perspectives from an Inventor and Partner" was the next presentation received by the convention, and these remarks were delivered by Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering, Google Incorporated. He said, the success of humankind is due in large part to our ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment but, more important, to thrive in that environment and to increase our capacity to understand. Machines are and will continue to be important in our ability to do more and to do it more quickly, but very soon the limitations of our brain, which are constrained by the physical space in which it is housed, will be surmounted by the direct interface to computer technology throughout the world which we know as the cloud. Very soon there will be no need to think about a half- remembered poem or number and then search for its source; the interface will be in our brains, and we will use the intelligence of the cloud to find the quotation verbatim. Dr. Kurzweil speculated that this will be commonplace in less than two decades, but in the meantime we will keep working on technology that meets immediate needs and perfecting it so that one day it will be a part of us. [PHOTO CAPTION: Maura Healey] "Leadership through Law: Perspectives on Advancing Civil Rights for the Blind" was next presented by Maura Healey, attorney general for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ms. Healey talked about her desire to become an attorney, her work in private practice, her decision to leave private practice to work for the office of the attorney general, and eventually her decision to quit that job to seek the office. She summarized a number of cases in which the attorney general's office in Massachusetts has worked in cooperation with the National Federation of the Blind to take on some of the largest corporations and biggest accessibility challenges in the country. Her remarks will appear in an issue later in the fall. [PHOTO CAPTION: Alan Wizemann] "Innovation and Accessibility: Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences at Target" was the title of our next presentation by Alan Wizemann, vice president of product at target.com and at targetmobile.com. At one time the National Federation of the Blind received a lot of bad press by pursuing this major retailer for accessibility in its online environment, but now we find that Target has an accessibility record which makes it one of the leaders in accessible shopping experiences in the world. Target has a dedicated accessibility team, and many of those people are blind. Mr. Wizemann says that Target is dedicated to being 100 percent accessible; his remarks will be printed in a future issue of this magazine. [PHOTO CAPTION: Sachin Dev Pavithran] Readers of the Braille Monitor are familiar with the name Sachin Pavithran. He was a former scholarship winner, serves as the legislative director for the National Federation of the Blind of Utah, and is the chairman of the United States Access Board. His topic was "Leadership from the Blind Person's Perspective: Accessibility in Action." He talked about his introduction to the Federation, his desire to make significant change, his appointment to the access board, and his election as its chairman. He said that one of the foremost priorities of the commission is to work for updated regulations regarding Section 508, and he pledged to do all he can to make that happen. Our job is to see that we bring forward willing and talented Federationists who are willing to serve on the access board given that these positions are term limited and his own term will soon expire. [PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Yudin] Following him to the podium was Michael Yudin, who formerly served as a member of the access board but has recently been promoted to assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the United States Department of Education. The secretary's remarks spoke to the belief in children, the need to evaluate outcomes and not just rules, and the work that lies ahead of us if blind children are to receive a quality education that will prepare them for the work of the twenty-first century. Secretary Yudin's remarks will appear in a later issue of the Braille Monitor. James Gashel was next called to the podium for the presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin awards. The winners certainly represent individuals and agencies on the cutting edge of innovation and service, and a full report on this program item appears elsewhere in this issue. The next program item was one that would normally be conducted at the banquet, but circumstances would not allow the recipient to stay, so the presentation was made as the afternoon's last order of business. This was the presentation of the Newel Perry Award, and the text of the ceremony in which it was presented is found elsewhere in this issue. With the conclusion of the afternoon session, the seventy-fifth anniversary convention of the National Federation of the Blind was quickly moving toward its climax, that being the annual banquet of the organization. The master of ceremonies for the evening was Former President Maurer, and it was clear that he was thrilled to have the job. After an introductory drawing for $1,000 provided by the hosting affiliates, Scott LaBarre was introduced to summarize our efforts in raising contributions through the PAC Plan. At the close of convention annualized giving has been increased to $504,949. Co-chairman Everette Bacon suggested that it was no mere coincidence that, in the year he was appointed to help run the effort, we achieved our largest increase in history. During this convention PAC Plan contributions were raised by over $45,000. This monumental increase was achieved because more than 320 people came to the PAC table either to start a new withdrawal or to increase the monthly amount they already give. To commemorate our seventy-fifth anniversary, everyone who attended the banquet received a diamond anniversary coffee mug. It is what some might call an Irish coffee mug, and etched into the cup is our seventy- fifth anniversary logo with the text "1940 to 2015;" below the logo are the words "75 Years;" and then the full name of the organization, "National Federation of the Blind." Several drawings were held during the banquet. HumanWare, Target, and BAUM USA awarded prizes to those who had visited them in the exhibit hall. The Jernigan Fund conducted two drawings: a $2,500 drawing resulting from the sale of 50-50 tickets, and an all-expense paid trip to next year's convention for one lucky person who had purchased a ten dollar ticket. The parent's division drew the name of one winner who walked away with $798. After these, other drawings, and a fine banquet meal, Former President Maurer asked for silence and made these remarks in introducing President Riccobono: "We come now to a time at the convention of the National Federation of the Blind when we take a moment to reflect about who we are. We remember what we have done, where we've been, what dreams we have had, what burdens we have shared, what joys we have known, what hopes we cherish for our future, and what we intend to become. "Tonight we are seventy-five. Our history stretches back three quarters of a century. At our beginning we numbered fewer than twenty. Fifty years ago Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, our founding president, was our banquet speaker. He reflected on the beginnings of our movement and on what it would become in the decades ahead. More than 500 people attended that gathering, but we were still well under 1,000. "A quarter of a century ago I was on this platform with you. Dr. Kenneth Jernigan was our banquet speaker, and he remembered for us what the forces were that brought our Federation into being, and he speculated about what those forces would be able to accomplish as our size and strength increased. By 1990, 2,000 people at our conventions was an annual event. Our registration at that convention was more than 2,000, and the banquet was not far behind. "Tonight we have another leader of our organization to reflect upon what we as blind people can be. Our president, who has served us now in that role for a year, has enormous energy, a passionate spirit, a robust intellect, and a level of commitment that is both unusual and the envy of those who know it. President Riccobono grew up in the state of Wisconsin. When he began his education at the public school, he had a small amount of vision. Consequently, although he knew that he could not see well, he did not know that he was blind. Nobody told him, and he did not have enough background to know. Furthermore, nobody taught him the techniques that blind people use. His capacity to read was limited. Often he was expected to pretend that he had vision beyond that which he possessed. He learned by listening. If the tools that blind people used for education had been available to him, the experience of being in grade school and high school would have been simpler and much more productive. The pretending that was a necessary part of the educational process for him meant that education was sometimes a lonely experience and also a little scary because he never knew when somebody would find out. "Educational opportunities and a number of other things began to change when our president met the National Federation of the Blind. He came to know from his friends in the Federation that another way existed, and this knowledge served as a springboard to make him a successful business leader, the administrator of a major school system, and an aggressive advocate on behalf of the blind. He has spent more than ten years building programs of the National Federation of the Blind. He has served as our president in Wisconsin; he has been director of education on a national level for our Federation; he has spent seven years as executive director of our Jernigan Institute, the part of our organization that concentrates attention on research, innovation, and education. He loves to explore territory that we have not already covered; he loves to bring hope to those who have been without it; he loves a challenge. It is a pleasure and an honor to introduce to you the president of the National Federation of the Blind for the 2015 banquet address. Here is Mark Riccobono." With those words President Riccobono stood at the podium and for his inaugural speech delivered remarks that were worthy of the seventy-fifth anniversary convention of the National Federation of the Blind. His speech is a part of this issue, but there is little doubt that it will be one of the more popular pieces of literature that are requested from and distributed by this organization. At the conclusion of the banquet speech, a number of paper airplanes were thrown by members of the audience. The airplanes were a historic salute to Kenneth Jernigan, who sometimes playfully threw paper airplanes into the audience. The airplanes were thrown by those who had completed the Diamond Quest-a game that was secretly built into the convention by members of the Federation. The game included puzzles and clues planted throughout the convention, starting with mention of the Diamond Quest on page seventy- five of the Braille agenda. The game added an additional element of fun to the convention, but it turned out to be a way for members to get to know the personal side of our new President and his family-many of the clues related to the First Family and invited people to come to the Presidential Suite to find the next clue. After the banquet speech Dr. Maurer announced that the winners of the Diamond Quest won the honor of helping to design the game for next year's convention. Following President Riccobono's speech, Ray Kurzweil was invited to the microphone for his thoughts. He said that it was an honor for him to witness yet a second transition in leadership within the National Federation of the Blind and that President Riccobono has definitely shown his ability to think deeply and to encapsulate in his speech so many elements that are important to the organization. Dr. Kurzweil talked about his love of the National Federation of the Blind because of our work in creating STEM2U, our work to be innovators, our embracing of technology, and our unswerving commitment to civil rights for all people. These are the very cornerstones of his life, and it is for this reason that he values the forty years he has spent knowing and working with us. Following Dr. Kurzweil's remarks, President Riccobono once again took the podium and asked that the board of directors institute an annual award in the amount of $10,000 to recognize pioneering innovations in technology that benefits the blind. Ray Kurzweil has agreed to have his name on this award, and a motion was made, seconded, and passed to establish it. Chair Patti Chang was introduced to present scholarship awards to the class of 2015. Her presentation, including some interesting trivia about the history of the scholarship program, appears later in this issue. For the 2015 convention President Riccobono appointed former President Maurer to chair the Jacobus tenBroek Award Committee. The winner of the award for 2015 is the organization's second vice president, Ronald Brown, and a report of this presentation is found elsewhere in this issue. The evening's festivities concluded with a final door prize in the amount of $1,575.75, and, with the falling of the solid silver gavel given to President Riccobono by former President Maurer, the convention was adjourned. I confess that as I watched and participated in all of the hype and anticipation surrounding our seventy-fifth convention, I harbored a fear that there was no way that it could be all we expected. I secretly worried that there was no way that one week could fulfill all of the expectations we had for our seventy-fifth convention, that there was no way that one man could carry out the duties of his office in a way that would do credit not only to his first year as President but to the anniversary commemorating three quarters of a century in the life of a movement. All my worry was for naught, for the convention was all I had hoped, the Guinness World Record more than I expected, and the leadership, love, and charisma of our new president more than I ever dreamed it could be. I can think of no better words to conclude this Roundup than those uttered by former President Maurer when he said, "Many of us came, wondering how our seventy-fifth would be; now we know. Many of us came, wondering how our new leader would perform; now we know." The 2015 convention represented a wonderful balance: the reverent acknowledgment of our past, the laser-like focus on our present, and the hopeful and joyful planning for the future we intend to bring about. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono] Presidential Report 2015 An Address Delivered by Mark Riccobono National Federation of the Blind Orlando, Florida July 8, 2015 The last year of our movement has been marked by transition, growth, determination, exploration, and accomplishment. While an anniversary is often used as a time for reflection, we have used our seventy-fifth year as an opportunity to strengthen our organization at the local level, reinvest in the next generation of leaders at the state level, and expand our reach at the national level. We continue to be a strong organization powered by the collective action of individuals of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. Our stories are unique, but they carry the common threads of hope, determination, and high expectations that bond us together in this family that is the National Federation of the Blind. On July 17, 2014, I attended the organizing meeting for the Towson, Lutherville, and Cockeysville (TLC) chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. This was the first of many gatherings I personally had the opportunity to participate in as part of our renewed membership engagement efforts during the past year. Whether the activities were in Maryland, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, or Texas, the events all carried the same energy and forward-looking spirit that characterizes the Federation. While some organizations face declining membership, we enjoy steady growth because we continue to build an organization that offers the blind of this nation an authentic and effective vehicle for collective action. And together, with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality. Jeanine Owens is a member of the National Federation of the Blind of California, and she has been living the life she wants as a worker in the childcare industry for nearly thirty years. In 2010 she began work at Brighter Beginnings, where she provided both care to children and education to parents. In 2013 a parent complained to management that it was unsafe for a blind woman to be watching her child. Management responded by instructing Jeanine to submit herself to a medical exam, and the doctor opined that it was unsafe for Jeanine Owens to watch children due to her blindness. Although the company knew of Jeanine's blindness when they hired her and there had been no unsafe incident involving her, the company agreed with the expert evaluation of the doctor and fired Jeanine. We filed charges of employment discrimination with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for the violation of Jeanine's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the EEOC investigation found probable cause to believe that both Brighter Beginnings and the doctor discriminated against Jeanine Owens on the basis of her disability. We are now working toward a suitable resolution. However, make no mistake, if we do not receive just relief for Jeanine Owens, we will take this case to the highest courts in the land, and we will not stop until justice is done! You will recall that several years ago, we filed suit on behalf of Yasmin Reyazuddin, a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland and an employee of Montgomery County. When she learned that the county would be investing in new technologies to operate countywide information systems that were used in her work at a local call center, she urged the county to plan for accessibility and offered to help provide early user testing. Montgomery County ignored her, installed inaccessible systems, and proceeded to move her around to different jobs to hide their failure. In March 2014 the trial court decided that Ms. Reyazuddin was not entitled to a trial on her claim of discrimination. Knowing that the judges, like the doctors, are not always well-informed, we appealed the decision. A couple of weeks ago the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an opinion reversing the original decision. Among other things the Fourth Circuit opinion states that an employer cannot duck its obligation to provide accessibility through budgeting tricks-in this case, by budgeting only $15,000 for accessibility from a $3.7 billion budget-and the employer must look at the savings it gains when implementing new technology, not just its costs. Although the fight is not over, we are one more significant step closer to eliminating the misconception that technology and accessibility are in opposition to each other. We want to use our talents in the workplace, and we will continue to defend our right to equal access. Equal access in the workplace also means equal pay for equal work, and we are providing the leadership required to significantly advance competitive integrated employment for the blind. On July 22, 2014, I was honored to represent the National Federation of the Blind at the White House ceremony where President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law. Due to our considerable advocacy efforts, Section 511 of WIOA will reduce the number of youth with disabilities who are tracked into subminimum-wage employment by requiring that these youth receive the training and services that will maximize their talents in meaningful employment placements through the vocational rehabilitation system. Additionally, a new advisory committee to increase competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities was established under the United States Department of Labor. Dr. Fred Schroeder, a former longtime leader in the National Federation of the Blind and former commissioner of the United States Rehabilitation Services Administration, is serving on this committee, and the many years of foundation we have laid in our fight for fair wages is paying off. We have tried to reason with the employers, but they sometimes ignore us. Source America, formerly known as NISH, is a central nonprofit agency that coordinates the distribution of government service contracts to agencies that hire people with disabilities. More than 80 percent of the five hundred agencies that receive contracts through Source America are holders of subminimum wage certificates. Source America lives up to its name-it is the source of America's institutionalized discrimination against workers with disabilities. In August 2014 members of the National Federation of the Blind were joined by five other disability-run advocacy groups in an informational protest in front of the Virginia headquarters of Source America. Our protest received considerable exposure through traditional and social media. Sadly, Source America continues to postpone meeting with us face-to-face, but we are not going away. In contrast, the leadership of National Industries for the Blind (NIB) has been making a good-faith effort to understand our perspective and change their patterns. In October 2014 I was invited to provide a keynote address to a general session of NIB's national conference in Alexandria, Virginia. In January I met with Kevin Lynch, president of National Industries for the Blind, who shared his organization's commitment that all contracts facilitated by NIB now require that all workers paid under the contract receive at least the minimum wage. In addition, the NIB Board of Directors has established a policy that an administrator from an agency that pays anyone less than the minimum wage will be ineligible to serve on its board. National Industries for the Blind is not doing all of the things that we believe they need to do, and they have not yet committed to actively supporting the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment legislation that Congressman Gregg Harper of Mississippi has sponsored on our behalf. However, NIB is here at this convention, they are committed to actively engage with us, and they appear sincerely interested in changing their practices. We are making great progress, and more friends are joining this effort every day. The justice of our cause and our unwavering determination will continue to raise expectations for workers with disabilities. A critical component in our pursuit of the careers we want is our access to high quality education. The infusion of new technologies into higher education should have brought greater access to information for blind students. However, the failure of technology companies to design their systems to include nonvisual access and the shortsighted behavior of universities that did not require equal access in the purchase of educational technologies has left blind students frustrated and in many cases shut out. The National Federation of the Blind is not prepared to settle for second-class work, and we are not prepared to settle for second- class education. When Anthony Lanzilotti, a member of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey, sought to improve his opportunities through education at Atlantic Cape Community College (ACCC), he learned that even the teachers can be wrong. Anthony faced barriers in every aspect of his experience at ACCC. The technologies that Anthony was required to use were inaccessible. The curriculum materials that Anthony needed in order to compete were inferior. And the custodial restrictions that Anthony was forced to tolerate were insulting. Among these insults, he was told that while on campus he would need to be accompanied by a sighted guide at all times. Although Anthony has suffered, we have been able to turn his experience into a lesson for the higher education community. On June 1, 2015, we secured a consent decree from the court that directs Atlantic Cape Community College to eliminate the artificial barriers they place in front of blind students. This is the most detailed and comprehensive resolution of its kind. The consent decree requires specific training of ACCC personnel, comprehensive audits of ACCC technology, implementation of corrective action plans, provisions for students with disabilities while corrective action is in process, and other benchmarks that ACCC must meet in order to reach the expected standard of equal access that is the right of all students in our country. In September 2014 we entered into a similar settlement agreement with Maricopa Community College District of Arizona, and we are actively pursuing action at other universities. We will keep the pressure on as long as the campuses prevent our full participation. The barriers do not only exist in the universities. Last fall we secured a settlement agreement with the United States Department of Education regarding its oversight of the Direct Loan program. As a result, the Department of Education will now require all student loan servicers to have and maintain accessible websites; make all publications, notices, statements, and other information fully accessible in a variety of formats; and make all forms accessibly fillable, reviewable, signable, savable, and sendable. All of this will happen over the next two years, and the National Federation of the Blind recovered a quarter of a million dollars in attorneys' fees. The bad news for students is that inaccessibility will no longer be an available excuse for not paying those student loans. High-stakes testing is ubiquitous-most people seeking entry into graduate school or work in a professional field find there is a test to pass, and most of those tests are taken online. We continue to hear from blind test-takers, such as Mary Chappell, Sherry Pablo, and Justin Schmeltz, who face barriers to taking entrance or professional certification exams in social work, professional counseling, teaching, medicine, psychology, or computer programming. Frequently the barriers are the result of testing platforms that are not fully usable with nonvisual access technology, and often testing entities do not understand the need for nonvisual accommodations-like tactile graphics. In every instance where we intervened, we were successful in getting a positive resolution and eliminating barriers. We will continue to work aggressively with the leading testing companies, Pearson VUE and Prometric, to change the unacceptable pattern of discrimination, and we will continue to assert the rights of blind people who seek to enter programs where testing presents a barrier. One method we have been using to stimulate accessibility in higher education is advancing legislation that would create guidelines for educational technologies. Our bill was introduced in the last Congress with bipartisan support and broad endorsements. In the early development of our legislation we reached out to the American Council on Education. First they dismissed us, then they ignored us, but, once our bill gained momentum, they came out against us. They offered no justification for their statements and no alternative proposal-blind students were expected to wait. We were not prepared to wait, and a public debate ensued with eleven different blog posts, op-eds, and articles on this topic. Kyle Shachmut, one of our members from Massachusetts and an expert in educational technology, is one of the courageous leaders who spoke truth to power about his own experience with inaccessible technology in education. And we released a YouTube video, "A Lesson on the TEACH Act," that received thousands of views. We were finally able to get the higher education lobby to come to the table, and for the past eight months we have negotiated in good faith. We have often been frustrated by their misunderstanding, and they have often been upset that we continue to sue their constituent schools. They have told us they know how to run their institutions, and we have told them that we know how to run our lives. Despite the friction, I am pleased to report that we have very recently come to an agreement. The major points of our agreement, once made into law, will bring us significantly closer to the promise of equality of opportunity in our universities. I am hopeful that the process of developing actual legislative language will be less frustrating and more rapid. If it is not and there is no other way, we will continue to take our cases to the courts, we will continue to march on their campuses, and we will continue to use all of the tools in our toolbox to defend the rights of blind students. The National Federation of the Blind is also providing leadership in equal access to transportation systems. The vast majority of taxi cabs that travel through our nation's streets now include touchscreen terminals that allow passengers to monitor their trip fare, to pay when they reach their destination, to determine the vehicle's location with GPS, and to access other meaningful information. These devices are often completely unusable by blind passengers. We have worked with the device manufacturers who have been eager to build in accessibility, and we have engaged in legal advocacy with those who have not. During the past year we have secured significant agreements with two of the major players in this industry-VeriFone Systems Inc. and RideCharge. After a complaint against VeriFone was filed in Massachusetts, they immediately engaged us in discussions to understand accessibility, and this has led to a broad and inclusive agreement in which VeriFone has agreed to provide all information on its units in a manner accessible to the blind. Over the next few years VeriFone and NFB will be working cooperatively to ensure that VeriFone's touchscreens are accessible to the blind wherever they are found. Similarly, our original attempts to engage with RideCharge regarding accessibility failed. In April 2014 we filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind and our members Rick Boggs, Geraldine Croom, Rochelle Houston, and Tina Thomas in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Just last month we finalized the terms of a comprehensive settlement promising that all RideCharge units in the nation will soon be accessible to blind passengers. The agreements with VeriFone and RideCharge, along with our previous partnership with Creative Mobile Technologies, represent a commitment to accessibility for nearly all of the touchscreens being used in taxis across the country. The emergence of new transportation alternatives brings a promise of more customer control and greater affordability. Uber and Lyft are the most well known of these new alternatives, but, like many of our previous travel options, they have sometimes presented blind riders with discriminatory barriers to full participation. We have recently entered into an agreement with Uber to establish a collaborative partnership to ensure the accessibility of Uber's mobile applications, to increase awareness among Uber drivers and managers regarding the rights of blind passengers, including the use of service animals, and to work toward the implementation of fair and effective public policies that require accessibility. We are also working to design a similar agreement with Lyft. Although we have an interest in exploring the possibilities for the blind to drive-as we have through our Blind Driver Challenge-as long as others are in the driver's seat, we will not settle for being treated like second-class passengers. One of the most dynamic ways that we live the lives we want is by providing the love and commitment that are needed to parent young children. Blind parents continue to get unfairly questioned by social workers, attorneys, and judges about their capacity to take care of their children simply because the parents happen to be blind. This year we have continued to reject those questions by assisting many blind parents who faced discriminatory actions in custody disputes. One case is that of a New York father, Pedro Martinez, who fought to have full custody of his young daughter. The social worker initially applauded his skills as a blind parent, but the social worker went on to conclude that the child was just too young to live with her father because he was blind and she would not have the ability to tell someone if she was being harmed. The report from the social service agency was described by our attorneys as one of the most shockingly discriminatory reports they had ever read. We were successful in convincing the government officials and the court that blindness was not the characteristic that defined the ability to be a good parent, and the little girl is now happily living with her dad. Mr. Martinez is with us at this convention. We are currently taking action on behalf of parents in New York, California, and Washington State who are each facing hostile and discriminatory presumptions about their ability to parent due to their blindness. Together we work with love to protect the rights of blind parents, and we are not afraid to use our parenting skills forcefully and loudly when our blindness is used to artificially limit us. We will continue to say "no" to that behavior. One of the most important responsibilities we have in our society is directing our democracy. In 2002 the Help America Vote Act was signed into law, and, due to our work, it included specific language to ensure that nonvisual access to electronic voting machines was the rule, not the exception. Since the enactment of the law, the National Federation of the Blind has provided expert testing of nonvisual access to voting machines, facilitated discussions among industry leaders and consumers about the future of voting, and performed monitoring of voting patterns, especially during major elections. When the Maryland legislature directed the State Board of Elections to develop an online ballot-marking tool that could be made available for absentee participation in elections by any voter, we offered our assistance to the state. The final product was an online ballot- marking tool that was secure, reliable, and fully accessible to voters with disabilities. However, the Maryland State Board of Elections failed to certify the online ballot system, and they held no public meetings to discuss the reasons why. On behalf of Melissa Riccobono, who was serving as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland; Janice Toothman, a member of ours who is deaf-blind; and Kenneth Capone, a gentleman with cerebral palsy who uses a headstick and an iPad to communicate--we sued the state of Maryland. Bizarrely, a group of blind people clearly acting against their own interest attempted to support the state in blocking equal access to voting. The judge rebuffed the state's reasoning that the disabled should be shut out of absentee voting, and we secured a permanent injunction that required use of the absentee ballot- marking tool in the November 2014 election and use of an accessible tool going forward. Although the state has appealed and the matter awaits argument in the court, we can be proud that we have secured a ruling that raises expectations for our participation in our democracy. Our voting case emphasizes just how central the internet is to full participation in society in 2015. We have a clear history of demanding equal access to ebooks and demanding equal access to websites. Thus it should have come as no surprise to Scribd Inc. that we wanted equal access to its web- and mobile app-based ebook subscription service. After all, who would not want the ability to pick and choose from more than sixty million works made readily available through the Scribd subscriber's "personal digital library"? NFB member and proud mother Heidi Viens wanted this resource, and she was excited to use Scribd to read to her young daughter, but Scribd's website and mobile apps are not accessible to the blind. Scribd heard our demand for equality, and they responded by saying they had no obligation to allow us to participate. Scribd has offered a fight, but we are equal to the challenge; and we welcome the opportunity to create more good legal precedent that enforces the message that websites like Scribd must make their services accessible to the blind. I am proud to report that the federal court in Vermont recently agreed with us and rejected Scribd's argument that, as a web-only business, it is not required to abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Scribd is seeking to appeal that ruling, but we are pressing for the case to go forward. We want the court to hear the facts and to hold Scribd accountable for its persistent exclusion of blind patrons from its digital library. Much of our work is about vigorously protecting our rights, but we are increasingly successful in turning those fights into friendships. Relationships take time to build trust and understanding, and we want to invest that effort with those who sincerely seek to integrate our perspective. On May 7, 2015, Marc Maurer, Immediate Past President and director of legal policy for the National Federation of the Blind, and I traveled to the federal court in Boston, where we joined with our partners from the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a class action fairness hearing. In that hearing the judge approved the outstanding settlement that has resulted from a brutal marathon of litigation with Cardtronics over the accessibility of its ATMs. When we started this case in 2003, we were arguing about fewer than ten thousand ATMs. Today Cardtronics controls almost one hundred thousand ATMs throughout the country and, under our agreement, virtually the entire fleet will be fully accessible with state-of-the-art voice guidance. Most significantly, I am proud to say that Cardtronics is now a willing and eager partner of the blind, and this milestone marks the beginning of an active relationship that I expect to live long beyond the terms of the current agreement. Cardtronics is participating actively in this convention, they will be installing a new state-of-the-art, accessible ATM at our headquarters in Baltimore, and Cardtronics will be making a seven- figure financial contribution to the accessibility work of the National Federation of the Blind. Many years ago we settled a significant class action case against Target for the inaccessibility of its website. Although Target has faced challenges, it has worked proactively and creatively to address the issues, and it has included guidance from the Federation. Target is now taking the initiative to go further by seeking to make its stores more accessible and to make itself a model employer of blind people. Target is here at this convention-we will hear from one of its executives later this week-and it is providing leadership that is likely to hit the bullseye for high expectations and full participation. Accessibility needs to be baked into the culture of corporations in order to be effectively maintained over time, and a new partner of ours, Expedia, has made that commitment. This week we are announcing an agreement with Expedia, which also operates Travelocity.com, that will provide the key elements to make its website and mobile apps accessible and that will help it remain accessible into the future. The blind want to travel and we want access to the tools that allow us to pursue our dreams-Expedia is prepared to help us go to the places we want to live our lives. The National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, is our world-class headquarters from which our national activities are coordinated. During the past year we have hosted 3,607 members, friends, and guests from nearly every state in the nation and eight foreign countries. Although our work is serious, it is also fun. For example, educators are sometimes found playing Braille Twister or constructing Lego creations while sharing their expertise, overnight visitors frequently enjoy musical selections that help to start the day with a laugh, and the most popular choice of cookie among visitors remains chocolate chip. We have invested heavily in our communication and data management systems at our headquarters. We have recently upgraded our phone system. In addition to providing better call quality and stability, the new phone system incorporates accessibility features including audible caller ID and the ability to manage calls using the computer keyboard. We have upgraded more than one hundred handsets in our building and have installed phones in our conference rooms that are suitable for large meetings. We have also installed a new accessible copy machine for use in our office operations. We have converted our recording studio to enhance our production of video content to share our stories with the world. We have completed the first phase of a massive project to unify our internal databases in order to serve our members more effectively and share information among the blind of the nation. We have also launched the NFB Connect mobile app for iOS in order to share information in new ways, and we have significantly increased our presence in social media. Access to information continues to be a central part of our mission. This is our fortieth year of partnership with inventor Ray Kurzweil. Early in this century we joined forces to establish the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reading Technology company to innovate the technologies needed for the twenty-first century reading machines. On April 22, 2015, we made a significant move related to our work in this area by securing the transfer of the reader technologies, including more than two dozen patents, to a new entity: KNFB Reader LLC. KNFB Reader LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Federation of the Blind, and I serve as managing director for the corporation. Now that the Federation is the sole owner of the technology, we are aggressively building the plans to secure the business, to further the existing mobile application, and to develop new elements of the technology. And, Ray Kurzweil has pledged his continued partnership in our innovative endeavors. This is our twentieth year for the NFB-NEWSLINE? program-our expanding work to deliver timely, free, and accessible information to the blind that includes newspapers, breaking news, magazines, television listings, holiday shopping ads, and job listings. In the past year over one hundred thousand blind people have received more than thirty-eight million minutes of service along with many millions of additional interactions through the web and mobile applications. Our International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind continues to be a central place for the evaluation and testing of specialized products for the blind and of the accessibility of mainstream technologies. Through our technology program we also strategically invest in partnership projects that have significant potential to transform access for the blind. One such project is the Transforming Braille Group, which we began working on with other organizations around the world in 2012. Jim Gashel, secretary of the National Federation of the Blind, is serving as our representative in this effort, and he is enthusiastic about the early prototypes. This project is on track to bring the cost of Braille display technology down by as much as 85 percent-imagine a twenty-cell Braille display for $500. We can expect to have a product for our convention next summer. With support from the state of Maryland, we established an initiative known as the Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access to Education, Public Information, and Commerce. We kicked off this new initiative with a Web Accessibility Training Day in partnership with the Maryland Technology Assistance Program in September 2014. One of our primary goals is to provide training and best practices to information technology professionals who may not have experience with accessibility. In October we followed up with a Train-the-Trainer Conference that included access technology expertise and mainstream training on products from Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Technology training is critical to compete in the twenty-first century. Our other goal is to get more blind people to be part of the training and testing of technology and to raise expectations for our participation. In the next year we will explore implementation of a new access to information portal under our Center of Excellence project. The HathiTrust represents a repository of more than thirteen million digital copies of books from university libraries. We have established a working relationship with the HathiTrust for the National Federation of the Blind to operate a secure mechanism for people with print disabilities to gain access to this collection, and we expect to build the portal for use in the coming year. This means more Braille, more books, more access to information, all because of the work of the National Federation of the Blind. Shortly after the 2015 Washington Seminar, I traveled to Seattle to meet with Satya Nadella, chief executive officer for Microsoft. Microsoft products have presented significant accessibility barriers for the blind, and I hoped that the new leadership at Microsoft would receive our concerns and make actionable plans. I received a commitment from Mr. Nadella that Microsoft would make accessibility a higher priority, that he understood the urgency of the problem, and that he was personally invested in observable progress. We will be holding Microsoft to this commitment, and we will hear from the top executive over the Microsoft Office team later in the convention. Google has also made commitments to us, and in the past they have not delivered on all of their promises. Over the past year we have noticed real progress in the accessibility of Google products and, more importantly, in the understanding of accessibility within Google. In May I was invited to participate in a presentation with the Google Accessibility team at Google I/O-the annual developer conference that represents the cutting edge of innovation and inspiration at Google. It is clear that accessibility is beginning to be better understood within Google and within the developer community. Although there is still a lot of work for Google to do, I believe we will be pleased with the report from Google later this week and that our determination in working with Google is paying off. Other activities through our research and training institute continue to expand possibilities. Our disability law symposium-named after Jacobus tenBroek, constitutional scholar and the first President of the National Federation of the Blind-continues to grow and is the premier event for advancing disability law in the nation. Our Jacobus tenBroek Library continues to preserve our history and help us tell the diversity of our stories. The inquiries we get come from a wide range of individuals who want to better understand our impact on the world. One such person is Allie Tubbs, a middle school student from Iowa, who made Dr. tenBroek the subject of her performance in the National History Day Contest. Allie is not blind, but she discovered Dr. tenBroek in a book, and she wanted to learn more. Last month Allie took second place in the Junior Individual Performance category in the national final round for her presentation called, "Jacobus tenBroek: A Leader with a Vision of Equality for the Blind and a Legacy of Constitutional Equality for All." Tens of thousands of lives are touched directly and indirectly through the programs of our Jernigan Institute. A more complete report of our research and training activities will be given later this week. Whether it is the 7,222 free white canes we distributed, the 405 free Braille slates we gave, the constant flow of general information requests, or the impact of our research and training, together we change lives. In the fall of last year we held a successful Seventy-Five Days of Action Campaign to build and strengthen NFB chapters. Although there are many reasons for us to undertake this work, I think the most significant reason is that we have a responsibility to the next generation. The barriers that still exist in the education system are a significant problem. The most powerful thing we can do to tackle those barriers is to build and strengthen the National Federation of the Blind. And building the Federation is what we are doing through our educational programs. We continue to provide leadership to the nation in Braille education, Braille training, and Braille advocacy. During the summer of 2014 our NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning program was in twenty-one of our affiliates, providing direct instruction in Braille to more than two hundred and fifty blind youth. We are also facilitating early connections to Braille and literacy through our Braille Reading Pals Club, and we are assisting with the distribution of Braille books across the country. In addition, we are the primary provider of training for Braille transcribers and proofreaders through our work with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. And we are moving that program into the future by developing the components necessary for training in the Unified English Braille code. Two consortia exist to develop assessments for states to measure the progress of K-12 students in the common core standards-the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced. During the past year we have aggressively monitored progress from our settlement agreement with PARCC, coordinated efforts to press Smarter Balanced to build accessibility into its assessments and eliminate significant discriminatory practices, and provided expert technical assistance to both entities. Our goal has been to ensure that the results of these assessments measure blind students' actual achievement rather than measuring blind students' ability to overcome the barriers in accessing the test content. We continue to educate school districts when our blind students are not receiving the services they need. One example is our support of the Pearce family in California. We overcame the resistance of the school district to ensure that their son Nathan received the blindness skills and educational supports necessary to build and strengthen his talents. We continue to support individual families with information about their rights, understanding the truth about blindness, and connections to successful blind adults. We have distributed tens of thousands of copies of Future Reflections magazine and thousands of pages of other literature to parents and educators. We are raising expectations for the blind in science, technology, engineering, and math and improving the accessibility of museums and science centers. This year we held our NFB STEM2U programs in Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; and Columbus, Ohio. We trained a corps of young blind apprentices to serve as mentors to the younger students in our programs-we will hear from one of these young leaders later this week. We are raising the expectations for participation of the blind in the museums we are working with, and this will serve to provide best practices to other museums throughout the nation. This summer we will hold our first-ever week- long program focused entirely on teaching the engineering design process to blind high school students. I feel certain that these ambitious blind youth will be helping us engineer a brighter future for the blind very soon. There is more to tell about our success in the past year. Our story- of determination, exploration, participation, collaboration, ambition, and optimism-is being told best by blind people who are living their lives with respect and confidence because of our work together in this Federation. I have been honored to serve as your President during this past year, and I look forward to the time to come. The work has been challenging due to the barriers we still face, and I recognize that the challenges ahead will require the same commitment from me. In every convention I attend, from each member I meet, with each report of new chapters I receive, and from every personal story I read, I find a renewed sense of energy and hope that is seventy-five times stronger than any obstacle we face. With the sense of history that has come to us from three-quarters of a century of Federation work, with the demands that will inevitably be our challenge in the years to come, I have done my best to keep faith with the bond we share, and I want to take this moment to thank each of you for doing your part to make the accomplishment reflected in this report possible. You have shown me tremendous love, hope, and determination during this year, and it is a true blessing that inspires me to give my all to this organization. I will never ask of you any more than I am prepared to demand of myself. But the stakes are too high, the opportunities are too much at risk, and our lives are too valuable for us to do anything less than take the actions that are required in order to reach the accomplishments that are within our grasp. We must commit to continuing our progress, and we must make the sacrifices required. At one of this year's membership events, I was asked what I would say to someone who had not been active in the organization for a number of years. With a firm handshake, I said, "Welcome back, we have been working hard while you have been gone, and we are happy you are here to help." This organization is all that it is because of us. And it will be all that we dream it will be because we continue to grow and cultivate our Federation for the next generation. I am pleased to report that our determination unites, our philosophy works, our imagination soars, our program blooms, and our membership grows as our love flows. Let us celebrate the success of this year by making the next one even better. That is my commitment to you, and that is my report for the seventy-fifth year of the National Federation of the Blind. ---------- Awards Presented at the 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind >From the Editor: Recognizing the work that is accomplished on behalf of blind people is a critical part of the mission of the National Federation of the Blind. For this reason we present a number of awards; some are presented annually; others are presented only as often as the Federation determines that a deserving candidate merits the presentation. This year awards were presented to agencies and organizations who represent the life's work of Dr. Jacob Bolotin, to a leader in the Federation who has performed exemplary service, and to a person who is not a member but who has made a significant contribution to improving the opportunities for the blind. Here are the presentations as witnessed at the 2015 Convention: [PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award winners Cary Supalo, Nicolaas tenBroek, Amy Porterfield, Mike Gordon, Hoby Wedler, Timothy Newman, Debra Bonde, and Mark Lucas] [PHOTO CAPTION: The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award] Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards presented by Jim Gashel >From the Editor: The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards are always presented late on the last afternoon of the convention, and given that the banquet follows, it is not possible to extend the session, no matter how important the program item. For this reason the chairman of the committee and those who accept the Bolotin awards are always under considerable pressure to move things along, and references to this need are found several times in the remarks that follow. Here is the presentation, beginning with introductory remarks from Chairman Gashel: Thank you very much, Mr. President and fellow Federationists. We're going to set a record this year for how quickly we can get the Bolotin Awards out. Let me just ask all of the Jacob Bolotin Award winners to join me here at the podium-that means you won't have to walk very far when you get your award. So again it's my pleasure and privilege on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind to present the Jacob Bolotin Awards this year. You know the story of Jacob Bolotin's life defines living the life we want. He was born in 1888, he only lived thirty-six years, but in that time he accomplished twice as much--as much or more than twice as much--than most of us do in living twice as long trying to live the lives we want. Funds to support the Jacob Bolotin Awards are provided in part through a bequest left to the Santa Barbara Foundation and the National Federation of the Blind by the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust. The other funds come directly from the National Federation of the Blind. The award includes a plaque and medallion, which each winner will receive, along with a cash award which I will specify. Now for the Jacob Bolotin Award winners for 2015: the United States Association of Blind Athletes, $5,000 award recipient. Now, you know some of the things the USABA does, but one thing you may not know that they're going to do: they set up the world's first training center for goalball athletes. This is a professional training center, and USABA is preparing these athletes to win the gold in 2016 at the Paralympics. You know, the USABA, following in the footsteps of Jacob Bolotin, thinks big and plays to win. Join me in saluting the USABA and Mark Lucas, its executive director. And Mark, how fast can you say "thank you?" Mark Lucas: I'm supposed to say "thank you and done," but this is truly a tremendous honor for the United States Association of Blind Athletes, and we absolutely look forward to collaborating with the National Federation of the Blind in the future. As Dr. Maurer has said, the future is ours. Thank you very much. Jim Gashel: The next recipient: Nicolaas tenBroek, $5,000. Now I know you don't think you heard me right, but you did. Nicolaas tenBroek is Dr. tenBroek's grandson. He's also a professor of computer science at Heartland Community College. If you've ever found an app that is labeled right and the buttons are logically organized, it's probable that Nicolaas tenBroek was that app developer's professor. He's developed an app accessibility training curriculum, and it's part of the computer science curriculum at Heartland. You know, Dr. Bolotin didn't confront apps that didn't work, but he did confront massive discrimination. He would be proud-in fact, let's put it this way-both Chick (that's Jacobus) and Nick tenBroek, Dr. Bolotin would be proud to know either one of these gentlemen. Please join me on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind and its founder, Jacobus tenBroek, in saluting the grandson, Nicolaas tenBroek, here to receive the award. Nicolaas tenBroek: Okay, I have to say thanks really quick. But I do want to thank Cary Supalo and Independent Science for all their support in this, and we will donate these monies to continue offering this course. Thank you. Jim Gashel: University of California at Davis and the Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics: joint award of $10,000: These folks have developed not just an app, but a whole technology that makes it possible for blind people in a fully accessible way to create 3-D models of any molecule imaginable. It makes it possible for blind people to compete and succeed in advanced scientific fields. Following in the footsteps of Dr. Jacob Bolotin, these award winners are making it possible for blind people to succeed in careers never before dreamed of. Success in advanced sciences will be the norm rather than the exception. Please join me in saluting CAL Davis and the Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, represented by Tim Newman, the chief of this program. Say thanks quick. Tim Newman: Thank you for having me here, fellow Federal-woah, look at me, little nervous here-fellow Federationists. On behalf of the AsteriXBVI team I'd like to thank you for this generous acknowledgement. It's been a great honor working with Hoby Wedler over the last few years; I assume you've all heard about this man by now-you know about his personal accomplishments. Now being his tactical assistant through his graduate career has truly been a rewarding experience. I've learned first-hand, not only how often the abilities of the blind are misunderstood, but also how blind people are very capable when given the equal right to succeed. Thank you very much, sir. Jim Gashel: Brevity is a virtue here, Tim. Let me just announce our next award recipient: Seedlings Braille Books for Children, $10,000. Seedlings was started by its founder, Debra Bonde, in 1984, and let's just look at the vital statistics: over 400,000 publications created since that time and over twenty million pages of Braille material developed since that time, and more every single day. Anybody who knows the NFB BELL programs knows Seedlings. Following in Jacob Bolotin's footsteps, Seedlings is removing barriers and helping blind people live the lives they want. Seedlings knows that literacy is the key to success, and they also know that Braille means literacy. Please join me in saluting Debra Bonde, executive director and founder of Seedlings, and Debra, brevity is a virtue. Debra Bonde: Thank you so much. We are so deeply honored to be a recipient of this prestigious award, and we hope and believe that it comes with some of Dr. Bolotin's drive, tenacity, and compassion for others, that we will combine with our own and infuse into the books, which will make them extra special for those who receive them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Jim Gashel: Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired: this is our final and highest award this year, an award of $20,000. Now SAAVI is an agency for the blind, but that certainly wouldn't get them the Bolotin Award. You got to do more than just be an agency to get the Bolotin Award, that's for darn sure. They're an agency that represents and is modeled on a consumer-empowerment mission, and that's SAAVI. So it's a long, long way from Southern Arizona to central Florida, but let's just hear from the folks from SAAVI, a big, loud Federation cheer [cheers, noisemakers]. They're all over the room! Rather than peaceful-yeah, I know, you're taking my time. SAAVI, hold it down-rather than peaceful coexistence with the blind, SAAVI embraces our mission of living the lives we want. SAAVI executives and staff know that they succeed when their blind students live the lives they want. So please join me in saluting SAAVI and its executive director Mike Gordon for the Jacob Bolotin Grand Prize this year, $20,000. Here's Mike: Mike Gordon: Where's JAWS when you need it? Quickly I want to thank first of all RSA from Arizona Blind Services for their flexibility, which has allowed us to be creative, think creatively in our programming. Secondly the Federation's Arizona chapter and in particular Bob Krezmer, the president. Thank you, Bob, thank you, Lynn. And finally I want to thank the SAAVI staff, both past and present, and our students, for without them none of this would be possible. Now I'd like to introduce Amy Porterfield, our associate director. Amy Porterfield: So I think you all know that SAAVI is committed to building the Federation; let's hear it for the Federation and all our students! [cheers] Jim Gashel: Thank you very much. So now, Mr. President, I also have a thank you, and that is to you for appointing us to be part of the Jacob Bolotin Award Committee. I want to thank Ron Brown and Mary Ellen Jernigan for reviewing the applications this year; let's hear a cheer for Ron and Mary Ellen [cheer]. Mr. President, this concludes my report and the presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards for 2015. [PHOTO CAPTION: Ron Brown accepts the Jacobus tenBroek Award Jacobus tenBroek Award presented by Marc Maurer Our founding president is Jacobus tenBroek. Dr. tenBroek was a constitutional scholar, a lawyer, a professor, a blind person. And he thought that blind people were not strange, but normal. And he thought this in the 1930s, at a time when nobody thought it but a few radical malcontent types. The crowd of radical malcontents has increased. And we have awards that we give, a number of them are for people in our movement who have similar views about our work. But the one that we give to our own members, the one that we use to honor those within our ranks who have carried the flag and kept the faith and believed, and been the right kind of radical malcontent, this is the Jacobus tenBroek Award. And we have such a person tonight. It has been my responsibility for some time to appoint the Jacobus tenBroek Award Committee; this last year, I myself was appointed to chair it by our president. And I'm honored to do it. I never met Dr. tenBroek, but I have a firm belief that I would have admired him and liked him, and I hope he would have liked me, but I kind of think he would. I knew his student, Dr. Matson, very very well, and I liked him and he liked me. And I knew his other student, Dr. Jernigan, and we had both love and affection for one another. Consequently I think it's a good likelihood that we would have found each other of interest, Dr. tenBroek and I. I've certainly been impressed by his writings, and I've certainly been impressed by his work, because much of his work is here. The person selected by the Jacobus tenBroek Award Committee has been a member of the National Federation of the Blind since the time of the 1970s. He's been a leader, he's a president of a state affiliate, he's provided leadership not just on a state basis or a regional basis, but on a national basis as well. He's brought inspiration, not just because of his work, but because of his personal activities and behavior. And because he has inspired not just with words, but with deeds. Some of them have been challenging to others, many of them have been enormously generous. And the tenBroek Award which we have prepared, which I will now read to you, reflects the kind of life that he has. We show our logo, then we say: NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND JACOBUS tenBROEK AWARD PRESENTED TO [name of recipient] FOR YOUR DEDICATION, SACRIFICE, AND COMMITMENT ON BEHALF OF THE BLIND OF THIS NATION. YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS MEASURED NOT IN STEPS, BUT IN MILES NOT BY INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES BUT BY YOUR IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF THE BLIND OF THE NATION. WHENEVER WE HAVE ASKED, YOU HAVE ANSWERED. WE CALL YOU OUR COLLEAGUE WITH RESPECT. WE CALL YOU OUR FRIEND WITH LOVE. JULY 10, 2015 I ask that our recipient join me here at the podium, please if you would: our second vice president, Ron Brown! [cheers, applause]. Richly deserved, here is your plaque, I have read the text, here is the Braille version of it. Congratulations to a man who deserves it. Ron Brown: Wow. This-to my Federation family--this is the most humbling experience I have ever felt. I am usually not at a loss for words, but I cannot believe this. I thank you all so very very much, I love my Federation family. I will continue to do the work without being asked; you know you can call on me, and I'll do it with love, with kindness, and to the best of my ability. Thank you all. [PHOTO CAPTION: Maura Healey poses with plaque and Marc Maurer] The Newel Perry Award As the last order of business on Friday afternoon, President Riccobono said, "This is an unusual circumstance. We typically present (outside the Bolotin Awards) our awards during our banquet, however, there is an individual who is deserving of one of the highest awards available in the Federation, and we believe that her work is so important that we should acknowledge it here in the convention because this talented lady is not able to stay for our banquet. She's not able to stay for our banquet because she's going back to Massachusetts, presumably to defend somebody's civil rights. So I now ask the Honorable Attorney General Maura Healey to step this way. We have a number of awards that we give, and the one that we give to those who are not members but who carry the spirit and the courage and the determination of our organization is our Newel Perry award. Newel Perry was a mathematician, a teacher, but, most importantly, he was the craftsman who gave shape to the leaders of the organized blind movement. He was the teacher who gave shape to our first president, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. Newel Perry taught at the school for the blind in California for over thirty-five years-teaching and shaping blind people so that they could live the lives they want. He instilled in them the notion that blindness is not the characteristic that defines them, that the biggest barriers we face are public attitudes, and also that giving back is tremendously important. I believe it was clear from the attorney general's presentation earlier today that she carries that understanding and those characteristics. Now we didn't give the attorney general any warning that we were doing this, but we did want to catch her before she left. We gave this award for the first time in 1955, and since then we have given it twenty- seven times. To my knowledge there is at least one recipient among us, and that is Ray Kurzweil. So, for the diamond presentation of our Newel Perry award, I give to you Attorney General Maura Healey. This plaque says: NEWEL PERRY AWARD NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND In recognition of courageous leadership and outstanding service. The National Federation of the Blind bestows the Newel Perry Award Upon the Honorable Maura Healey our colleague, our friend, our sister on the barricades; You champion our progress; You strengthen our hopes; You share our dreams. July 10, 2015. Let's hear it for the Attorney General. Maura Healey: Thank you so much, Mr. President, Dr. Maurer, and all of the folks here. I am moved to tears by this-deeply humbled-but, more importantly, more inspired than ever. So I will get on that plane, go back home, and get ready to get after it on behalf of all of you and all of the great things you do and fight for. Thank you so much, NFB." ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: The Scholarship Class of 2015: Back row, left to right: Mary Church, Liliya Asadullina, Bre Brown, LaShawna Fant, Sarah Katherina Meyer, Nefertiti Matos Olivares, Mark B. Myers II, Chase Crispin, Bryan Duarte, Dezman M. Jackson, and Tamika Williams. Center row: Douglas Alt, Karoll Sales, Michael Duane Ausbun II, Jason E. Polansky, Kelsi Watters, Hannah Werbel, Karen Arcos, Alexandra Leigh Engraf, and Miriam Lozneanu. Front row: Kaitlin Shelton, Katie M. Adkins, Chris K. Stewart, Crystal Plemmons, Kaitlyn Rae Kellermeyer, MarCh? TiShaun Daughtry, Annika Ariel, Robert (Tripp) Gulledge, Teri Stroschein, and Mary Abby Jusayan.] Meet the 2015 National Federation of the Blind Scholarship Class >From the Editor: With every passing year we recognize the increasing value of the National Federation of the Blind's scholarship program to our national organization. Members of previous scholarship classes stream back to take part in convention activities and assume responsibility, doing anything that they can see needs to be done, including serving as mentors during the following year for the members of the current scholarship class. Each July everyone looks forward to meeting the new scholarship class and to hearing what its members are doing now and planning to do in the future. This year's class had two tenBroek winners, meaning that they have been previous recipients of a National Federation of the Blind scholarship. In keeping with tradition, the first appearance of the class at a convention session occurred during the meeting of the board of directors. Members were introduced by Chair Patti Chang, who gave their names, their home states, and their school states. Here is what they said about themselves: Katie Adkins, Kentucky, Kentucky: Thank you, Madam Chair, and good morning, fellow Federationists. As several of you know by now, I'm in the second year of my master's at the University of Louisville in elementary education. Once I finish this degree, I plan on starting a PhD in education administration in hopes of becoming the first blind principal in Louisville, Kentucky. What many of you do not know by this point is one of the reasons why I will be the first. It is not because there haven't been other blind individuals who have come before me with those qualifications. It is because the district has established policies that make it impossible for blind people to be hired. The difference between me and these other individuals is that they backed down from these challenges, and I will not. Thank you. Douglas Alt, Michigan, Georgia: Hi, thank you for inviting me. My name is Douglas Alt. I grew up on an apple farm in western Michigan. I dreamed one day of carrying on the family farm. A car accident tragically changed that. I've since gone back to school; my new goal is to be a professor at Michigan State University in the horticulture department. I may not be able to sit behind the wheel of a tractor anymore, but I feel that with education and extension I can do my part to feed the world. Thank you very much. Karen Arcos, California, California: Good morning, everyone. My name is Karen Arcos, and I am a first-generation Southern Californian of Colombian and Mauritian descent. I earned my bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a Spanish minor from the University of Southern California this past spring. Also during my time at USC I was a co-founder of an experience-based support group and a mentoring program for visually impaired youth and their families in Southern California called Survive or Thrive. I now plan on pursuing a PhD program at the University of California-Irving in cognitive neuroscience, and I would like to thank the Scholarship Committee and all those involved in selecting me as a scholarship recipient in this year's cohort. Thank you. Annika Ariel, California, Massachusetts: Hi, everyone. It's really great to be here today. I just graduated high school about a month ago, and in the fall I'll be moving from sunny California to freezing-cold Massachusetts to attend Amherst College. I'm planning on double- or triple- majoring in English; political science; and another major they have called law, jurisprudence, and social thought. In the future I really want to be a disability rights attorney, so hopefully you'll see me here in about ten years. Liliya Asadullina, Pennsylvania, Colorado: Good morning, my Federation friends. I'm really happy to be here today thanks to the Scholarship Committee and President Riccobono. I was born in Russia. I immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when I was three due to cancer of the retinas. I immigrated here for medical treatment. Having this cancer (I had cancer twice) has made me a stronger person, and I am wanting to give back and help others in need. So I am majoring in integrative healthcare and minoring in pre-health in Denver, Colorado, at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I can't wait to open up doors for blind employees and to be able to work in the medical field successfully without discrimination. I just can't wait to make a difference in this world, so thank you for having me here. Michael Ausbun, Nevada, Nevada: Good morning, Federation family. Thank you to President Riccobono, the members of the board of directors, and the Nevada affiliate. I am honored and humbled to be here before you today. I am studying at the University of Nevada in Reno--which is not near Vegas. I am studying political science with an emphasis on public policy and philosophy, with the hope to earn my juris doctor degree and a PhD in philosophy and to go on to do policy advocacy for marginalized individuals, including blind people and other marginalized groups. This is a really special day for me, actually, because this day specifically marks the seventh month of me being in the Federation. Seven months ago I attended my state convention for the first time and was advised by Mr. Anil Lewis to apply for the scholarship, and I did so. The subsequent day I was elected to the student position of Nevada Association of Blind Students secretary. It followed that the second day of this convention I was elected to a board position for the national, so I'm here to stay for a while. I hope to assist in the development and establishment of a legacy and hope to continue the dream so that we can live the life we want. Thank you. Brianna (Bre) Brown, Texas, Texas: Good morning, Federation family. I am so excited to be here, and I would like to thank the Scholarship Committee for allowing me this opportunity. I am currently a junior at Texas State University studying special education. And outside of school I have had the proud honor of teaching for the past four summers at the Louisiana Center for the Blind for our summer programs and at our Houston BELL Program for the past three years with the exception of this year. I am extremely passionate about teaching blind children. I feel that blind children deserve an equal education, and I want to play a role in helping our blind students get the education they deserve and showing that they can live the life they want, just like I have learned. Thank you. Mary Church, California, California: Good morning, Federation family. My name is Mary Church, I'm from California. I'm at a community college right now, and hopefully in a couple-maybe two, two-and-a-half years-the Federation will be going to Stanford. I am a major in liberal arts right now, and then I will be moving into sports psychology. I am also a horse enthusiast, earning my license in equissage this summer. I am shooting for the stars with all of you because dreams do come true. I am so excited to be here. It is quite an honor to be with all these wonderful leaders and all of you. So thank you to the Scholarship Committee, thank you to President Riccobono and to everyone in my Federation family who has made this moment happen. Have a great convention, everyone, and I look forward to talking to you. Chase Crispin, Nebraska, Nebraska: Good morning. My name is Chase Crispin. I'm from Blair, Nebraska; I'm a recent high school graduate-I'm one of the young ones of the scholarship class this year. In the fall I will be attending Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, majoring in K-12 music education and minoring in Spanish. I plan to be a middle school (seventh and eighth grade level) band director and help students enrich their lives with music as I have been able to do. I am truly honored to be here and really excited to use the connections I am building this week at my first-ever NFB convention to make myself a much stronger student, teacher, and independent individual in the future. Thank you. MarCh? Daughtry, Virginia, Massachusetts: Good morning, my Federation family. I will actually be abandoning my home state to move to Massachusetts to go to school at Williams College. I will be majoring in women's studies and political science, with a double minor in African studies and justice and law studies. My long-term goal is to go to law school and earn a joint PhD and JD, and my even-longer-term goal is to help students in grades K-12 gain more access to Braille. I'd like to make Braille the go-to and a necessity--not a decision that is sometimes made too late--since Braille has changed my life, and I hope that it will be able to change the lives of every other blind child. I would like to thank my Federation family and the Scholarship Committee for helping me to live the life that I want, and I hope that everyone else will be able to do the same. Bryan Duarte, Arizona, Arizona: Hello, everyone. I am Bryan. I attend Arizona State University as a software engineering undergraduate and also graduate-I was accepted into the program as a four-plus-one, so I'll be taking my graduate studies with my last semesters of my undergrad. Instead of giving you all my resum? here today, I wanted to share with you my reason. It's a little philosophy I came up with, saying that leaders lead, servants serve, but it takes both to make change. As I stand here alongside my fellow scholars and with the leaders of the NFB behind me, I have to say this competition has already won with me being a servant for these leaders. I want to thank you all, and I'm looking forward to it. Alexandra Engraf, North Dakota, North Dakota: Good morning, everyone. Growing up on a farm in southwestern North Dakota, my parents instilled in me the concepts of compassion and hard work. And today I have definitely realized those are going to be concepts I use quite widely in my career, especially and specifically since I will be working in the human services field. But I have not shared with you yet why I do it. So, after an individual who was really significant in my life committed suicide, I decided that I wanted to be a counselor, focusing on suicide prevention and intervention in the university system with college students. So hopefully there I will use my compassion and hard work to make a change in this issue that I see, and I want to be the change. Thank you. LaShawna Fant, Mississippi, Mississippi: Good morning. My name is Lashawna Fant, and I am from a state in which two kings were born: the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, and the king of the blues, B. B. King. This fall I will attend Mississippi College and work toward obtaining a doctoral degree in counseling. Again I want to say from my heart that I appreciate this royal opportunity. Robert (Tripp) Gulledge, Alabama, Alabama: Howdy, y'all. Good morning, Federation family, thank you, President Riccobono and members of the board of directors. This is my first NFB scholarship and first convention, and I couldn't possibly have had more fun. I would also like to thank my state president, Ms. Joy Harris, whom you heard a little while ago. She obviously wrote me a really nice recommendation, and she's cool anyway. I have recently graduated high school--like some of the others I'm a baby. I'm headed to the loveliest village on the plains, Auburn University, this fall-War Eagle. I will be double-majoring in music performance and music education to teach first a little bit of high school, and then ultimately I'll pursue a doctoral degree and take a position at a university teaching music theory and directing wind bands. Thank you, and I'll be here all week-seriously. Dezman Jackson, Maryland, Online: Good morning, Madam Chair. Thank you, board of directors. I'm Dezman Jackson of Maryland. It is truly a humbling honor to be a part of such a distinguished group and to be with my Federation family. In addition to my duties at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, I will be continuing at the George Washington University with a master's in public health, concentrating on community health education and policy to help people live the healthy life they want to live. This truly has been a gift and an honor that I intend to keep giving away, being a part of the Federation. Join me in helping me to keep building the Federation. Thank you. Mary Abby Jusayan, Rhode Island, Rhode Island: Good morning, everyone. My name is Mary Abby. I was born in the Philippines, but now I live in Providence. I attend school at Rhode Island College, I'm a sophomore, my major is elementary education, and I strongly believe that the blind youth should be empowered and shown that blindness is not a limitation and does not dictate where you can go and what you can do. So I'm going to be a teacher for the blind, and, when I've graduated with my bachelor's, I will attend U Mass Boston, hopefully in a few years. This is my first convention as well; I'm really excited to be here, and I just want to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to be here. Kaitlyn Kellermeyer, Texas, Texas: Hello, everyone. As she said, my name is Kaitlyn Kellermeyer, and I'm an economics major at Texas A&M University. I'd like to start off by thanking the board and the committee for this amazing opportunity. Over the past year and a half that I've been a blind person, I've learned a lot about what it means to advocate for myself, and I've been able to be an advocate at my university as well. I'm hoping to go into the homeland security field because I really believe in the importance of professions and work that protect and empower people to live the lives that they want to live, even if they don't know who the people who are helping them do that are. So being here at my first NFB convention, it's been so wonderful to be able to see the ways in which this organization has protected and empowered the blind community so that we can go on to do amazing things and have opportunities like you've given me. So I just want to say thank you so much for everything that you've given to the blind community and to me, and I'm so excited to be here. Miriam Lozneanu, South Carolina, South Carolina: Hello, everyone. Good morning, NFB family. I am from Clemson University in South Carolina, and I am the first deaf-blind student, and my major is computer science. I really enjoy learning this, and it is my goal to make apps which provide easier communication and improve living for those who are deaf and deaf and blind. I am learning a great deal, and I want to learn about a better life, and I want that for everyone else as well. Thank you so much for choosing me for this scholarship, and enjoy your time here and meeting one another. Thank you. Nefertiti Matos (tenBroek Fellow), New York, New York: Good morning. I stand before you feeling extremely honored, privileged, humbled-oh my goodness, to be here once again. I am currently studying toward a bachelor's degree in community and human services with a double concentration in disability studies and mental health counseling. I am also an assistive technology instructor for the New York Public Library and a proud triathlon triathlete on a competitive level. I want to thank everyone who chose to believe in me yet again as I continue to forge meaning and identity through building upon this unstoppable, unparalleled, just amazing Federation. Thank you so much. Let's go! Sarah Meyer, Indiana, Indiana: Good morning. I feel so thankful and honored to get to be a part of this incredible, momentous event this week. I especially want to thank the members of the board of directors for allowing us this opportunity to speak, and I really want to thank the Scholarship Committee and the state affiliates of Indiana and Colorado for investing in my life in so many incredible ways so far. Being a part of the Federation the last few years has truly taught me the meaning of family and has helped me to learn so much about myself, including the fact that I love advocacy and love to advocate for others. I will be pursuing two master's degrees at Ball State University in Indiana. I will be studying counseling psychology and social psychology because I have a passion for instilling hope and compassion into those who are struggling. And I am grateful to the National Federation of the Blind for instilling its belief in me so that I can instill that belief in others. Thank you. Mark Myers II, Missouri, Missouri: Hi, everybody. My name is Mark Myers, and, as she said, I'm from Missouri. I will be attending Missouri University of Science and Technology in the fall, starting a double major in computer science and electrical engineering. I owe so much to the NFB. I actually got involved with the NFB when I was in seventh grade with the Law Program back in 2009 and then again in the 2011 Youth Slam and the Project Innovation and STEMX. I've just had so much experience with the amazingness of the NFB, and I am just so grateful for everything that they have done for me. Thank you. Crystal Plemmons, North Carolina, North Carolina: Hello, everyone. It is a privilege to be here. I am a senior at Western Carolina University. I am majoring in English literature with a minor in professional writing. I am going to go on to get at least a master's degree, and then hopefully I will be able to work at my dream job of teaching English at a community college. There are two major things that I want to get done: one is to show everyone in my community, or to keep showing them, I should say, that blindness doesn't stop me from doing anything I want to do, and the other thing is to go out and show other blind people in my area that they can do the same thing. Thank you. Jason Polansky, Maryland, Pennsylvania: Good morning, Federationists. My name is Jason Polansky. I grew up in the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland, and I graduated from high school in 2014 (last year). I knew that before college I needed some good foundational skills of blindness, so I went to the Louisiana Center for the Blind and graduated last month. Then I had the great pleasure and opportunity of working in the Buddy Program teaching technology and being a mentor and positive role model for middle school students. In the fall I plan to attend Messiah College in Pennsylvania. I have a lot of different interests, so I'm going to go in an undecided for now and explore, but I just want to thank my state president, Sharon Maneki, President Riccobono, all of the great mentors who I've had the pleasure to meet and get to know and learn from, and my Federation family as a whole. Thank you. Karolline Sales, Louisiana, Louisiana: [Chairman Chang was worried about her pronunciation of Karolline's name, so her beginning comments are directed at telling Patti Chang she had mastered the pronunciation.] Bom dia, good morning. She always does a very good-a great-job saying my name, and she's-shall I say she's not just doing a great job, but it's perfect, so you don't need to worry about that. It's a great pleasure. Guys, I always had dreams, and I always did everything to achieve my dreams, but I could never imagine that this time it would be so perfect, really. Because this country got [welcomed] me with wide-open arms and not only the country but at the Louisiana Center for the Blind where-whoo!-where I took my training for a year, and Pam Allen, Ms. Pam Allen-thank you for everything. Also, right away after finishing my training, I stepped into teaching at the BELL Program, the little cute kids. After that the Buddy Program, where I helped with translation from English to Spanish, and now I have my students here and counselors for the STEP Program, it's very exciting. I took my undergraduate degree in Brazil in languages and arts, my postgraduate degree in accessibility, and now I'm planning to get my master's at Louisiana Tech in rehab teaching, about which I'm very excited. So again, thank you, Patti Chang; the committee; Ms. Pam Allen; Ms. Bethel Murphy, who helped me apply-[applause] yeah, she deserves that. Thank you to everybody for making my dream come true. Good luck, and have a great convention. Kaitlin Shelton, (tenBroek Fellow), Ohio, Ohio: Good morning, everyone, and thank you so much to the Scholarship Committee . I'm really humbled and honored, and it's a pleasure to be in such a talented scholarship class this year. I am a senior music therapy major at the University of Dayton, and my goal is to work in a pediatric hospital using music's ability to accomplish nonmusical goals and overcome physical, language, and other barriers. I hope to ease discomfort for my patients as well as to help them gain the confidence to live the lives they want. I recently returned from a ten-day service trip for music therapy and music education students in Jamaica, where I did some clinical work in infirmaries and a school for children with special needs. This experience showed me that the NFB's conviction that no one should be ashamed of their disability or feel that they have a hindrance in their life is totally true and especially so for people in a third-world country. So in the Federation I am only growing stronger in this belief, and I am president of the Ohio Association of Blind Students currently. I aspire to do much more in the future, and I am so thankful and grateful to the mentors I have had thus far who have enriched my life so much. I totally intend to pay it forward in my career and in the Federation. Thank you so much, and have a great convention. Christopher Stewart, Kentucky, Kentucky: I've never said this before; I'm a bit nervous, but let's see how it feels. Good morning, my Federation family. Feels pretty good-I look forward to saying it for many years to come. This is my first convention. My name is Chris Stewart, and I'm a third-year law student at the University of Kentucky. When I first spoke with Cathy Jackson a little bit over two years ago now, I got the feeling that something was going on in this organization. And as I attended my state convention, I got the feeling that a little bit more was going on in this organization. And now that I'm here at the National Convention, I've found out that there is way more going on in this organization than I could have ever imagined. I've met so many incredible people, so many incredible mentors, and to all the members of the Scholarship Committee, to every single one of you who has donated your time, your efforts, or to all of you who aren't involved in the Scholarship Committee and have ever given contributions to the fund or to the general fund, thank you so much for making this possible. I'll leave you with an anecdote rather than going through my resum?-I'd be happy to give one to you. I have them in large print, and I'll Braille one if you want. But I'm the first blind member of the law review in the 105-year history of the publication, and, when the academic dean told me that, he said "How does that feel? That's a pretty remarkable accomplishment." I thought about it, and I thought: you know, what's more important, and what I've learned from this Federation, what's far more important than being the first blind person to do anything is to make sure that I'm not the last blind person. Thank you all so much; I look forward to meeting as many of you as I possibly can. Thank you. Teri Stroschein, Oregon, Oregon: Good morning, board of directors and Federationists. I'm Teri Stroschein; I'm from Oregon. I firstly want to thank everybody in the Federation for all of the work that they've done to date because that's what's positioned me well for my future. Thank you very much. I lost my vision a couple years ago after completing my nineteenth year of teaching high school math. I love the high school environment, but I decided it was time for a change, so I'm currently pursuing a degree in school counseling at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. I'm really excited about what my future presents, I thank you for your support in letting me pursue my dreams, and I hope to help tomorrow's youth and today's youth pursue theirs. Kelsi Watters, Wisconsin, Minnesota: Good morning. My name is Kelsi Watters, and I believe in building bridges. I am a senior at St. Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona, where I am currently studying psychology and pastoral and youth ministry with the future goal of becoming a spiritual counselor. I have already built and crossed several bridges in my life, some exciting, some challenging, and some both. I am doing a double internship this summer, the first part of which is at Franciscan Mayo in La Crosse, and the second remaining half at Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Minocqua, Wisconsin. I am truly honored to be here with my Federation family, building a bridge for a better future for the blind community. I'd like you to know that this scholarship is coming at a truly gift of a time for me. In December my brother was in an accident in which he sustained a traumatic brain injury. Kyle is on the road to recovery, and he is working hard. If Kyle can build the bridge to his own recovery, it almost seems fair and easy that I should build my own bridge with the support of my Federation family for a better future for the blind community. Thank you. Hannah Werbel, Washington, Washington: Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for this opportunity again. This is an amazing organization. I've just recently graduated from high school and will be a freshman at the University of Washington this upcoming fall, studying electrical engineering. My goal is to be working on cutting-edge technology and to show that there is room for the blind in this ever-growing field. I've actually already had the opportunity to work on research through a fellowship program I was in last summer where the software I created is still being used to analyze data from research experiments. I've had the opportunity to talk to the National Science Foundation about my research and am now possibly going to be an author on a scientific publication, which is pretty cool to do before entering college. It just goes to show that we are just as capable as anybody else, and anybody can do anything as long as they put their mind to it. Thank you. Tamika Williams, Alabama, Alabama: Good morning, Federation family. I'm so proud to be able to call all of you my Federation family for about ten years now, and I want to be able to call you that for a long time. If I had to choose one word to describe myself, it would be "tenacious." I am very determined, strong-willed, and persistent. I'm sure Ms. Joy Harris and my local president, Ms. Minnie Walker, could back me up on that one. I'm very active in my state and local affiliate, and I'm ready to give all of that to the national level. I am going to the University of South Alabama to pursue a degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in human services. My short-term goal is to be a social worker with blind services, and my long-term goal is to become an entrepreneur. Thank you. At the banquet Chair Patti Chang made the following remarks: I thought that since we are celebrating our seventy-fifth convention and our fiftieth year of awarding national scholarships that I would take the time to share some of the history of the program with you and some of the facts that I find fascinating. We have given away 902 scholarships since 1965. Total monetary awards have exceeded $3 million. The highest dollar scholarship we have awarded was the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship. It was first awarded in 2000, it was given in the amount of $21,000, and it was awarded to Angela Sasser. This $21,000 scholarship was awarded in recognition of the new century. It was the first time we renamed the Action Fund scholarship in recognition of Dr. Jernigan. The second-highest scholarship we have ever given was called the Distinguished Scholar, it was awarded in 1991, and it was awarded in the amount of $20,000 to our own Pam Allen. The very first scholarships were given out in 1965, and they were awarded to Jeffrey Henry Diket of North Carolina and Joyce R. Fields of Arizona. We gave two separate payments of $150 each. Now that's actually equivalent to receiving $2,257.80 in 2015 dollars. The longest-running scholarship was named after Howard Brown Rickard. It lasted for forty-five years, from 1965 through 2010. It was originally established by a bequest from Thomas Rickard in honor of his father. Thomas was a longtime Federationist who practiced law in Lander, Wyoming. Interestingly enough the income from his practice and his interest in mines constituted the principle for the bequest. He attended school in California, and he in fact was taught by Dr. tenBroek at the University of California. The first scholarship application only required transcripts and a 250- word essay. We did not require proof of blindness. The first year we required convention attendance was 1971. A tenBroek Fellow is a student who has won more than one national scholarship. There have been fifty-seven tenBroek Fellows. It seems that the first reference to tenBroek Fellows is found in the 1996 Braille Monitor, and no tenBroek Fellow has ever won a third scholarship. The state with the most tenBroek Fellows, appropriately, is California. They have seven. The first year that Ray Kurzweil presented the winners with additional awards was 2000. At the time Peggy Elliott said, "Dr. Kurzweil, as you can tell, was a friend of Dr. Jernigan. In honor and in memory of Dr. Jernigan, he will add to the money I've already told you about." Finally, the committee has had only six chairpersons in its fifty- year history. This year we, the National Federation of the Blind, are awarding $124,000 in scholarships, but that's not all. We expend many resources to develop the next generation of leaders. In the scholarship program we use human capital in mentoring our scholarship finalists, and of course we use monetary resources in assisting our scholarship finalists to attend our convention. So allow me to present to you our fiftieth scholarship class. [PHOTO CAPTION: Brianna (Bre) Brown] After the scholarship class was introduced and the amount of each award was announced, Ms. Brianna (Bre) Brown was invited to address the convention in recognition of her winning the $12,000 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship presented by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults. Here is what she said: Good evening, Federationists. I am truly honored to be the recipient of the Kenneth Jernigan scholarship. I would like to thank the Scholarship Committee for all of their hard work, dedication, and belief in us. I would also like to thank my friends and family for all of the support that they have given me over the years. About seven years ago I felt confused and worried, but that was only until a few of our dear Federation family members came into my life and truly showed me the possibilities for blind people. Shortly after I joined, I was strongly encouraged to attend the Louisiana Center for the Blind. By attending LCB, this helped me to build the skills, confidence, and self-advocacy that I would need to be successful in my life. It is because of all of you and our empowering organization and everything that we have accomplished over these past seventy-five years that I stand before you today with the opportunity to live the life I want. Thank you. 2015 Scholarship Program Awards won: $3,000 NFB Awards: Katie Adkins, Douglas Alt, Karen Arcos, Annika Ariel, Liliya Asadullina, Michael Ausbun, Mary Church, Bryan Duarte, Alexandra Engraf, Robert Gulledge, Miriam Lozneanu, Nefertiti Matos, Mark Myers II, Crystal Plemmons, Jason Polansky, Christopher Stewart, and Kelsi Watters. $3,000 Adrienne Asch Memorial Scholarship: MarCh? Daughtry $3,000 Charles and Melva T. Owen Scholarship: Tamika Williams $3,000 E.U. and Gene Parker Scholarship: LaShawna Fant $3,000 Lillian S. Edelstein Scholarship for the Blind: Teri Stroschein $3,000 Pearson Award: Dezman Jackson $5,000 Larry Streeter Memorial Scholarship: Mary Abby Jusayan $5,000 NFB Awards: Chase Crispin, Karolline Sales, and Kaitlin Shelton $8,000 Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in Computer Science: Hannah Werbel $8,000 Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in STEM: Kaitlyn Kellermeyer $10,000 Charles and Melva T. Owen Scholarship: Sarah Meyer $12,000 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship (funded by the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults): Brianna Brown >From the Editor: It is wonderful when the winner of one of our scholarships is able to realize and articulate the primary benefit that is found in the opportunity in winning a scholarship from the National Federation of the Blind. Here is a thank you letter from one of the members of the class of 2015. Hi Patti: I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your hard work on the Scholarship Committee to make convention such a wonderful experience for all of us. I know you put in many hours of hard work, and I truly appreciate it. I admit that I had no idea what to expect from my first convention and first real exposure to the NFB, but convention was one of the most amazing experiences that I have had. Our scholarship class really connected, found unique values and ideas to share, and bonded. I made many new friends that I will keep in touch with for years to come. Before convention I felt like I was going at many of these things alone-I did not know of anyone else who was blind and studying music education or who was teaching sighted students. I learned so much from each of my mentors and meetings such as the blind educators division and the musicians group gave me so many ideas. I left the convention with pages and pages of notes on my Braille Sense that will be extremely beneficial to me in the future. It was an honor to have this experience. The money will, of course, be a huge help and make it possible for me to avoid taking out a student loan this year. Though the money is awesome and truly appreciated, the people I met and the connections I made will be so much more valuable to me long-term. I would have never expected to learn so much in just a few days, to find so many new friends, or feel so motivated and empowered by the ideas I discovered. I'm so thankful to you and all members of the Scholarship Committee for making this possible not only for me but for all of us in the 2015 scholarship class. Other experiences, including meeting Mr. Kurzweil, just made the convention experience perfect. I am planning to return to convention next year with a few others from this year's scholarship class, and I am also planning to run for a board or officer position in the Nebraska Association of Blind Students. In Nebraska, youth are not encouraged to join the NFB. I always knew NFB existed but did not know just how much I could learn from other members. Our towns are spread far enough apart here that each district with a blind student reinvents the wheel on many simple issues. I hope NABS can connect students and teachers in the state to share these ideas and get youth into the organization to find mentors for their long-term goals just as I did at convention. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to grow as an individual and realize how much support is out there. I hope you have recovered from convention and that we will meet again next year. Please pass along my greetings and thank you to the Scholarship Committee and to Ms. Dyer as well. They were all awesome! Do you happen to have an address where I could send a thank you to Mr. Kurzweil for his generous contributions to the scholarship package? Thanks again, and please keep in touch. Sincerely, Chase Crispin ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono] The Federation at Seventy-Five: The Determination of Value and the Reflection of Hope An Address Delivered by Mark A. Riccobono at the Banquet of the Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind Orlando, Florida July 10, 2015 Value is a broad concept used to measure the worth of a resource, product, service, or a combination of these. Many theories have been offered through the centuries to help explain both the objective and subjective value that people place on things and on each other. The consideration of value began with the ancient philosophers attempting to apply a logical framework. In contrast the modern investigation, broadly known as value theory, is empirical research that involves concepts from psychology, sociology, and economics. Value is often inherent, and frequently it is changed by outside forces. Likewise, the diminishment of value is often established by compounding forces that have no true relationship to inherent value. Both research and experience have illuminated the fact that value is frequently determined by psychological perception, artificial control, and historical patterns rather than true economic influences that should drive value in the competitive marketplace. Take, for example, the unique covalent bonding of carbon atoms. Carbon itself is readily available in the environment, being the sixth-most- abundant element in the universe. When carbon atoms are under enormous pressure for a significant period of time, the atoms bond with each other to form one of the toughest substances on Earth-the diamond. While diamonds have been praised for centuries, their status as a common commodity having both economic and emotional value is very recent. Until the late nineteenth century worldwide diamond production was measured only in pounds. The discovery of abundant diamond mines in South Africa quickly flooded the market with tons of the unique gem. The financiers of the mines recognized that these discoveries threatened the perceived value of the gem, so they sought to tightly control the flow of diamonds to the market in order to create value through scarcity. In 1888 De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. was established to control the value of diamonds around the world. Compared to other commodities such as gold, silver, and grain, whose value has fluctuated due to economic pressures, diamonds have steadily increased in market value since the Great Depression. De Beers achieved this stability by controlling demand as well as supply. Beginning in the late 1930s, an aggressive advertising campaign was developed to create an emotional connection to the diamond. Love and commitment became symbolized through the diamond, and it was popularized as the true expression of romantic courtship. It was not long before some measured the depth of love in a relationship by the size of the diamond offered. Educational programs, diamond placements with celebrities, and strategically positioned newspaper articles added value to paid advertising, and the result was an entire generation of lovers who emotionally understood that the diamond was forever. In the 1960s when new supplies of smaller diamonds from Siberia threatened to diminish the market value, the advertising machinery shifted the messaging from the diamond's size to strengthening the emotional connection to the other aspects of the gem-color, cut, and clarity. The diamond stands as a symbol of value and a shining example of the interplay among psychology, sociology, and economics in determining value. As we come to the diamond anniversary banquet of the National Federation of the Blind, I find myself wondering about value, our value, and how it has evolved over time. Sometimes the story is similar to that of the diamond, but sometimes it is distinctly different. As we join together tonight to consider our past and to contemplate our future, we know with certainty how our value is determined and where our hope and energy are restored. For just as the diamond exhibits value, so does the National Federation of the Blind shine with love, hope, and determination as a collective reflection of the value each blind person brings to our movement. Like the individual carbon atoms, under pressure we have bonded together in love and faith to demonstrate to ourselves and to others that we have value-we are the blind, we have come to celebrate, and we will let our value shine. We are the National Federation of the Blind. Diamonds are created out of individual carbon atoms being placed under intense pressure for a long period of time. Similarly, for nearly all of history prior to the founding of our organization in 1940, blind people faced tremendous suppression of our true value to society. The earliest humans learned that the night-the absence of the ability to see clearly-was something to be feared. Blind people at best were left to be beggars in developing communities. At worst, blind people were left to die or were exterminated outright in order to relieve society of the cost associated with the tragedy of blindness. In the late middle ages a greater enlightenment prevailed, and provisions were made to care for the unfortunate blind through almshouses and other segregated institutions. These provisions were not meant to maximize our potential, provide meaningful training, or bring us into the mainstream of society. Thus the pressure continued to build, society perpetuated the notion that the blind had little value, and we as blind people came to internalize that misunderstanding. The establishment of institutions to support the blind helped to consolidate the marketplace for measuring the value of the blind in society. While their original intentions may have been out of kindness, the institutions became dependent on having blind people within their walls and selling the message that the blind had some capacity as long as they were under the right care. Success was not measured by how much value they added to the blind but rather how much value they added to society by taking care of the unfortunate blind so that others would not need to bother. If blind people were successful through their own means rather than the support of a benevolent agency, they were portrayed as amazing and unusual in order to perpetuate the message that the blind are inherently less valuable than the rest of society. While the diamond industry was based on enhanced value, the blindness service industry was based on suppressed value. Diamonds are forever, but the blind are forever in need of help. There was no hope of changing the determination of the value of the blind until we, the blind of this nation, chose to build a new model. A diamond is an extremely tough substance that requires special tools to be cut. The job of cutting is much easier and exponentially more effective when another diamond is used to do the work. As blind people in the United States of America began to explore the value we could offer, we found fault in the limits that had been placed upon us. Blind people found opportunities to come together with other blind people, and they established state-based organizations where the blind first began to understand the power of collective action. In the state of California Dr. Newel Perry was the chief diamond cutter who gave shape to the first leaders of the organized blind movement. Dr. Perry, a teacher by instinct and mathematician by training, knew from his own difficult experience the tremendous struggle a blind person must endure in order to demonstrate true value. He dedicated his life to helping the blind of the next generation learn that value was not measured by the degree of vision in their eyes, but rather by the degree of determination, education, and heart they possessed. Among the rough diamonds that Dr. Perry cut was Jacobus tenBroek, who called on the blind of this nation to establish a vehicle for collective action-the National Federation of the Blind. The birth of our organization in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in November of 1940 was a turning point in the value of the blind throughout the world. In his address to that first gathering of Federationists, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, the twenty-nine-year-old junior instructor at the University of Chicago Law School and first long-term President of our organization, said in part: Individually, we are scattered, ineffective, and inarticulate, subject alike to the oppression of the social worker and the arrogance of the governmental administrator. Collectively, we are the masters of our own future and the successful guardians of our own common interests. Let one speak in the name of many who are prepared to act in his support, let the democratically elected blind representatives of the blind act as spokesmen for all, let the machinery be created to unify the action and concentrate the energies of the blind of the nation. The inherent justice of our cause and the good will of the public will do the rest. The first phase of our movement was to convince each other that we had value and that, together, we could expand that value. Our first challenge was to bring together enough blind people who believed in their inherent value that we could mobilize the tools of our new organization. Our early leaders sacrificed what little they had in the way of money and gave generously of their time to find blind people, one by one, and to share what we had found. Our coming together reflected our hope for the future; our steady success strengthened our determination; and our increased understanding of what we could do, individually and collectively, began to raise our expectations and to accelerate the pace of progress. In those early days our primary national initiative was to secure a basic level of public investment in our value by ensuring that the implementation of the federal social security program did not disadvantage blind people. While gaining a basic level of support took a lot of time, energy, and what few resources we had, the Federation was not satisfied to wait until one problem was solved before working on the next. A review of notes from the first conventions of the organization reveals discussions of ways to bring effective rehabilitation programs to states and of new ideas for aggressive outreach to help the blind secure meaningful employment. Dr. tenBroek, like his mentor, was passionate about teaching other blind people about their inherent value, but he was equally energetic and articulate in communicating the Federation's message to the general public-using both written and oral media to change the understanding of blindness in our society. Shortly after the blind of our nation united in recognition of our value, we began to feel the urgent desire to grow and cultivate that value in the second phase of our movement. While the work of the first phase continued, the second phase was marked by more aggressive efforts to get the blind into meaningful employment and to showcase our value through innovative training programs and meaningful public policies that were based on our philosophy. It was in this creative and disruptive time that the established agencies for the blind that had for decades controlled our value and determined our direction began to take us seriously and pushed back. The agencies for the blind had controlled both the demand and the supply for our talents, but our organization challenged the entire premise on which the agencies built their value. For today's generation of blind people, it is hard to imagine the dramatic influence of the agencies and the deep resentment for the Federation that characterized the environment for blind people across the country in the 1950s. For our brothers and sisters who faced the conditions at that time, the pressure was overwhelming. In 1957 the struggle had become so fierce that the Federation caused John F. Kennedy, then the junior senator from Massachusetts, to introduce a bill to protect the right of the blind to act collectively in our own best interest. That the protection of this very fundamental right would be a priority of the blind of America speaks to how powerful the agencies were and how little the blind were valued in many parts of our nation. We faced struggles in the late fifties that challenged our toughness and commitment. At the beginning we were a small corps of blind people seeking to build value for each other. Two short decades later we were a powerful movement that a small group, emboldened by the agencies, desired to control for their own self-interests. This period of instability- sometimes referred to as the civil war-helped solidify our organizational values and deepen our commitment to securing an authentic organization of the blind. From the perspective of seventy-five years, the period of internal struggle within the Federation is relatively small. Yet the core values that we strengthened at that time-democracy, collective action, respect, full participation, love for one another, and a commitment to sharing our resources-have contributed significantly to the fifty-plus years of our movement since that time. We have established stability, which has fed growth, which has created a base of power from which we can demonstrate our value to society. We are the blind, and we intend to let our value shine. Knowing our value and finding innovative methods for cultivating that value are not enough to succeed when the marketplace creates an unequal environment for our participation. Thus the third phase of our movement-the struggle for civil rights-can be thought of as the work to ensure our value is fairly tested in the marketplace. During this phase of our movement, we took to the streets to tell all who would listen that "we know who we are and we will never go back." We joined our second great President, Kenneth Jernigan, as he invited us to join him on the barricades to fight for our equality. Dr. Jernigan, a courageous and thoughtful man, personally helped raise a generation of leaders by instilling our philosophy into the blindness training programs in the state of Iowa, which became a model for the nation as well as the rest of the world. As more blind people learned of our movement and the value we were cultivating, our ranks grew. While we fought against the pressures, we built new connections, shared with each other, and discovered new opportunities. We were diamonds cutting diamonds, and we reflected a message of hope. Within our struggle for civil rights, a generation of Federationists grew up together. Bonds were formed on the picket lines and during organizing trips to new states. As our scope and influence grew, we strengthened the understanding that the critical element in our organizational success is that the work is personal to each of us. In his first recorded Presidential Release in November 1973, President Jernigan made it clear that he hoped that providing information in recorded rather than written form would not only accelerate the pace of communication within the organization but also convey more of the personal feelings and commitment that were reflected when Federationists got together. It is not surprising that the most confrontational time of our struggle for civil rights was also one of the most dramatic periods of bonding together. The organization that was established by the blind of President tenBroek's generation, and that was cultivated by the second generation under President Jernigan, developed the characteristic of being as much a family as it was a powerful member- and mission-driven organization. As we came into the third generation of the Federation, one forever marked by the character, strength, and caring of the Federation's next and longest-serving President, Marc Maurer, we did not lose any of the momentum we had built. The need still existed to teach each other about our inherent value, to push back on society's attempt to limit our value through messages of low expectations, and to find new ways to exercise that value. Although more possibility for collaboration with agencies for the blind existed, the need to eliminate the barriers preventing us from equality of opportunity in society felt as urgent as ever. Under the proactive leadership of President Maurer, the true diversity and reach of the Federation began to flourish. The expansion of our scholarship program; the establishment of our model training centers in Louisiana, Colorado, and Minnesota; the growth of our programs in employment, education, and technology; the increased reach of our public education; the improved effectiveness of our legislative and policy advocacy; and the execution of a bold litigation strategy were the result of a growing corps of leaders who, like their mentors, sacrificed to further cultivate value. As the personal bonds began to be formed less on the picket lines and more in the board rooms, our President responded with an aggressive program of leadership development across the Federation. Diamonds need to be cut by diamonds, and care and planning must take place. Under President Maurer as many as a thousand leaders have received direct mentoring and guidance from the Federation's chief executive, not to mention the tens of thousands who continue to benefit from his writings and innovative ideas as they are reflected around the world. Our President opened his family to us, and we continued to challenge our own thinking as he challenged his. The Federation is personal. Rarely do organizations with the reach and depth of the Federation have chief executives with engagement throughout their organization. The Federation is built on a bond that we, the blind, are in this together and that the cultivation of our value demands our knowing each other, sharing with each other, and pushing each other to test the limits of our value. It is this last element-testing the limits of our value-that has characterized the next and current phase of our movement. We have come together to determine our value and to reflect our hope; we have pushed against the institutional and social pressures that suppressed our value; we have cultivated value and put it to work; and we have implemented an aggressive program to eliminate the barriers that prevent us from giving our full value. While this is a great start, our work is not done. We have not reached the limits of our value. Are we inherently limited by blindness, or can we continue to expand the horizons? Have we discovered all of the barriers that stand in our way, or are there still real and perceived obstacles preventing us from showing our full potential? Are we as blind people doing our part to maximize that value, or do we continue to fall into the limits of low expectations? Or, to say it another way, are we truly living the lives we want and letting our value shine? It is in this current phase of exploration that I have come to know our movement. Almost twenty years ago I first came into our convention hall and felt the lift of spirit, the charged determination, and the reflection of hope that I had not experienced anywhere else. It is in this setting-a place we have created for each other-that I came to understand how I had put limits on my value, how the outside forces had artificially limited that value, and how we could mobilize the tools to change the determination of our value. I was shaped by leaders of the Federation and by the work in my home community on local, state, and national priorities of the blind. I have found that the more value I put into the work of our movement, the more value I cultivate in my own life through my enhanced understanding of blindness-what it is and what it is not. I continue to be sharpened by my active participation in the Federation. For me, as I am confident is true for you, this movement has always been personal-and that is why I am a Federationist. We now find ourselves in our seventy-fifth year. Although our movement has been tremendously successful, we do not yet have equality in the marketplace. Equally important, some of us-maybe those who are here for the first time or those blind people we have not yet found-are still uncertain about our own value. Others of us, including me, have received some of the best mentoring of any generation of blind people in history. The question for us is will we settle for the value we have derived from those who came before us, or will we continue to take the risks, make the sacrifices, and test the limits to further increase our value? I am prepared to take those risks, make those sacrifices, and test those limits. Are you prepared to make our value shine? It is said that a rough diamond is pure risk and pure potential. The rough diamond by itself has value, but, if expertly cut, the true beauty is able to show and the gem's value is significantly increased in the marketplace. Yet, in the cutting, value can be lost, mistakes can be made, and the result can be failure. In the absence of trying, there is no risk, but the potential is limited. However, the risk turns into value when the cutting is done by a caring and knowledgeable craftsman. It is also said that diamonds are a girl's best friend. I will let you draw your own parallels between that statement and the value provided by a soulmate who happens to be blind. I have been blessed in my life to find a partner who is a true diamond-my wife Melissa-and we have been fortunate to have three beautiful children who have grown up in the Federation. Our youngest daughter, Elizabeth, is three years old, and she is blind. A couple of months ago the local school district convened a meeting to talk about what type of services Elizabeth might receive. They explained that, because she does not currently have any deficits due to her blindness, she may not be eligible to receive blindness-related services under an individualized education program. Does this mean that her value is so high that they believe they cannot enhance her education any further? No, in fact, the entire premise of "special education" is an attempt to add value to those perceived as having less value than their peers. Without an IEP the school district would likely not provide an educational environment that is authentic to Elizabeth-for example including Braille-until she has suffered long enough under pressure to develop deficits compared to her sighted peers. Once the self-fulfilling pattern of low expectations has been allowed to unfold as designed, then and only then might the district provide those specialized services needed to bring value to this unfortunate child. Elizabeth's story is not rare. Hundreds of blind children and their families face this struggle every year under the pressure of special education programs that suppress rather than enhance the value these children have to offer. The same is true in other areas of our society. Our universities go to great lengths to show us that they are excellent places to add value to our lives. Yet the average blind person faces barriers at every turn. Inaccessible college applications, broken financial aid systems, barrier- filled course selection and registration programs, second-class student housing information, unmanageable learning management platforms, difficult library databases, incomplete electronic books, and segregated course collaboration tools all limit the talents of blind learners rather than unlock their potential and fuel their quest for knowledge. The university administrators say they have done the best they can, but the evidence demonstrates otherwise. We know that the blind have value and that these systems can and should be built to maximize the value of all students, not just those who generally access information with their eyes. Education should be about the cultivation of knowledge rather than the perpetuation of low expectations. Similarly, some rehabilitation agencies fight against blind students pursuing quality adjustment-to-blindness training by offering a second-rate and less expensive substitute. The personnel in those same agencies throw up their hands when blind people say they want to be an engineer, a scientist, or a medical professional. These careers add value to our society, and the agency personnel have learned the traditional message that blind people have little value to offer. The inconsistency cannot be resolved in their own minds, especially when their agency adopts policies to put distance between the counselors and the blind clients they are there to serve. Then there are the employers who struggle to find committed and qualified workers to carry out their business. They might want to hire people who are blind, but the value is hidden by the market. The traditional employers of the disabled, especially those hiding behind their nonprofit status, continue to spin the narrative about how the blind do not create as much value as others, and therefore they must be paid less than the minimum wage offered to the rest of society. The story always reaches the same climax, "Do not worry," they say, "Because if you do not hire these people, we have plenty of good will to offer them." Our great nation, built on equality and opportunity, has for more than seventy-five years resigned itself to the notion that the blind have less value than others; and our government has institutionalized this in the form of unequal work for unequal pay. If that were not painful enough, when we seek to make the world better by giving our energy, our time, and our love to our families and to our children, we are told we do not supply enough value. After seventy-five years of progress, blind mothers, blind fathers, and sometimes even blind grandparents are told by social service agencies and by the courts that there is just too much risk in having a child in their custody. Has the measure of love ever been related to the distance one can see? Has the strength of commitment ever been dependent on the field of vision? Does the quality of care diminish when blindness comes? From the bottom of our hearts, the clear answer to these outdated questions is no. Unlike diamonds, which are a commodity under the control of a consortium, we own the rights to our future, and we intend to let our value shine. We, the members of this organization, are the single most powerful force in determining the value of our participation in the marketplace. That is a tremendous risk and a tremendous opportunity. If we stop where we are-settling for the progress we have made-we will most certainly lose the value we have gained and fail to realize our potential. But we will not stop, we will not settle, the future will be ours. Our history over the past seventy-five years gives us the tools we need to march confidently into the future. With this foundation we will build a future in which blind children will have their skills and abilities fairly tested. Through our work the testing agencies will eliminate inaccessible testing instruments that place artificial limits on our youth, and we will establish dynamic education programs that enhance the value these young people possess. We will build a future where a newly blind woman in the prime of her working years can get access to timely and quality training that allows her to continue in her chosen profession. Through our work we will raise expectations among rehabilitation professionals, provide greater leadership in the programs to train these professionals, and strengthen the connections between the professionals and the powerful information network that is the National Federation of the Blind. We will build a future where the blind can travel independently to any destination they choose with a spring of hope in their step. Through our work we will establish new and dynamic ways to teach the members of the general public that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us and that unwanted grabbing and unsolicited interventions diminish rather than enhance the value of our interactions in society. We will build a future in which the blind may choose not to walk but rather to pilot their own vehicles independently. Through our work, the blind will be included in the early development of new transportation systems, and our perspective will add value to the general evolution of transportation for all. We will build a future in which a blind father will be deemed a suitable guardian for his children based only on his plans to provide for his family, his demonstrated ability to care for those around him, and his heartfelt expressions of love and support. Through our work social service agencies will find high value in the tools and techniques that blind parents use to care for their loved ones daily, and the judges will make custody decisions with the understanding that blindness does not hold us back. We will build a future in which we spend more time talking about innovation than inequality. We will build a future in which you and I belong, in which we add value, and in which we achieve great things. We will build a future that will match our dreams only if we continue to build the National Federation of the Blind. A new framework for determining value exists, and it is strengthened as we live the lives we want. We have learned about our value, and we have bonded together to share that value. Although the pressure continues, we have toughened our resolve, we reflect the hope of our experience, and we have broken down many of the barriers in the marketplace. We have not yet found the limits of our value, and we intend to continue to explore our potential. We are diamonds, cut by generations of diamonds, and we have taken up the tools to cultivate our value. For too long our value has been suppressed, and we cannot take the pressure anymore. For Elizabeth; for the blind students struggling to overcome artificial barriers in their universities; for the blind people facing the low expectations of misguided rehabilitation professionals; for the blind workers whose value is being exploited by outdated employers; for the blind caregivers whose hearts are trampled by misconceptions; for the newly blind who have not yet discovered their value; and for us, all of us, the blind, bonded together in faith-we will determine our value, live our value, and continue to expand the limits of that value through the unstoppable engine of hope that is the National Federation of the Blind. President tenBroek described the unique element of our organization very powerfully when he noted that our organization is built on a faith that can move mountains and mount movements. For Dr. tenBroek it was personal. And so it has been for each of us who come to contribute to this organization. I find it extremely humbling to stand at this diamond anniversary and to consider how we continue to build value for the next twenty-five years. The rough diamond, by itself, is pure risk and pure potential. With the right care, skilled polishing, and enhancement of a complementary setting, the diamond's beauty can shine and the risk is turned into great value. We have taught each other that we are all diamonds. We have given each other the tools to unlock our value and to reflect the spirit of hope we experience in the Federation. The diamonds that have made us what we are have enriched our value. It is now left to us to carry that value into the future and to enhance it in a way that even we cannot imagine today. Tonight I invite you to share with me in celebrating our accomplishments by recommitting ourselves to the bond that we hold together in our organization and to take up the tools to cut a bright future. My brothers and my sisters, we are the blind, and we have bonded together. We have built a legacy of hope and determination. We work today with love and commitment. And we welcome tomorrow with faith and imagination. We have learned our value, and we will not give it back; we have taught each other to explore the limits, and we have not found the boundaries; we have cultivated the power of our collective action, and we will not release the bond of hope. Let us go shine our value. Let us go live the lives we want. And let us go build the Federation. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] The 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind: A Personal Reflection by Marc Maurer >From the Editor: Former President Maurer was one of the first people to impress on me the need to learn to dictate. He said that no matter how fast I might type, he was certain I could talk at least twice that rate and suggested that there might be a time when turning out material would require this kind of efficiency and therefore justified learning the skill. One of the first articles he helped me to write (without in any way accepting attribution) was one he dictated while pacing back and forth in a hotel room. With that encouragement, the advent of computer programs that could perform speech recognition, and a direct assignment from my boss to help one of our departments at the hospital where I worked to implement a dictation system, I eventually came to rely quite heavily on the ability to dictate and to have a machine turn that dictation into text. So often had I bragged to former President Maurer about the capabilities of this system that recently he invited me to Baltimore to help them learn how to use it. After a long day of work I left him with a speech about practicing what we had learned, my observation being that training is soon lost if not reinforced on a daily basis. He made no comment about my admonition, but on the following afternoon he called me to his office and asked if I was prepared to listen to something. I said yes, and what you are about to read came from his use of the computer and its ability to recognize human speech. Here, with some significant reflections about his thoughts going into the 2015 convention, is what Dr. Maurer had to say: For twenty-eight years beginning in 1986, I have served as president of the National Federation of the Blind. During each of the conventions beginning in 1987 and continuing through 2014, I have occupied the presidential suite at the convention of the Federation, and I have directed activities of the Federation from that location, unless I was on the platform dealing with matters involving the general sessions of the convention itself. As I approach the 2015 convention of the Federation, what I will be doing during the course of the convention seems to me to be substantially different from what I have done for the past twenty-eight conventions. At the outset it seems to me that I have more flexibility than was true for me in past years. I will be able to attend and to participate in many of the activities of the convention which provide a measure of instruction or entertainment that have been unavailable to me in the past. The presidency of the National Federation of the Blind necessarily involves matters of political importance. Although I will be an element of the political process at the 2015 convention, my role in determining what the politics should be for the organization will be significantly different. In the past I have been responsible for decisions about internal political matters: how each of the affiliates of the organization interacts with the national group, how internal political struggles within an element of the organization shall be managed and solved, what the relationship between members and affiliates or chapters and affiliates might be-all of these have been my responsibility as the chief executive officer of the organization. At this convention, however, President Riccobono will determine what these decisions should be and how matters will be handled. I may be a consultant to President Riccobono, but the final responsibility is not mine, but his. This will mean that I can engage more thoroughly in some of the activities of affiliates and divisions and groups without having to worry about how my participation might change the political influences within the organization. Furthermore, the politics of the organization are not only internal. There are political matters involving organizations outside of the National Federation of the Blind. These fall into two categories. First, the politics between the National Federation of the Blind and other blindness- related organizations must be considered. This has seemed to me to be external politics-sometimes I have thought of it as foreign relations. How will the National Federation of the Blind interact with National Industries for the Blind (NIB), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), or other organizations? A new political system has evolved in the past few years. This political system involves organizations that ordinarily do not focus their attention on the subject of blindness. Thus, how the Google company will deal with accessible technology, how the Microsoft company will make its operating system useful for the blind, how the Amazon company will present books that blind people can read-all of these are now part of the political atmosphere that has to be dealt with and managed inside the National Federation of the Blind. The Apple company made its operating system accessible about twelve years ago. The usefulness of this operating system was sufficiently great that members of the organization are reluctant to criticize the failures that have occurred. The failures have been substantial, but members of the National Federation of the Blind are dramatically grateful that anybody has created an accessible system. Therefore, criticism of Apple for the failures is reluctantly offered-if at all. Managing the influence that the National Federation of the Blind has with major companies about accessibility to their products and programs is a significant element of the work that must be done by the president. I will have suggestions to make about this political process, but it is not my responsibility today. In the past when I have entered the exhibit room at the convention, I have almost immediately been surrounded by individuals who wanted my attention for examination of products, programs, items for sale, or other matters. I believe that this has been the case because I served in those times as executive for the National Federation of the Blind, and the support that we would give to these companies offering products or items for sale or programs that might influence the blind or be beneficial to blind people was part of the portfolio of tasks assigned to me. Would we adopt the program being promoted by a company? Would we endorse a product being manufactured by a different company? How would we give adequate support to the programs and products of companies that would be most beneficial without being so heavy-handed that the politics within the blindness field would be affected? At this convention I believe that I will be able to examine products in the exhibit hall without dramatic disruption of my process in dealing with the people who are presenting them. I will probably have a better understanding of what products are available, who is selling them, and what characteristics they have. In addition to this freedom of movement in the exhibit hall, I believe that I will have some more flexibility for the other activities that occur during the convention. In the past, whether I went to dinner with one person or another, whether I participated in a party being offered to convention attendees by one political group or one company or not, and other such matters were a part of the decisions that had to be addressed at convention which might affect the political realities of the organization in the months ahead. I do not control these political realities anymore. This means that I may decide to participate in a dinner without reflecting that the participation or its absence would make a political difference for the organization. Another change that I think will occur at this convention is that my personal opinions about programs, products, and people may be more freely expressed than they have been in the past. I am reasonably well known for having strong opinions about the future of programming for the blind and the characteristics that should be exhibited in building those programs in the months and the years ahead. However, I have sometimes been reluctant to express forthrightly all of my points of view because some of them are based upon opinion which is not as thoroughly established in observed fact as the opinions that I customarily express. Will I serve as a member of the Resolutions Committee? Whether I am appointed to be a member of the committee or not, my voice will carry some impressive weight in the deliberations of the committee members. In the past I have felt that many of the decisions which could go one way or another should be left to the appointed delegates of state affiliates. Although I have sometimes quite dramatically intervened in the system for adopting policies within the organization, I have only been thoroughly involved in determining what those decisions shall be when I thought that the health of the National Federation of the Blind would be affected or programs for the blind would be significantly changed for the better if I did so. I am now at some liberty to express myself more thoroughly than I have been in the past. Some people may think that I have already expressed myself as thoroughly as possible, but they do not appreciate the times that I have held my opinions within myself rather than expressing them. How this works out in the daily operation of the convention of the Federation this year is yet to be known, but I speculate that there will be a much broader opportunity for me to speak my peace even than I did in previous times. One other element of the convention that will be new, although I did it in the past, is that I will be in support of a different chief executive. In former times, at least in the last quarter of a century or a little more, I took steps to ensure that the presidency of the National Federation of the Blind was an office that could be supported and admired by those within the Federation and also those outside the organization. I could not say that the presidency was an important office. This would have seemed very much the wrong approach because it would be praising my own performance. However, to build the Federation's principal administrative officer was an important part of the thought process in ensuring that the Federation was highly regarded by its own members and by others around the country and around the world. This convention gives me the opportunity to praise our chief executive. Praising the President of the National Federation of the Blind is always a joy, but I have not been in a position to do this for well over a quarter of a century. The president who served before my presidency was Dr. Jernigan. He was an easy man to praise, and he was a joyous person to support. I had no problem being a strong vocal supporter of Dr. Jernigan, and I love doing it. Now I will have the opportunity to praise and support our new President. Perhaps I am a little out of practice, but I think that this task will come easily to me. At previous conventions I have been attentive to the people and the activities occurring because I wanted to identify those that would give us new opportunities to expand our reach and to institute innovative programs. At this convention I will continue to be attentive to the people and the programs occurring. When I observe those that might give us opportunities for innovation, I will bring them to the attention of our new president. However, it will not be my responsibility to determine how to address the questions that come with innovative opportunities. This will be for our new president to do. The preceding thoughts indicate that I may not have as many demands on my time and attention as has been true at previous conventions. What will I do with additional time and additional energy that is not already committed to the daily operation and to speculation about the future of the Federation? I do not yet know. However, I have what might be called a restless spirit. Undoubtedly I will find some useful outlet for this form of energy and the commitment that is required to use it. I look forward to learning what this convention can tell. I have always found conventions of the National Federation of the Blind to be uplifting, joyous occasions. I am quite certain that this one will be no different. The difference will be how I fit into the joyous, uplifting time. Together let us find out what the new pattern may be. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Frederic Schroeder] The Blind of the World: Spreading the Federation Message by Fredric K. Schroeder >From the Editor: Fredric Schroeder is a man who needs little introduction. His work in the United States in the fields of education and rehabilitation is well-documented, and the passion he has for this work and the compassion for the people in it has made him an outstanding representative of blind people. It is not surprising that the world wants a bit of this man's time. He currently serves as the first vice president of the World Blind Union, and in 2016 he will run for the office of president. Here is the moving speech he gave to a crowd so enthralled by his remarks that one could have heard a pin drop. I remember Dr. Jernigan saying that, as long as one blind person is subject to discrimination, we are all subject to discrimination. I believe that sums up the essence of our philosophy, the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind. Seventy-five years ago a small number of blind people from seven states came together to found the National Federation of the Blind. The times were hard-very hard. There were no laws prohibiting discrimination against the blind. Employers could openly refuse to hire blind people with no fear of penalty. Buses and trains could refuse to transport blind people, unless they were accompanied by a sighted person. Landlords could refuse to rent to blind people, and hotels could turn away the unaccompanied blind. Many banks refused to rent safety deposit boxes to blind people, and blind people were routinely denied life insurance. When a blind person was hit by a car, the doctrine of "contributory negligence" held that the blind person, by virtue of blindness, contributed to causing the accident, thereby absolving the driver of responsibility for any injury the blind person may have suffered. Literally, blind people were deemed negligent simply by walking the public streets. In 1940 nearly all blind people were unemployed, and there was no uniform welfare payment to meet basic needs. At that time the vast majority of blind people had to rely on the charity of family and friends for food and shelter. Most blind people suffered abject poverty with little hope of something better. But their hardship was more than the consequence of opportunity denied. The blind of 1940 were subjugated to the status of virtual wards of the private and governmental agencies for the blind. The agencies exercised nearly total control over their lives. You may think I am exaggerating or overstating the situation, but consider this: in 1940, in my home state of Virginia, the state rehabilitation agency required sterilization whenever two blind people wished to marry. The agency explained that without a sighted person in the home there would be no one to care for the children, but there was a more ominous aspect behind the sterilization requirement. It was believed that sterilizing blind people was necessary to prevent hereditary blindness from being passed on to their children. Unfortunately, the assumption that blind people live lesser lives was not aberrational to Virginia or unique to a single state official. In 1940, here and abroad, forced sterilization, under the banner of the eugenics movement, enjoyed nearly universal public acceptance. Eugenics was rooted in the biological determinist ideas of Sir Francis Galton, first expounded in the 1880s. Galton concluded that the social position of the upper classes of Britain was due to their superior genetic makeup. Early proponents of eugenics believed in selective breeding of human beings and supported the forced sterilization of the poor, the disabled, and the immoral. How do you like that? Not only were we lumped together with the poor--no shame in being poor-we were lumped together with the immoral. I have full confidence in the ability of blind people to be immoral, but no more so than the sighted. But I digress. In 1924 the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted eugenics legislation known as the "Virginia Sterilization Act." It was challenged; however, the Commonwealth soon found the courts to be sympathetic to its goal and what eventually became the goal of thirty-one other states, to rid society of those who were presumed to pose an unreasonable social burden. In the United States Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell (1927), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., writing for the majority, found that the Virginia Sterilization Act permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, "for the protection and health of the state," did not violate the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. That was 1927, and the Virginia Sterilization Act was not repealed until 1974- yes, I said 1974-and, incredible as it may sound, Virginia was not the last state to repeal its forced sterilization law. In 1940 the times were hard and hope a cruel dream. But out of subjugation and despair, somehow, a small, unimaginably fragile flame of hope first sparked and then gradually took hold and steadied. And from that small flame of hope came action. My purpose is not to romanticize human suffering. Tyranny and bondage are cruel and defy moral justification; oppression, however well intended, is evil; despair is not the antecedent to enlightenment. But, in the lives of the oppressed, subjugation has been their reality, forcing the choice to endure or rebel. That was the condition of the blind in 1940, and the blind chose rebellion over obeisance. They would no longer endure; they had to rise up and take concerted action. They came together to seek social change, to seek expanded opportunity, to seek the chance to work and live as others do. They knew in their hearts that, joining together, blind people could change their condition and work toward social acceptance. Reflecting on that time, our first president, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, said: "When the founding fathers of the Federation came together at Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, to form a union, they labored in a climate of skepticism and scorn. The experts said it couldn't be done; the agencies for the blind said it shouldn't be done. 'When the blind lead the blind,' declared the prophets of doom, 'all shall fall into the ditch.'" Dr. tenBroek's words remind us that our struggle, then as now, is a struggle against prejudice and misunderstanding; a struggle against the social attitudes that presume inferiority and prescribe isolation. We struggle to free ourselves from the low expectations that constrict opportunity and diminish our humanity. We struggle to rid society of its low expectations for blind people, as we struggle to rid ourselves of those same low expectations-low expectations that crush the spirit. Tragically, far too many blind people, lacking hope, conclude that living to endure is not living at all. In December 2012, identical twins in Belgium were killed at their own request. The forty-five-year-old men, who were born deaf, spent their lives side by side, growing up together and later sharing an apartment and working together as cobblers. The two men had been losing their eyesight and soon would have been completely blind. According to their doctor, the prospect of being blind as well as deaf was unbearable. After winning approval from Belgian authorities, the two men were given lethal injections, ending their lives. Under Belgian law people may be assisted to die if a doctor determines that the individual has made his or her wishes clear and is suffering unbearable pain. A member of the Belgian Commission of Euthanasia said that the twins met the legal requirements to end their lives since their suffering was grave and incurable. The official said that, when they became blind as well as deaf, they would not have been able to lead autonomous lives and that with only a sense of touch they had no prospects of a future. The struggle of 1940 is the struggle of today. It is the struggle against low expectations. It is the struggle against the idea that it is acceptable, even merciful, to euthanize the blind to relieve their suffering and acceptable to sterilize the blind to relieve society of their burden. While it is true that the forced sterilization of the 1940s is mostly a thing of the past, the underlying attitudes that gave forced sterilization its moral justification and legal protection remain. The courts still leave open the door to state-imposed sterilization, the authority to remove from society the unfit and undesirable. As disturbing as it is to contemplate, the United States Supreme Court decision in Buck v. Bell has never been overturned. As recently as 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit cited Buck v. Bell to protect the constitutional rights of a woman coerced into sterilization without procedural due process. The court stated that error and abuse will result if the State does not follow the procedural requirements established by Buck v. Bell for performing an involuntary sterilization. In other words, according to the courts, compulsory sterilization is still okay, as long as the rules are followed. For seventy-five years we, the blind of the United States, have worked together to forge new opportunities for the blind. For seventy-five years we have helped one another to live the lives we want to live, not the lives others prescribe for us, and our progress has been greater than the blind of 1940 could possibly have imagined. Still, while progress has been made, more remains to be done here in the United States and throughout the world, for the blind of the world are truly our brothers and sisters. Their hopes are our hopes; their dreams are our dreams; and their tears are our tears. In August 2016 the World Blind Union will hold its ninth General Assembly in the United States, here in this very hotel. The General Assembly will be a time for the blind of the world to come together, encourage one another, and plan together, just as we in the National Federation of the Blind have been coming together, encouraging one another, and planning together, now for seventy-five years. At the 2016 General Assembly, it is my intent to run for the position of President of the World Blind Union. The World Blind Union represents an estimated 285 million blind people around the world-285 million blind people struggling to free themselves from the low expectations that for far too long have defined the boundaries of their lives. The struggle ahead is daunting, but we know that progress begins with hope, the determination to seek a better life and to reject society's kindly meant but misinformed assumptions about us--assumptions that have been used to justify euthanizing the blind to relieve their suffering and sterilizing the blind to relieve the burden they impose on others. We must work together to increase access to education for blind children; we must work to expand employment opportunities; we must work together to gain recognition of our basic civil and human rights. And we must nurture and spread the flame of hope born of self-respect and the determination to govern our own lives, here and across the world. No blind person suffers discrimination alone. As Dr. Jernigan taught us, as long as one blind person is subject to discrimination, we are all subject to discrimination. And the opposite is also true: the success of one blind person is the success of all blind people. The accomplishment of the individual is the accomplishment of us all, and with each step forward our collective future is brighter and more ablaze with opportunity. We must fan the flame of hope until it becomes an all-encompassing conflagration, an irresistible force impelling a change in the public consciousness leading to a change in educational and employment opportunities; a change in civil rights protections; and, most important, a change in the hearts and minds of blind people-a change that begins with hope and turns hope into action, action into opportunity, and opportunity into equality-equality for the blind of the United States and for the blind of the world. -------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Brooke Lierman] The Impact of the Organized Blind Movement: Perspectives from a Friend and Champion in the Maryland Legislature by Brooke Lierman >From the Editor: One of the more moving speeches on the first afternoon came from a friend of the organized blind movement, a newly elected member of the Maryland Legislature who came to encourage and challenge us in our advocacy and in our building of relationships with elected officials. Here is what she said: Good afternoon, Federation members. Wow, what a view I have from up here! You all look beautiful. My name is Brooke Lierman. I am an attorney at Brown, Goldstein & Levy (BGL)-that's right, another lawyer. But that is not why President Riccobono invited me up here today. He invited me up here because last November I was elected to the state legislature in Maryland. So now, not only do I have the honor of being part of the crack legal team that works with the NFB and its members on legal cases; I also have the honor of representing the headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind in the Maryland House of Delegates. When President Riccobono asked me to speak today, I asked him what he'd like me to speak about. He paused, thought for a moment, and then told me he'd like me to speak for about five minutes. I'm going to try to abide by his directions so I'm invited back. I am here to do something lawyers do-I am here to make a case. I am here to make the case to you for why you need to be involved in politics. Local, state, federal-you choose the level, but you need to be involved. The reason for my argument is this: the blind community needs more champions fighting for it in the state house halls around this country. So I am here to make a case to you because, although this room is full, it is not full enough. I am here to make a case to you because I don't want to be the only state legislator who attends NFB conventions. I am here to make a case to you that we must grow our ranks-we must have champions in every state legislature. I am here to make the case to you to educate legislators so we can create advocates. And then I want to briefly tell you how to do it. If you remember nothing else today, the two words I hope you remember are "educate" and "advocate." To educate, meaning "give intellectual, moral, and social instruction to." To advocate, meaning "to support or argue for a cause or policy." Legislators around this country-at the local, state, and federal level-are advocating every day. But are they educated about the issues you and I care about? Are they advocating for or against the causes you-and we- all champion? I will tell you, in a word, by and large they are not. But you can change that. Why aren't they advocating for the civil rights of blind people, you ask me? Well, let me tell you a little bit about the district I represent. It includes about 117,000 people in Baltimore City. My district includes every neighborhood along or near the water in Baltimore. It is one of the, if not the most, racially diverse districts in the state, and it has the largest relative income gap between highest earner and lowest earner of any district in the state. It includes the Inner Harbor, Camden Yards, the Ravens stadium, and the Ritz Carlton residents. It includes one of the largest public housing developments east of the Mississippi. I tell you this because one thing I have learned is that I cannot know what every one of my constituents needs or the challenges that they face on a daily basis. But what I do know after knocking on 14,000 doors in my campaign is that they all want the same thing: a safe, clean, green neighborhood where they can live and raise their children; good schools; good-paying jobs; and efficient public transit. I ran for office so that I could help all neighborhoods and all constituencies white or black or Latino, rich or poor or middle-class, blind or sighted-to achieve these basic life goals. But to know how to help them, I need to know what obstacles are standing in their way. For that, sometimes, I need them to tell me. When I go to community meetings, when I knock on doors, when I attend events, I tell everyone: if you don't educate me, I can't advocate for you. If there is an intersection in your neighborhood that you think is really dangerous, I can't help you fix that unless you tell me. If there is a principal at the school your child attends who is refusing to provide Braille, I can't help advocate for you or change laws unless you educate me. And I am here today to tell you-if you do not educate your elected officials, they-we-cannot be strong advocates for you. Fortunately for the people in my district, President Riccobono, the NFB, and all of you-I have been learning about the challenges and injustices faced by the blind community for five years now through my work at BGL. My second day on the job at BGL, I spoke with a young man named Chris Toth and his girlfriend Jamie Principato. Despite having been admitted to Florida State University and paying their tuition just like everyone else, they were being denied access to even the most basic learning tools-a math book and the homework problems. Through my work with Chris and Jamie; through my work with blind vendors-some of the most creative entrepreneurs I know, by the way; through my work with workers at SSA-I have been educated. And because I am educated, I can be a more effective advocate. Here are two small examples of how, through being educated and understanding issues, I can be a better advocate. I sit on the House Appropriations Committee, and this year the governor proposed steep budget cuts, including for the Library for the Blind. John Par? from the NFB told me about this issue, pointed me to where it was in the budget. I found the subcommittee chair that deals with that particular issue as well as the appropriations chair, talked to them, and explained to them why this funding was so important and needed to be restored. I'm happy to say it was. When the sausage of policy is being made in the backrooms of state capitols around the country, you need to know that you have leaders there in those state capitols watching your back. Here is another example of the way in which one single person can make a difference through advocacy. I have a constituent who contacted me shortly after the election. He's an older gentleman who had been working at a company for over twenty years, and his father had Parkinson's disease. So he went to the company and he said to them, "I'd like to use my flexible leave." Flexible leave is the state equivalent of FMLA. They said, "Okay, you can use your flexible leave, but tell us what day you are going to start, because the day before that we are going to lay you off." Now that's crazy. He said to them, "You can't do that! That's against the law. It says in the law that you can't fire people for using their leave." Their reply to him was: "That's right; you can't be fired for using your leave, but you can be fired for asking to use your leave." Can you imagine? What a loophole in the law, one that would have a chilling effect on anybody who wanted to use their flexible leave. So he came to me and he said, "We have to fix this. This basically guts Maryland's entire Flexible Leave Act." I said "You are absolutely right!" I would never have known about that loophole in the law if he had not come forward to tell me about it. I'm happy to report that I introduced a bill to close that loophole, and it successfully passed this year, and now no one has to fear requesting to use their flexible leave in Maryland. Unfortunately not every legislator gets the opportunity to work at Brown, Goldstein & Levy and learn about the importance of being a champion and ally to the blind community. It's sad but true-we are a pretty small firm, and Dan winnows out the applicant pool by ensuring that we know our tomatillo sauce from our ranchero sauce and our scotch from our bourbon. Thus it is up to you. Now that I have explained why it is so important, here are just a couple notes on how to educate your legislator. First, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands or a round of claps, but I know there are people out there who are not registered to vote. I am here to tell you: we know who you are. We legislators-we do not have enough hours in the day to see everyone. We can look up online whether someone is registered and how many elections they have voted in. I can go in right now on my phone in fact and look up anyone in Maryland and see how many elections they have voted in. So take the time to get registered. Take the time to vote. Second, cultivate a relationship with your legislators. Legislators are people. We have families. Most of us have other jobs. We have one or two part-time or full-time staff as well. Take the time to look up your legislators, learn about them, and schedule a meeting with them. Keep in touch with them. Sign up for their email blasts. Visit with them and their staff. Get to know them. You may not need anything from them right now. You may not need anything from them this year. But at some point there is going to be a budget item that you care about-maybe transit being cut or carve- outs being created to the state Randolph-Sheppard Act or policies around teaching Braille in schools debated. Someday there will be an issue. And, if you show up then for the first time, it's too late. You need to show up now so that, when you show up at the time it is most needed, that legislator can count on you to tell him or her the whole story. Third, work with your local NFB chapter to organize advocacy days at the state capitol, and introduce yourself to many legislators. Above all, know that not all legislators are equal-some may have some knowledge of our issues, some may have none. Meet them where they are. Educate them so they can advocate for you. Do it for yourself, and do it for your kids and your neighbors. You are leaders-you are here, you are involved. Take the initiative when you get home to find your legislator, and start ensuring that all fifty states have champions in their state legislatures. I hope I've made my case to you successfully today [applause]. If I have, then I conclude with a challenge: I challenge you-between now and the next convention-grow the blind civil rights movement. Create more champions. Touch someone on your left. Touch someone on your right. If you each reach out and talk to your legislator, meet with your legislator, and educate your legislator, next year when we come back here there will be so many state legislators who are champions and advocates that I won't get a chance to take up another ten minutes. Thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Aaron Cannon] Adjusting Attitudes: A Landmark Victory in the Iowa Supreme Court by Aaron Cannon >From the Editor: Aaron Cannon is a software accessibility engineer who works for Instructor Inc. Many will remember his name because of the ongoing battle we have had with Palmer Chiropractic, which has decided that sight is an essential element if one is to be trained and licensed. Here is Aaron's story: Thank you, President Riccobono. Twelve years ago I decided I wanted to be a chiropractor-well, I decided I wanted to go to Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, considered to be the top chiropractic college in the world. At the time I didn't think of this as a very risky goal. To be honest, I wasn't too worried about the academics-obviously it was going to be challenging-but what was even better from my perspective was that I wasn't going to be the first blind chiropractor to graduate from Palmer. Several had done so before me. I was very open with Palmer about my blindness. It was on my admissions essay, and I reached out to their office for students with disabilities. Hearing nothing that would dissuade me, I was accepted, and in January of 2004 we moved to Davenport, Iowa (which I can't recommend-not because it's Iowa-I love Iowa-but it was January, and don't move to Iowa in January). My wife and I moved there, and I started to take classes in preparation to enter the Doctor of Chiropractic program on the Palmer campus. Shortly after I began in March of that same year, I met with Lori Newman, the director of the office for students with disabilities. We had a few meetings over the next several months, but the gist of those meetings was her telling me that I was going to have a problem because Palmer had recently adopted technical standards and that one of the requirements of these technical standards was that students must possess a sufficient sense of vision. Well, I shared with her that my vision was quite sufficient for my needs [applause], that I had put a great deal of work into getting to where I was, and that I was fully capable of dealing with whatever challenges might arise. I said that I wasn't planning on going anywhere. She proposed that maybe we better meet with the Disability Steering Committee to try to come to some sort of agreement. Now I generally like to think the best of people, so I'm sure that the reason that the meeting with the Disability Steering Committee didn't take place until almost a year after my meeting with Lori Newman wasn't because they were stalling, hoping I would just go away; I'm sure it was really hard for them to keep taking my money all those months. Fortunately, just a couple of short weeks before I entered the Doctor of Chiropractic program proper, the folks on the Disability Steering Committee found some time in their busy schedules, and we met. As I mentioned, the purpose of this meeting was ostensibly for us to discuss accommodations and to come up with some sort of plan that would be agreeable to everyone. Of course I, gullible as I was, thought I would just simply explain to them the techniques of blindness, how I'd done it throughout all of my schooling, how I would use a human reader and other adaptations, and everyone would go home happy. As you might imagine, that's not quite how it worked out. When I tried to talk with them about the use of a reader, they were very quick to shut me down. They just didn't want to hear it. They claimed that would give me an unfair advantage. Now perhaps if the meeting had ended there, I might have believed that maybe we could just talk to them some more, maybe we could convince them, maybe they needed to be educated a little more. But the meeting did not end there, and after I had been given my token say-well, let me tell you folks the types of things that were said, and you can be the judge of the true character of the meeting and its purpose. Paraphrasing now, they said to me: you sure are spending a lot of money, not to mention time, blood, sweat, tears. What are you going to do when you get to the fifth trimester and you hit a stopping point, and you just can't go any further? What are you going to do then? You have a young family to think about, a new baby, and, after all, they claimed that the technical standards were not negotiable because they had adopted them in order not to lose their accreditation. So, even if they had wanted to, they just couldn't accommodate me. Well, as it turns out, we found out later that the accreditation standards that they are held to tell a much different story. The closest that the standards came to supporting their position was the requirement that students must be able to observe patients. According to Palmer College of Chiropractic, we who are blind lack the ability to observe. That's what they say, so I guess that means we should stop doing it. If we buy their proposition that accepting me as a student would have cost them their accreditation, it really begs the question of why the California campus of Palmer still has their accreditation. Let me explain. In California there is a law that states that a student who is otherwise qualified cannot be excluded from a chiropractic college in California on the basis of blindness. I know of at least two people who have graduated since this all began, and yet Palmer West still holds its accreditation. I quickly discovered that the Disability Steering Committee was doing an excellent job of steering persons with disabilities away from the college. After that I kind of gave up on the committee as a lost cause, and it was with this major setback hanging over my head that I entered the Doctor of Chiropractic program in March of 2005. As a last resort I took my cause to the president of the college. I wrote him a letter in which I pleaded with him to intervene on my behalf. All I wanted was a chance-a chance just to do what others had done before me, a chance to either stand or fall based on my own abilities and not based on the whims and dictates of some so-called Disability Steering Committee that knew nothing about blindness. I also urged the president of the college to reach out to the Iowa Department for the Blind to see if they might have anything to offer. Alas, it was all in vain. The letter I received back from the president appeared to have as its purpose telling me what Palmer thought it was obligated to do under the law. Apparently, in its view, it was not obligated to accommodate one Aaron Cannon. I wish I had time to share the whole letter with you because it really is quite ridiculous. In one paragraph the president of the college (if you actually believe he wrote the letter and didn't delegate it to one of Palmer's attorneys) quotes a finding of the Supreme Court, and then in the very next paragraph, without a trace of irony, he says, "The college does, however, welcome students with disabilities, and therefore I have asked Dr. Cunningham to contact the Iowa Department for the Blind to inquire ..." Citations of legal doctrine to justify discrimination always make me feel especially welcome, don't they you? When I talked with my counselor at the Iowa Department for the Blind about how the meeting went, he told me that his impression was that Palmer didn't seem interested in finding a solution, and they also shut him down on the topic of using a reader; they just didn't want to hear it. I received this news right around finals week, and, as you might imagine, I was quite discouraged to say the least. What I did next I'm really not that proud of, but I was just so disgusted with the whole thing that I left Palmer without taking my final exams. Looking back on it now, I really wish I hadn't done that, but I just couldn't see the point. It was such a difficult time for my wife and I-our first daughter was about four months old and our plans for the next three years or so had just gone up in smoke. I think I don't need to explain to most of you the pain of discrimination. But, you know, I really didn't have a Plan B. I hadn't thought about other contingencies because, in spite of all the warning signs, I don't think I ever actually believed that we wouldn't be able to work something out. It just seemed so obvious to me-I wasn't trying to do something that hadn't been done before; it had only been a few short years since the last blind person had graduated from Palmer, and, as far as I knew, the curriculum hadn't changed in that time. As an aside, I wasn't the only student to leave Palmer at that time. Another individual I knew there who had a hearing impairment left because Palmer was not accommodating him either. After I left Palmer I filed a complaint with the Davenport Civil Rights Commission. I didn't really expect it to go anywhere. After all, Palmer seemed to have the Supreme Court on its side, and what did I know? But the commission surprised me: it found probable cause of discrimination, and at that point I realized that I probably needed an attorney, and I reached out to the Federation. I'm running a bit short on time, so I can't share all of the legal back and forth, but just as a broad summary, we engaged in a conciliation process with Palmer through the Davenport Civil Rights Commission. That went nowhere. An administrative law judge then found in our favor after holding a hearing. Palmer appealed that decision to district court, which found in their favor. We then appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court and it, in June of last year, found in our favor. [applause] Throughout this process a few Federationists were kind enough to step in on my behalf. In particular I want to publicly thank Cary Supalo, Curtis Chong, and Duane Hudspath. I was initially represented by the extremely talented and very tenacious Peggy Elliott. [applause] When she suffered some very unfortunate family emergencies, she was no longer able to continue in that role. So then Scott LaBarre, a man who needs absolutely no introduction, stepped in and, as everybody knew he would, he did an outstanding job. Now Duane Hudspath, who is a Palmer graduate, a successfully practicing chiropractor who also happens to be totally blind and a Federationist-I mentioned him earlier, but it was quite amusing to listen to Palmer argue about the differences between Duane and me. You see, according to Palmer, Duane is more qualified to understand a visual description because he lost his sight as a child, whereas I was born blind and so have no concept of those tricky visual concepts. According to Palmer, there are the blind and then there are the really blind. So how does a blind chiropractor actually do his or her job in spite of Palmer's doubts? I don't think the answer is going to be too surprising to most people here. We use our sense of touch, hearing, other senses-our alternative techniques-to observe and treat our patients. Many, like their sighted colleagues, choose to hire chiropractic assistants and can use those folks to gather visual information. Many, like their sighted colleagues, choose to outsource their x-rays and other diagnostic tests. You know, the blind have been practicing chiropractic since 1918. We're still doing it today, and I don't think we're about to give up doing it based on ignorance and bigotry. What did the Iowa Supreme Court have to say about all this? Basically they said that it is not acceptable for an educational institution to simply point to an arbitrary technical standard when accommodating students. They must perform an individual extensive inquiry to seek out means of accommodating students with disabilities. As I interpret it, a college can't simply say, "Well, we just can't imagine how a blind person could interpret x-rays, so, because we lack imagination, you're out of luck." My friends, my Federation family, thank you so much for your support during all of this. The Federation, as I'm sure you all know, does not seek out conflict. We don't fight because we want to. We do it because we must; we do it to protect our freedoms and our livelihoods and our children. Make no mistake: when we go to battle, we go to win. Thank you. ---------- Giving a Dream One of the great satisfactions in life is having the opportunity to assist others. Consider making a gift to the National Federation of the Blind to continue turning our dreams into reality. A gift to the NFB is not merely a donation to an organization; it provides resources that will directly ensure a brighter future for all blind people. Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or beneficiary . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first- class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB planned giving officer. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Timeline of the organized blind movement created by 3DPhotoWorks] [PHOTO CAPTION: Mikaela Smith and her mother Robin closely examine the tactile nature of the timeline.] 3DPhotoWorks Helps Commemorate History of the Organized Blind by Anna Kresmer >From the Editor: Anna Kresmer is the librarian at the Jacobus tenBroek Library. She has been especially busy this year in carrying on the day-to- day work of the library, but in addition she has been asked to research a number of issues directly relating to the celebration of our anniversary. All of this she has performed with energy, enthusiasm, and good will. As can be seen from the following remarks, she exhibits all of these qualities in her work with 3D PhotoWorks, and here is what she has to say about its efforts on our behalf: As part of the celebrations for our seventy-fifth anniversary, the National Federation of the Blind was pleased to partner with the team at 3DPhotoWorks to create a tactile, talking timeline which chronicles the history of the NFB from our founding in 1940 to the present day. This timeline is filled with audio speeches from the current and past presidents, as well as tactile photographs that capture milestone events from throughout the past eight decades. It serves as both an introduction for newcomers and a trip down memory lane for veteran members, showcasing the impact of the Federation on blind men and women everywhere. Originally dreamed up by 3DPhotoworks co-founder John Olson, the project was developed in collaboration with the tenBroek Library and Clara Van Gerven, the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind's resident expert in tactile graphics. President Mark Riccobono was closely involved in the content development, in addition to voicing several of the audio segments. And Chris Danielsen, the NFB's director of public relations, ensured that the Federation's philosophy was accurately represented. The mission of 3DPhotoworks is to make the world's greatest art and photography available to blind people. They recently received their first patent and have seven other patent applications pending worldwide. They have also engaged with Federationists to form a group of technical advisors, including members Luc Gandarias, Lynn Jackson, Arthur Schreiber, and Ed Bible. John and his colleagues value their input immensely and say that they couldn't do this work without them. This unique, museum-quality exhibit was on display throughout the festivities of the recent seventy-fifth anniversary convention, held in Orlando, Florida, July 4th through 10th. To ensure that the timeline was accessible to all visitors, a Braille transcript of the audio recordings was attached to the display. In addition, Federationist and technical advisor Luc Gandarias was on-hand to assist visitors and answer questions. The NFB plans to put the exhibit on display at our headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, sometime in the near future, where it will continue to be a great way to experience the historic events that made our organization what it is today. ---------- Special Commemorative Jewelry and More by Jeannie Massay >From the Editor: Jeannie Massay is the newly elected treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, and the membership chairman for the organization. All of these jobs testify to the enthusiasm she brings to the work, and when she was assigned the task of coming up with commemorative items for our seventy-fifth anniversary, she approached Sorella Jewelry, and this collaborative effort has resulted in some fantastic items. Here is what she says: Our seventy-fifth anniversary convention was a huge success, not only due to those in attendance, but to the entire Federation family. The time flew by so quickly! If you are like me, you made it home without having experienced or had the opportunity to purchase some of the unique commemorative items which mark this milestone event for the National Federation of the Blind. I would like to introduce you to a few of the items that you can order online or by phone. The first group of items comes from Sorella Jewelry located in Michigan. Here is their story: "Sorella Jewelry Studio is a company founded by two sisters, Beth and Lynn Stefani, with a true appreciation of design and a passion for quality. We took our name from the Italian word for "sister," reflecting both our Tuscan heritage and our love of family. Sorella devotes itself exclusively to personalized jewelry that is artfully made by a small team of skilled craftsmen. We are fine jewelers creating fine jewelry. Each Sorella ring, pendant, charm, bracelet, and set of cuff links is custom-made in America at our Michigan studio to your exact order specifications." Not only do the Stefani sisters make beautiful jewelry, but they are pledging a percentage of sales of the items below to the National Federation of the Blind. President Riccobono was sporting the cuff links at the seventy-fifth anniversary convention. Federation First Lady Melissa Riccobono was wearing one of the pendants. What a great way to commemorate such a historic moment in time for our family! The items are listed below, each followed by the link that you can use to order the item online. You may also order by phone at the following toll-free number: (800) 692-1950, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. NFB 75th Anniversary Logo Charm The charm is 16 mm (just over 2/3 inch) and features the single NFB icon on the front and "NFB 75" in tactile Braille on the back. The highly polished raised icon, the rim, and the Braille dots contrast beautifully with the matte finish background. The charm is cast in the solid precious metal of your choice. Choose from Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K or 18K Rose, White, Yellow gold, or Palladium. Pricing begins at $90.00. To order the charm online go to this link: NFB 75th Anniversary Double-Sided Community Logo Pendant The 20 mm (just over 3/4 inch) round pendant features the six icon NFB symbol on the front and "NFB 75" in tactile Braille on the back. The highly polished raised symbol, the rim, and the Braille dots contrast beautifully with the matte finish background. The charm is cast in the solid precious metal of your choice. Choose from Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K or 18K Rose, White, Yellow gold, or Palladium. Pricing begins at $160.00. To order the pendant online go to the following link: NFB 75th Anniversary Commemorative Cuff Links The round cuff links are 20 mm (just over 3/4 inch) in diameter. One cuff link features the single NFB icon, while the other cuff link shows "NFB 75" in tactile Braille. The highly polished raised icon, the rims, and the Braille dots contrast beautifully with the matte finish background. The cuff links can be cast in the solid precious metal of your choice. Choose from Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K or 18K Rose, White, Yellow gold, or Palladium. Pricing begins at $295.00. To order the cuff links go to this link: NFB 75th Anniversary Commemorative Ring The 8 mm wide band is available in sizes from four to eighteen in whole and half sizes (quarter sizes available upon request). The single NFB icon and "NFB 75" in tactile Braille repeat around the band. The number of repeats is determined by the ring size. The highly polished raised edges, icons, and the Braille dots contrast beautifully with the matte finish background. The ring is cast in the solid precious metal of your choice. Choose from Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K or 18K Rose, White, Yellow gold, or Palladium. Pricing begins at $340.00. The second offering comes from 3DPhotoWorks. They produced the tactile and audio timeline of the Federation that you may have seen at convention. 3DPhotoWorks has developed a mixed media art piece, which has 3D photos of Dr. tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, Dr. Maurer, and President Riccobono. The photos are arranged in the four corners starting top left with Dr. tenBroek and ending with President Riccobono in the lower right corner. A full color seventy-fifth anniversary logo is located in the middle with "Live the life you want" in Braille. Each piece is customized with the member's name and "Member since" the year you joined the Federation in Braille. Cost for this really cool piece of art is $49.99, plus $20 for shipping. Please email John at 3DPhotoWorks with your contact information and "NFB plaque" in the subject line. He will get in touch with you and make the payment arrangements. His email is . I hope that you find these offerings as interesting as I do. They are beautiful and are fantastic keepsakes commemorating our seventy-fifth anniversary. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Randy Rice presents giant check to Marc Maurer and Mark Riccobono] We Can Bank On It: The Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence and the Future presented by Randy Rice >From the Editor: For more than twenty years the National Federation of the Blind has been working to see that automated teller machines can be used by people who cannot see the screen. Initially we were ignored, and jokes circulated about the foolishness of blind people arguing for their right to use the drive-up ATM. But we were not deterred, and much progress has been made in making these machines accessible. On Thursday, July 9, the convention received this upbeat report: Thank you, President Riccobono, thank you, Dr. Maurer. Before I even start, I don't know how many people tried to tell me what it was like to come to this event-there's no way. I'm so touched by how many people came to see us. I just want to share, before I even start--it's great what you're doing to help adults, but what really touched me was the kids and the young people that were here, and how you will change their lives. So, with that said, I'm just thrilled to be here. I met with many of you at our booth this week. We actually did over two hundred demonstrations of our talking ATMS, and I'm so glad that so many of you took time to visit with us and experience what those machines are doing. We really appreciate the feedback that you gave us. Many of you were able to also try out NCR's new Kalpana ATM of the future. These new ATMs are like merging a tablet PC with a cash dispenser to make an ATM that is more secure, more reliable, more versatile, and more capable than ever before. We're working jointly with NCR to ensure that these new ATMs are accessible to the blind, and we will be piloting these ATMs in the US market with NCR later this year. For those that tried them, the thing that's really unique about these ATMs is that they have no keyboard; there's no keypad. The touchscreen is the only interface. We're proud to work with your people in the NFB. At the Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence I work regularly with your veteran accessibility expert, Ron Gardner, to ensure that we are always mindful of the needs of blind users as we consider further advances through the hardware and software of our ATMs. I actually spoke to Ron yesterday morning, and he sent his regrets. I think only his church mission that he's on right now could keep him from this event. First and foremost I want to thank you and your NFB leaders for the help you guys have provided us. So often as sighted people we simply don't comprehend what it's like to walk in your shoes. Ron has very patiently worked with us to help us understand more about your challenges, and he's personally taught me many things. For instance, it seemed natural to me that--I believed that because I understood the voice instructions on how to use the ATMs, and I knew that all our approved Braille stickers were on the machines, that blind users would be able to use the machines. Ron helped me recognize how important it is to appreciate that the human mind processes visual information differently from audio data. Audible data is received sequentially, and you process it sequentially. Recognizing this, Ron led us to adopt several conventions in developing our audio scripts for the ATMs. For instance, the new and upgraded ATMs will always give you the option to choose before giving you the action to take. So the new audio scripts will always say, "for cash press one" instead of "press one for cash." This reflects the sequential approach our mind uses to receive and process that data. A sighted person can look at an ATM screen and instantly choose from multiple options on the screen. Our spoken scripts must present these multiple options sequentially in a crisp and easy-to-understand script. Very simply, a lot of the scripts that sighted people had developed for you were backwards and bloated with unnecessary words. Another example--very simple things--we abandoned some words like increase and decrease because some speech engines simply couldn't pronounce them where you could tell them apart. And something as simple as raise and lower solved the problem. In several cases manufacturers wrote the scripts in countries where English is not their native language [laughter in audience]-I think some of you have probably seen that. And they simply didn't produce good American English. Another lesson was to be consistent. ATMs should deliver the same message, the same way, every time. In short, don't get overly creative, and don't waste words. On the new Kalpana-style ATM we also recognized that for a blind user, the entire ATM screen should be a touchscreen that is responsive to the users. Otherwise you can have difficulty finding where the keypad is on the touchscreen and punching in your PIN. If you got a chance to try the Kalpana ATM at our booth, you also noticed that NCR has developed a new script across the bottom of the screen that enables a blind user to enter numeric data on a touchscreen efficiently and securely. Second, I want to share what Cardtronics and our engineers and service personnel will be doing over the next couple of years to ensure that our ATMs will operate in the US, equipped with the hardware, software, Braille stickers, and all the other elements that will improve their accessibility for blind users. This is a monumental task. Beginning next month, we will start visiting all the sites where our 45,000-plus Cardtronics-owned ATMs, and an even larger number of merchant-owned ATMs that we operate are found, totaling almost 100,000 ATMs. Each of these engineering visits we estimate to require about three hours, which adds up to over 300,000 man hours, or the equivalent of 150 engineers working full- time for a year to move this software out to the field. [applause] Ron Gardner and I, as well as David Cohen, a specialist who was assigned to us by a federal judge and approved by both Cardtronics and the NFB, comprise the team that are now working on your behalf to ensure that all of our ATMs meet the agreed-upon accessibility standards, and I put it as simply: we're just three old Eagle Scouts working together to improve ATM accessibility for all of you. And I guess what I would emphasize is that we really are old--we've been doing this a long time. We generally meet for two or three days every few weeks, and we do the work that we need to do together. Between the meetings, we at Cardtronics work with manufacturers, programmers, and others to see that what we decided actually gets done. We will continue working to rewrite and improve scripts and to test and certify new ATMs as they come along at the Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence. This is really the first time there has ever been in our industry such a widespread usability testing and certification process for ATMs. We have already seen other ATM owners copy our Braille stickers; we were glad that they did. We intend to share with manufacturers what we've done with our improved scripts, and, frankly, we expect that they will copy that work as well, and we're happy that they do. And my third and final point: many people would wonder why it's taken us this long to get to this point. And I fully understand why that's a logical question. In 2010 the new, revised ADA required ATM owners to provide voice guidance on their ATMs. Manufacturers had developed the hardware and software that make this possible. They provided ATMs that they said were ADA compliant. We as purchasers of the ATMs accepted these manufacturers' assertions, and we purchased and deployed those ATMs. But, as you know, simply being ADA compliant doesn't always mean easy-to-use. Cardtronics has long felt that our ATMs were as good as or probably better than anyone else's. Through our discussions with the NFB we began to recognize that better than everyone else's still might not be good enough. [applause] When you think about it, I think this is an understandable situation. When we buy a car, we know the vehicle must comply with pollution regulations; we accept the manufacturer's claim that it does. When we buy ground meat, we don't test it to guarantee that it's safe. But actually, in both cases, we might frequently be surprised if we did test them. And that's pretty much what it was with manufacturer-supplied voice guidance. The built-in voice guidance might be minimal or broken, but without actually inspecting it we didn't know. In addition to the Center of Excellence certification process, we're now implementing an industry- leading fleet inspection process that will result in tens of thousands of video-recorded, detailed inspections of our ATMs each year to verify and document that the ATM voice guidance is operational. In addition, all future repair visits-and there's far more of those, machines are repaired generally two or three times a year-all future repair visits to our ATM will include verification that the headphone jack is intact and functioning properly. [cheers and applause] This is an even larger number of additional inspections that will not be videoed. We want all Cardtronics-associated ATMs to work properly all the time. Please report any ATM that does not work satisfactorily so that we can send an engineer to repair it. I'm also very proud to announce that we will be installing the first operational NFB- certified ATM in your national office in Baltimore in the coming month. This ATM will be programed to provide free ATM transactions for NFB employees and their guests [scattered cheers] Cardtronics cannot guarantee that your bank might not charge you a fee, but we won't charge you a fee. Let me conclude by saying again that we are proud to be your partner and to underscore this partnership by asking that Dr. Maurer and President Riccobono join me here to receive a presentation from Cardtronics. Dr. Maurer, your Immediate Past President, has provided leadership and perseverance for over ten years to get the three of us together on this platform. President Riccobono, with whom I'm also proud to say that I attended the University of Wisconsin, is now providing the leadership for our partnership going forward. We at Cardtronics are pleased to work with the NFB, America's leading advocacy group for the blind, and to support your efforts to improve the accessibility of ATMs for all blind Americans. On behalf of Cardtronics, as our contribution to your ongoing efforts, we are proud to present to you a big check-it's four feet long-and for $1,250,000. [prolonged, enthusiastic cheers and applause] Thank you, Dr. Maurer, thank you President Riccobono, and thank you all for having us here this week. ---------- Resolutions from the Diamond Convention by Sharon Maneki >From the Editor: Sharon Maneki has been the chairman of the Resolutions Committee for many years, and anyone who observes the work that goes into encouraging those with concerns to write them and then working through the drafting process so they are clear understands why she has such a hold on this job and how fortunate we are to have her. Resolutions passed by the convention determine or reaffirm Federation policy. But the same cannot be said for those which are proposed but do not pass. A resolution proposed may be defeated based on poor construction, a lack of factual support, or a failure to agree on an appropriate solution. A proposed resolution does not by its submission or rejection define policy: resolutions approved by the convention are the policy of the organization. Here is what Sharon has to say about resolutions considered by the convention: Since the 2015 convention was also a celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Federation of the Blind, there was much talk and discussion about diamonds. In his banquet address, "The Federation at Seventy-Five: The Determination of Value and the Reflection of Hope," President Riccobono compared the history of diamonds with the history of the National Federation of the Blind. Just as the value of diamonds has changed over the years, thanks to the National Federation of the Blind the value of blind people to society has increased dramatically. President Riccobono said in part: "For just as the diamond exhibits value, so does the National Federation of the Blind shine with love, hope, and determination as a collective reflection of the value each blind person brings to our movement. Like the individual carbon atoms, under pressure we have bonded together in love and faith to demonstrate to ourselves and to others that we have value-we are the blind, we have come to celebrate, and we will let our value shine." Resolutions not only establish policies for the organization but also reflect its values. It was most appropriate that the Resolutions Committee met on July 6, the birthday of the founder of the National Federation of the Blind, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. Many of the values set forth by Dr. tenBroek still guide us today. As usual the Resolutions Committee was made up of a large cross-section of leaders throughout the country. I was honored to be the committee chairman and was ably assisted by Marsha Dyer and Ann-Marie Laney, who served as secretaries for the committee. We needed an extra pair of hands this year since Marsha Dyer had additional responsibilities with the Scholarship Committee. The committee considered and passed twenty-nine resolutions which were sent to the convention floor on July 9. The convention defeated Resolution 2015-10 concerning unconditional ownership of guide dogs. The resolution stated that the individual rather than the guide dog school should own the dog upon completion of training. This resolution was sponsored by two well-known guide dog users, Marion Gwizdala, president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, and Michael Hingson, who serves as first vice president of this division. This resolution failed because many guide dog users did not want to disrupt their individual relationships with guide dog training schools. Diamonds and resolutions have an interesting characteristic in common. The shaping of both is improved because their creation is built on connected sources. As President Riccobono explained in his 2015 banquet address: "A diamond is an extremely tough substance that requires special tools to be cut. The job of cutting is much easier and exponentially more effective when another diamond is used to do the work. As blind people in the United States of America began to explore the value we could offer, we found fault in the limits that had been placed upon us ... In the state of California, Dr. Newel Perry was the chief diamond cutter who gave shape to the first leaders of the organized blind movement...Among the rough diamonds that Dr. Perry cut was Jacobus tenBroek, who called on the blind of this nation to establish a vehicle for collective action-the National Federation of the Blind." Our resolutions are reflections of our values because they are created through extensive membership involvement. Since the inception of the National Federation of the Blind, our core mission has been to insist on full integration of the blind into society. Looking at the 2015 resolutions with this mission in mind clearly demonstrates that they are also vehicles to help us live the life we want. As is true in most years, in 2015 we had resolutions concerning barriers to employment, education, access to information, and full participation in all aspects of community life. As a civil rights organization our resolutions also have a long tradition of demanding that government officials on all levels take action to eliminate discrimination. Observe how many of our resolutions insist that departments in the executive branch of the federal government issue or improve regulations. Consider how many of our resolutions issue instructions to large companies and to state governments. Let us look at the twenty-eight resolutions from these perspectives so that we may see how our values shine like diamonds. Barriers to Employment The Convention passed eight resolutions dealing with employment. For years the National Federation of the Blind has been fighting to end the practice of paying people with disabilities subminimum wages. In Resolution 2015-04 we call upon both houses of Congress immediately to pass the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME Act, H.R. 188). Justin Harford, a member of the NFB of California who also serves as co- chairman of the Employment-Social Security Subcommittee of the Legislative and Advocacy Committee on the National Council on Independent Living, sponsored this resolution. Marci Carpenter, president of the NFB of Washington state, introduced a second resolution about subminimum wages. Section 511 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act prohibits entities with 14(c) certificates from tracking youth into subminimum wage jobs unless these young people have exhausted all resources available to them through vocational rehabilitation. In Resolution 2015-16 we urge "the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education swiftly to propose additional regulations that will ensure that Section 511 of the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act is enforced." The passage of Resolution 2015-18 was particularly timely since Congress will have to take action to keep the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund from running out of money as early as December 2016. In this resolution we urge Congress to pass legislation to create real work incentives for blind SSDI beneficiaries. Such reform has been a goal of the Federation for many years. Carlos Serv?n eloquently explained why this reform is vital. He is a longtime leader in the Nebraska affiliate and also serves as deputy director of the Nebraska Commission for the Blind. He won national scholarships in 1992 and 1995. NFB secretary Jim Gashel and his wife Susan proposed Resolution 2015- 28. In this resolution we insist "that the US Department of Education clearly instruct the US Department of Defense that the Department of Education's regulations mean that a current non-blind operated contract for military dining services cannot be entered into or renewed unless a contract opportunity has been offered to the blind as provided by the Randolph-Sheppard Act." The Convention passed four resolutions that deal with employment accessibility barriers. For the past seven years the United States Access Board has been considering regulations that will update or refresh Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 requires "that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government must be accessible to people with disabilities, including both employees of the federal government and members of the public." On February 18, 2015, the access board finally issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on Section 508. We urge the access board to quickly finalize these regulations in Resolution 2015-11. Michael Kasey, a federal employee who also serves as president of the Virginia affiliate, sponsored this resolution. Jose Marquez serves as first vice president of the NFB of Texas and as president of the Houston Chapter. He also works in the healthcare industry. Jose has first-hand experience with the issues raised in Resolution 2015-14. This resolution was necessary because the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT within the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a new notice of proposed rulemaking on March 30, 2015. This notice was inadequate because ONC "overlooked the need to require all of the criteria, not just certain criteria, to be compatible with text-to-speech software and also overlooked the need for Braille capability, zoom, contrast, captions, and other accessibility features that would have been covered had ONC required conformity with a generally- accepted, measurable accessibility standard like WCAG 2.0." In this resolution we demand that ONC enhance accessibility requirements to end discrimination against blind workers in the healthcare industry and against blind patients. Resolution 2015-20 addresses barriers to employment created by inaccessible employment-related technology. Blind people encounter inaccessible technology during all phases of employment including the initial job search, online job applications, pre-employment tests, and software needed to perform the job. In this resolution we urge the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission both to update its rulemaking and implement strong enforcement measures to protect the right of blind job seekers and employees to accessible employment technology. Joni Martinez, a rehabilitation counselor and a leader in the NFB of Texas, proposed this resolution. Barriers to Education The Convention passed six resolutions concerning education. Two of these deal with policy changes, and the remaining four deal with accessibility. Maurice Peret and Mary Jo Hartle sponsored Resolution 2015- 15. Maurice and Mary Jo are leaders in the Maryland affiliate. Maurice is a member of the NFBMD board of directors and Mary Jo serves as a local chapter president. Both of them have extensive experience in teaching orientation and mobility. This resolution reads in part, "this organization strongly urge every state in the Union, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, immediately to enact legislation that contains a presumption similar to the Braille presumption that explicitly states that all blind and visually impaired children need orientation and mobility instruction unless a proper evaluation demonstrates that such instruction is not appropriate for the child." Casey Robertson has been a teacher of blind students for many years. She was recognized by the National Federation of the Blind for her outstanding advocacy and for her instructional abilities when she received the 2012 Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award. Casey proposed Resolution 2015-29, which addresses the problem created by some states as they implement the Unified English Braille Code (UEB) for use in textbooks. Some states intend to use only UEB symbols for the teaching and production of Braille mathematics. However, the Braille Authority of North America has provided "guidance on how to incorporate the Nemeth Code into UEB context with the intent that the Nemeth Code will continue to be integral to Braille in the United States." In this resolution we urge the Braille Authority of North America "to indicate unequivocally that the Nemeth Code, with the guidance for Nemeth in UEB contexts, is the standard for mathematics Braille in the United States." Prompt action is necessary so that students who move from one state to another will not encounter inconsistency in the use and meaning of Braille symbols in their math textbooks because the Nemeth Code may or may not be in use. As the use of technology for classroom instruction and for testing increases, blind people face more accessibility problems. For instance, Amazon created a content delivery system that enables teachers more easily to distribute inaccessible content in the Kindle ebook format. Resolution 2015-03 has two resolve clauses: "this organization condemn and deplore Amazon's knowing, repeated, and reprehensible discrimination against the blind." We also urge "schools and universities to immediately cease their use of Whispercast and to refrain from offering Kindle ebooks to students." Angela Wolf, a member of the NFB of Texas who won national scholarships in 1997 and 2000, introduced this resolution. Cayte Mendez is an elementary school teacher from New York. She is also the president of the National Organization of Blind Educators. She won a national scholarship in 2001. In 2012 Cayte received the Distinguished Blind Educator award from the National Federation of the Blind. With this background in education, Cayte was a most appropriate sponsor for Resolution 2015-13. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) develops online assessments for use in grades K-12. These assessments measure student progress and hold schools accountable to the federal government. In this resolution we urge Smarter Balanced to "follow through with our agreement and continue rectifying identified access barriers, and to make administrative changes to ensure that accessibility for students with disabilities is better, earlier, and more efficiently considered as the test is deployed in more and more states." In Resolution 2015-22 we demand that colleges and universities "harness their purchasing power and compel developers of educational technology to make accessibility a component of their development framework, to consult with access technology experts, and to include blind and otherwise print-disabled people in their beta-testing processes, ensuring that the market includes accessible options and that equal access for all students is the norm, not the exception." Tina Haskin, a 2015 summer intern at the Jernigan Institute, who serves as the treasurer of the Cache Valley Chapter of the NFB of Utah, proposed this resolution. For many years the NFB has sought legislative solutions to the accessibility problems in higher education. Our latest solution is the Stimulating the Market to Make Accessibility a Reality Today (SMART) Act. This act calls for an independent commission, comprised of relevant stakeholder communities, to create voluntary accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional material used in higher education. Colleges and universities will be encouraged to use these accessibility guidelines through a safe harbor mechanism. In Resolution 2015-07 we urge the 114th Congress promptly to introduce and pass the SMART Act. Kathryn Webster sponsored this resolution. She is the newly elected secretary of the National Association of Blind Students and a leader in both the Connecticut and North Carolina affiliates. Kathryn won a national scholarship in 2013. Barriers to Accessing Information The Convention passed eight resolutions about access to information. Three of these resolutions commend companies for making some progress toward improving the accessibility of their products, while the remaining five resolutions urge both the federal government and companies to step up to the plate by providing greater accessibility. Cardtronics Inc. is the largest retail ATM owner in the world. As a result of collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind, Cardtronics has established a Center of Excellence to develop enhanced voice-guidance software, not only to provide full access to existing ATMs, but also to ensure that future ATM innovation will be accessible to blind customers. In Resolution 2015-09 this organization commends Cardtronics for partnering with the National Federation of the Blind to raise the quality of access for blind users to financial transactions and other services provided by ATM technology. We also applaud Cardtronics for its leadership and commitment to be at the forefront of innovation in ATM technology for the blind. Donna Prime, president of the NFB of Iowa, introduced this resolution. Many businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions have adopted Google products, making Google one of the largest and most far- reaching companies on the internet. Rick Reed is a technology trainer who also serves as president of the Wyoming affiliate. He introduced Resolution 2015-17. In this resolution we "commend Google for the progress it has made in improving the accessibility of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides." We also strongly urge Google to maintain and improve the accessibility of its products. Joy Breslauer, president of the Montana affiliate, sponsored Resolution 2015-26. Netflix has recently made strides in making its content more accessible by beginning to add audio description to its content. In this resolution we commend Netflix for the accessibility actions it has taken and urge the company to improve the accessibility of its mobile and web platforms. The following three resolutions call for changes in government policies that will reduce barriers to accessing information. Denise Avant is president of the NFB of Illinois and also serves on the commission on disability rights of the American Bar Association. She forcefully explained why we were once again demanding that the US Department of Justice stop dragging its feet and issue regulations applying the Americans with Disabilities Act to public accommodations that have a presence on the internet. Resolution 2015-01 declares that the Obama administration has no excuse for the five-year delay in issuing this important regulation. On October 20, 2013, the United States signed the Marrakesh Treaty; however, in order for this treaty to be accepted in this country, it must be ratified by the Senate. This treaty will help to end the book famine that blind people and others with print disabilities face throughout the world. In Resolution 2015-02 we call upon the US Senate to ratify this treaty as quickly as possible. Anya Avarmenko, who experienced the book famine when she lived in the Ukraine, sponsored this resolution. Anya won a national scholarship in 2014 and served as a summer intern at the Jernigan Institute in 2015. The Social Security Administration should know better than to use self-service kiosks that are inaccessible to the blind. The agency's strategic plan for 2014 through 2018 calls for increased use of these kiosks in its own field offices and in other government agency buildings, but makes no mention of accessibility. In Resolution 2015-24 "this organization insist on a commitment from the Social Security Administration to purchase and use only kiosks that offer full and equal access." Parnell Diggs, who recently joined the staff at the National Center as manager of governmental affairs, introduced this resolution. For many years Parnell represented clients who were trying to deal with the adverse effects of problems caused by the Social Security Administration. He also served on the national board of directors of the NFB and as president of the South Carolina affiliate. Another resolution on kiosks was necessary because kiosks are coming to be found everywhere and are used by both government and the private sector to gather and provide a large variety of information. No technological reasons prevent these kiosks from being made accessible to the blind. Resolution 2015-08 said "this organization condemn and deplore the entities who are manufacturing and deploying inaccessible kiosks for completely overlooking the needs of many of their customers." Evelyn Valdez sponsored this resolution. She won a national scholarship in 2006 and was a leader in the NFB of New Jersey for many years. Currently Evelyn serves as second vice president in the greater DC chapter of the NFB District of Columbia affiliate. The following two resolutions instruct companies on the way to improve access to information for the blind. Hindley Williams was a summer intern at the Jernigan Institute in 2015. Hindley is also a newly elected member of the board of directors of the National Association of Blind Students and an avid user of Braille. It was most appropriate for Hindley to be the proponent for Resolution 2015-06. This resolution was necessary because "Windows phones and tablets do not contain any Braille support, and Android and Chromebook devices developed by Google have such deeply flawed Braille support that for many activities it is insufficient to completely control the device without using speech." In this resolution we "strongly urge Google and Microsoft to include robust Braille access to their mobile platforms." Derek Manners, the newly elected treasurer of the National Association of Blind Students, who also serves as vice president of the Massachusetts Association of Blind Students and won a national scholarship in 2014, made a cogent argument about the advantages and importance of 3D printing. Derek was the proponent of Resolution 2015-23 in which we strongly urged "developers of 3D design and printing software to give blind users the ability to print and make menu-driven modifications to models independently." Barriers to Full Participation in Community Life The Convention passed six resolutions dealing with barriers that limit full participation. These resolutions have very diverse subjects, but they all clearly speak to actions that prevent blind people from living the life we want. In January 2015 Leader Dogs for the Blind announced that it had received accreditation by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC). NAC has no expertise in the guide dog arena. In reality NAC accreditation will cause a deterioration in training standards, which could limit the ability of guide dog users to travel throughout the community. The purpose of NAC has always been to undermine and thwart the right of the organized blind to speak on behalf of blind consumers. By affiliating with NAC, Leader Dogs for the Blind is also seeking to minimize the voice of the blind. In Resolution 2015-05 "this organization demand that Leader Dogs for the Blind take immediate steps to terminate its accreditation by NAC." This resolution was sponsored by Marion Gwizdala, president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, and Michael Hingson, who serves as first vice president of this division. The quality of life for SSI beneficiaries will be improved because the US Congress passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. This act will allow many blind people to pay for critical expenses by saving money in an ABLE account without jeopardizing their eligibility for SSI benefits. The ABLE program must be implemented by each state. Jeremy Capati, a member of the NFB of New Jersey, was a summer intern at the Jernigan Institute in 2015. Earlier in 2015 he also had an internship at the White House in the Office of Public Engagement. Jeremy sponsored Resolution 2015-21 in which we "urge states that have not yet created an ABLE account program to do so immediately." The Convention passed two resolutions concerning voting rights. The Help America Vote Act, which was passed in 2002, provides the blind and other voters with disabilities the opportunity to cast a secret ballot for all federal elections. This law has not lived up to its promise because of poor enforcement. In Resolution 2015-12 "this organization demand that the US Department of Justice increase its enforcement of both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Help America Vote Act." Charlie Brown, a longtime leader in the organization and who served as treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind for many years, sponsored this resolution. Charlie has been a longtime advocate for the rights of the blind. Through his leadership, the American Bar Association House of Delegates passed Resolution 113B in August 2014. This resolution urges governments "to use all appropriate means to improve enforcement of the voting rights for persons with disabilities." He certainly was a great spokesman for our resolution. Aaron Timm, president of the Cache Valley Chapter of the NFB of Utah and secretary of the Utah Association of Blind Students, introduced our second resolution about voting, which was resolution 2015-19. Election officials throughout the United States are implementing online voter registration systems. Unfortunately, of the twenty states that currently offer online voter registration, California is the only state whose system is fully accessible to the blind. In this resolution we demand that all states with inaccessible online voter registration bring their websites into compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards. We also strongly urge states that currently do not have online voter registration to ensure accessibility when they implement their system. Transportation is critical for full participation in community life. Greyhound Lines Inc. discriminates against blind customers because its website is generally not accessible to the blind; its US app for iOS is not usable with VoiceOver; blind passengers cannot purchase tickets without going to the station; and the fares are $10 more for passengers who must use the automated phone system. In resolution 2015-25, "this organization demand that Greyhound Lines Inc. immediately end its discriminatory practices by making all of its online and mobile services accessible to blind passengers." This resolution was sponsored by Aleeha Dudley and James Mooney. Aleeha Dudley is vice president of two divisions of the NFB of Ohio, the Ohio Association of Blind Students and the Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users. James Mooney is a member of the NFB of Indiana. Darian Smith, president of the Community Service Division of the National Federation of the Blind proposed Resolution 2015-27. The Corporation for Nationals and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that provides a large variety of community service and volunteer opportunities for Americans from grade school through retirement. In this resolution we urge the CNCS to provide full and equal access to all of its programs for blind Americans. This article is merely an introductory discussion of the resolutions considered by the Convention. By long-standing tradition, the complete text of each resolution that was passed is reprinted below. Readers should analyze the text of each resolution to understand fully our policy on these subjects. These resolutions illustrate the values of our organization and how these values shine like diamonds. ---------- Resolution 2015-01 Regarding Proposed Department of Justice Regulations on Access to the Internet WHEREAS, today access to the internet is critical for successful participation in education, employment, and other pursuits and in recognition of this reality the United States Department of Justice issued an advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 26, 2010, proposing to issue regulations applying the Americans with Disabilities Act to public accommodations that have a presence on the internet; and WHEREAS, the Department of Justice took no further action on this rulemaking and later announced that a proposed rule would not be issued until March of 2015; and WHEREAS, in June of 2015 no further action had taken place and the Department of Justice announced that the rulemaking will be further delayed until sometime after July of 2016, more than six years after the notice was first published: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization declare that the Obama administration's failure to issue this critical rulemaking is inexcusable; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind demand that the Department of Justice immediately issue a robust regulation ensuring blind Americans' full and equal access to the products and services of all public accommodations as defined by the ADA that are made available using the internet. ---------- Resolution 2015-02 Regarding the Ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled WHEREAS, in June 2013 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) convened a diplomatic conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, in order to deliberate on a treaty to address the book famine plaguing over three hundred million blind, low-vision, and print-disabled people across the globe, who are denied access to more than 95 percent of published works; and WHEREAS, this grossly limited access to books is partly the result of a fragmented landscape of copyright laws, where one-third of the world's nations have copyright exceptions to allow for the copying and distributing of books in accessible formats for the blind, like the Chaffee Amendment and Fair Use provision of the US Copyright Act, provisions which were adopted after significant advocacy by the National Federation of the Blind, while two-thirds of the world's nations have no such exceptions; and WHEREAS, this chaotic landscape has further exacerbated the lack of access to books by limiting cross-border exchanges between nations that have exceptions and those that do not, making possession of an accessible format copy illegal in the latter nations and also by limiting exchanges between nations that have exceptions because the laws are not consistent; and WHEREAS, the document adopted on June 27, 2013, now known as the Marrakesh Treaty, calls for contracting parties to adopt copyright exceptions similar to the Chafee Amendment, creating a streamlined, global copyright apparatus through which each nation permits authorized entities to reproduce copyrighted materials in accessible formats, distribute those works to beneficiary persons, import accessible copies from other nations, and export copies to other nations; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind was one of the key negotiators in Marrakesh, expressing strong support for the treaty, which was signed by the United States on October 2, 2013; and WHEREAS, in order to ratify the treaty and for the United States to become a contracting party, the US Senate must support ratification with a two- thirds majority and the Congress as a whole must implement any legislation deemed necessary by the administration to bring US law fully into compliance with the treaty; and WHEREAS, ratification can be jeopardized if the implementing legislation package is so unduly complex that it incites controversy amongst stakeholder groups and creates a partisan divide, an outcome that can be avoided if the administration sticks to its communicated plan to call only for "sleek and narrow" changes to US law or considers adopting the American Bar Association's position that no changes to US law are necessary for ratification; and WHEREAS, the treaty currently has eighty-one signatories and has been ratified by eight countries, a positive trend that the United States can both influence and should want to be a part of: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we urge the Obama administration and its interagency working group to complete and transmit without delay the ratification and implementing legislation package to the US Senate, calling for minimal or no changes to US law; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the US Senate to ratify the treaty as quickly as possible, and help put an end to the book famine. ---------- Resolution 2015-03 Regarding Amazon Whispercast and Kindle eBooks WHEREAS, despite years of attempts by the National Federation of the Blind to assist and educate Amazon, it has repeatedly failed to make its Kindle ebook readers and platforms fully accessible to the blind; and WHEREAS, in 2012 Amazon announced an initiative to promote aggressively the placement of inaccessible Kindle ereaders in the hands of school children; and WHEREAS, Amazon created a content delivery system that enables teachers more easily to distribute inaccessible content in the Kindle ebook format, further limiting the opportunities for blind people to participate in classroom instruction; and WHEREAS, in response to Amazon's launch of Whispercast, this organization protested before Amazon's headquarters and implored the company's CEO, Jeff Bezos, to make Kindle ereaders and platforms accessible to blind students; and WHEREAS, after Amazon failed to respond meaningfully to our concerns, the following year this organization wrote to the state superintendents of education in all fifty states to explain that Whispercast and Kindle ebooks are inaccessible to blind students and that adoption of Kindle ebooks in schools would place blind students at a significant disadvantage and violate the law; and WHEREAS, despite these and other efforts by the National Federation of the Blind over many years, Amazon has failed to make Kindle ebooks fully accessible to the blind, particularly for academic reading, to the extent that some Kindle etextbooks are completely unreadable with text-to-speech or a refreshable Braille display; and WHEREAS, in April 2015 Amazon announced the launch of Whispercast 3.0 and boasted that Whispercast is now used in more than 130 of the 250 largest school districts in the US and over 2,400 higher education organizations, including twenty-four of the thirty largest in the country; and WHEREAS, the time is long past due for Amazon to stop ignoring the blind and to make its Kindle ebook readers and platforms accessible to the blind: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization condemn and deplore Amazon's knowing, repeated, and reprehensible discrimination against the blind; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge schools and universities to cease their use of Whispercast immediately and to refrain from offering Kindle ebooks to students. ---------- Resolution 2015-04 Regarding Support for the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act WHEREAS, Congressman Gregg Harper introduced the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act (H.R. 188) on January 7, 2015; and WHEREAS, the TIME Act has the same goal as the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act, which was introduced in the previous two congresses, namely to phase out the use of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind has passed two resolutions that support the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act, Resolution 2013-02 Regarding Ending Subminimum Wage Payments to Workers with Disabilities and Resolution 2012-01 Regarding Support for the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2011, affirming our long-held goal to repeal Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and to end the practice of paying people with disabilities subminimum wages; and WHEREAS, as demonstrated by the states of Vermont, which has no entities that hold Section 14(c) certificates, and New Hampshire, which on May 7, 2015, signed a bill into law prohibiting entities from paying individuals with disabilities less than the minimum wage, special wage certificates are no longer needed; and WHEREAS, over eighty organizations support the repeal of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, further illustrating the growing trend against this discriminatory practice: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization commend Congressman Gregg Harper and all cosponsors of H.R. 188, the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act, for continuing to shepherd this legislation through this Congress and for having the courage to support a bill that will ensure that Americans with disabilities have access to integrated and meaningful employment opportunities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the Education and Workforce Committee of the US House of Representatives to conduct an immediate hearing on H.R. 188 in order to facilitate informed debate and to learn the truth about the employment capacity of people with disabilities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the US Senate to introduce companion legislation to H.R. 188 immediately; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call for the immediate passage of the TIME Act by the US Congress and for the President of the United States to sign it into law. ---------- Resolution 2015-05 Regarding Leader Dogs for the Blind's Accreditation by NAC WHEREAS, in 1989 the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools for the Blind, later known as the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), was formed to create and promulgate standards for the operation and administration of guide dog training programs throughout the world; and WHEREAS, the IGDF today has over eighty member guide dog training programs around the world, including thirteen in the United States; and WHEREAS, US-member guide dog training programs include Guide Dogs for the Blind, the Seeing Eye, and Leader Dogs for the Blind, the three largest guide dog training programs in the United States; and WHEREAS, the standards of the IGDF are well known as a solid model for guide dog training program operation and administration; and WHEREAS, in January 2015 Leader Dogs for the Blind announced that it had received accreditation by the National Accreditation Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC), an organization formed in the 1960s supposedly to create and promulgate standards for the operation of agencies serving the blind but which, in fact, has never provided a good model for the operation and administration of any agency; and WHEREAS, NAC has no expertise in the guide dog arena, and any attempt by NAC to accredit guide dog training programs can serve only to undermine the efforts of the IGDF; and WHEREAS, in the past Leader Dogs for the Blind, recognizing the worthless nature of NAC's alleged accreditation, resisted attempts by NAC to accredit it and stood with consumers in opposing the shoddy and irrelevant standards NAC attempted to use to gain credibility among the ranks of guide dog training programs and their consumers; and WHEREAS, Leader Dogs' past vigorous opposition to NAC accreditation was expressed in part through a letter from Harold L. Pocklington, then- executive director of Leader Dogs for the Blind, to NAC's president, and published in the February 1986 issue of the Braille Monitor, which said: "We believe we can handle our own affairs. If the dog guide training programs don't respond to your suggestions, it may be they don't believe the method of accreditation can be done only by you. We believe we can be our own judge of operation, without any help from NAC or a committee NAC might appoint. We are not indifferent, unaware, or apathetic. We just believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it"; and WHEREAS, the purpose of NAC has always been to undermine and thwart the right of the organized blind to speak on behalf of blind consumers and Leader Dogs' affiliation with NAC has the same effect in seeking to minimize the voice of the blind; and WHEREAS, Leader Dogs receives a significant amount of its funding from Lions International and from individual Lions clubs; and WHEREAS, any money spent by Leader Dogs in seeking and obtaining accreditation by NAC is a misuse of the support provided by its donors and can only encourage the efforts of an outdated and useless agency, NAC, to attempt to gain financial support from other guide dog training programs that it approaches in its attempts to convince them to accept its irrelevant and meaningless accreditation: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization condemn and deplore Leader Dogs for the Blind's accreditation by and consequent support of NAC; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that Leader Dogs for the Blind take immediate steps to terminate its accreditation by NAC; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on Lions International and individual Lions clubs to cease their funding of Leader Dogs for the Blind until it terminates its accreditation by NAC; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all guide dog training programs to resist any attempts by NAC to accredit them and insist instead that all guide dog training programs in the United States support the legitimate standards and accreditation of the IGDF. ---------- Resolution 2015-06 Regarding Braille Access to Mobile Devices WHEREAS, the use of mobile computing devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops has become increasingly important in business, education, and personal spheres; and WHEREAS, Braille is essential in allowing blind people to work, learn, and play on an equal footing with their sighted counterparts; and WHEREAS, with the growing prominence of mobile devices, mobile Braille displays have also become important tools for many blind users in all walks of life; and WHEREAS, Apple has provided a very powerful example of how Braille displays can be used in mobile devices through its iOS platform, so that it is possible for deaf-blind people to use iPhones and iPads in nearly all the same ways that blind users using speech have available to them; and WHEREAS, Windows phones and tablets do not contain any Braille support, and Android and Chromebook devices developed by Google have such deeply flawed Braille support that for many activities it is insufficient to control the device completely without using speech: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization strongly urge Google and Microsoft to include robust Braille access to their mobile platforms, since it is necessary for Braille users, particularly those who are deaf-blind, to use their products and services with the same level of ease that they currently enjoy on traditional computing devices, as well as Apple's iOS devices; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge these companies to work with the National Federation of the Blind, Braille display manufacturers, and deaf-blind users to ensure that this support is robust and follows standard conventions of Braille display support, including command structure, feature set, and comparative ease of use. ---------- Resolution 2015-07 Regarding the Drafting and Introduction of the Stimulating the Market to Make Accessibility a Reality Today (SMART) Act WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization of blind people in the United States, has made access to all aspects of the educational experience for blind students a priority; and WHEREAS, as a direct response to the first recommendation of a congressionally authorized report on the status of accessible materials in the college classroom, the National Federation of the Blind, in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers, drafted and urged the 113th Congress to introduce the Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and Higher Education (TEACH) Act; and WHEREAS, the TEACH Act authorized the creation of voluntary accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional materials and information technology used in higher education and incentivized the use of these guidelines by providing a safe harbor from litigation for schools that used material conforming to those guidelines, making it easier for schools to adopt accessible technology and to achieve compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and with Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and WHEREAS, in an effort to advance this legislation, the National Federation of the Blind has initiated negotiations with the higher education lobby, one of the largest stakeholder groups on the matter and one of the only remaining factions that had not supported the creation of guidelines; and WHEREAS, as a result of those negotiations, a consensus has been reached on what will now be called the Stimulating the Market to Make Accessibility a Reality Today Act, (SMART Act), a modified version of the TEACH Act which has full stakeholder support; and WHEREAS, the SMART Act aims to accomplish the same goals for which the National Federation of the Blind has long advocated, including the creation of voluntary accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional material used in higher education by an independent commission drawn from stakeholder communities such as higher education leadership, developers of post-secondary electronic instructional materials, and people with disabilities and also the incentivizing of the use of such guidelines through a safe harbor mechanism; and WHEREAS, support from the higher education lobby and industry associations will increase the likelihood of the SMART Act's passage in Congress and its successful implementation by both institutions and developers; and WHEREAS, when passed, the influence of this legislation will not only positively affect the postsecondary experience of blind students and other students with print disabilities, ensuring that students are truly provided equal access to educational opportunities, but also stimulate the market for materials that are designed for postsecondary use or use outside of higher education and increase awareness about accessibility throughout a vast network of developers and vendors: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we urge Congress to show support for students with disabilities and reaffirm the need for voluntary accessibility guidelines in postsecondary education by promptly introducing the Stimulating the Market to Make Accessibility a Reality Today (SMART) Act; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge higher education leadership to build upon the success of recent negotiations by continually and consistently demonstrating a willingness to resolve accessibility barriers for students with disabilities, by working with the National Federation of the Blind to pass this legislation, and by encouraging rapid adoption of the guidelines by colleges and universities across the United States once the commission completes its work. ---------- Resolution 2015-08 Regarding the Accessibility of Kiosks WHEREAS, kiosks are ubiquitous in airports, train stations, and other transportation hubs and are largely inaccessible to blind travelers; and WHEREAS, kiosks are increasingly used in healthcare to conduct patient intake and to complete administrative tasks, with other functions slated to be added, and these kiosks also are almost universally inaccessible; and WHEREAS, many restaurants and other establishments have similarly begun to use inaccessible kiosks for taking orders and payment; and WHEREAS, kiosks that are not usable by the blind are also used for providing general information to visitors at visitor centers; and WHEREAS, in entertainment facilities such as movie theaters and amusement parks, inaccessible kiosks are used for ticket sales, pick-up, and information; and WHEREAS, virtually all of the entities using these kiosks are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and other antidiscrimination laws; and WHEREAS, in many cases the operating systems running on these kiosks, such as Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS, have provided platforms that allow for accessible implementation of software which provides nonvisual access; and WHEREAS, the hardware of these kiosks is often already configured for audio output and keyboard or touch-screen input and therefore poses no inherent barriers to accessibility; and WHEREAS, there are no technological reasons why these kiosks cannot be made accessible to the blind, offering full equality of access: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization condemn and deplore the entities who are manufacturing and deploying inaccessible kiosks for completely overlooking the needs of many of their customers; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist on a commitment from manufacturers, software developers, and service providers alike to ensure full accessibility of these increasingly common devices. ---------- Resolution 2015-09 Regarding Cardtronics Accessibility Center of Excellence WHEREAS, equal and independent access to banking and financial transactions is critical in today's society; and WHEREAS, Cardtronics Inc. is the largest retail ATM owner in the world, with a fleet of over 100,000 ATMs in the United States; and WHEREAS, Cardtronics has agreed to make its fleet of ATMs accessible to the blind; and WHEREAS, Cardtronics has established a Center of Excellence, whose mission is to deliver an industry-leading voice-guided user experience at Cardtronics-supported ATMs; and WHEREAS, through the Center of Excellence, Cardtronics will collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind to develop enhanced voice- guidance software that will provide a fully accessible and superior user experience for blind customers with its ATMs and help to ensure that future ATM innovation is also fully accessible to blind users; and WHEREAS, Cardtronics' agreement to collaborate with the National Federation of the Blind and the establishment of the Center of Excellence resolves a multi-year class action lawsuit with the National Federation of the Blind: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization commend Cardtronics for partnering with the National Federation of the Blind to raise the quality of access for blind users to financial transactions and other services provided by ATM technology; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization applaud Cardtronics' leadership and commitment to be at the forefront of innovation in ATM technology for the blind. ---------- Resolution 2015-11 Regarding the 508 Refresh WHEREAS, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government must be accessible to people with disabilities, including both employees of the federal government and members of the public; and WHEREAS, the US Access Board is tasked with periodically updating the Section 508 guidelines that serve as a procurement guide and accessibility benchmark for the federal government as it seeks to comply with Section 508, and since 2008 the board has been engaged in a much-needed update, or "refresh," that will ultimately bring the Section 508 regulations to a more robust and objective standard applicable to modern and future technologies for the first time since 2000; and WHEREAS, seven years is far too long for the Access Board to have spent on this rulemaking, and, while we applaud Access Board chairperson Sachin Pavithran for releasing the long-overdue Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on February 18, 2015, and bringing the process to its penultimate stage, the federal government, the disability community, and developers of technology are frustrated with the delay of this critical refresh; and WHEREAS, countless entities outside the federal government use the Section 508 accessibility standards as voluntary accessibility criteria, making it profoundly important for the Section 508 standards to be up-to-date to ensure stimulus of market-wide change that is favorable and effective: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we urge the Access Board to build on the progress begun by Chairman Pavithran within the last year and rapidly bring this rulemaking to a conclusion, thereby ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to information made available to the public by the federal government, and that the purchasing power of the federal sector be harnessed to create an accessible technology marketplace. ---------- Resolution 2015-12 Regarding Enforcement of the Voting Rights of Blind and Other Voters with Disabilities by the US Department of Justice WHEREAS, passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 provides the blind and other voters with disabilities the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to cast a secret ballot by requiring at least one accessible voting system in each polling place for all federal elections; and WHEREAS, HAVA does not provide a private right of action so that citizens can enforce its mandate of accessible federal elections, but instead charges the US Department of Justice with enforcement responsibility; and WHEREAS, surveys of blind and low-vision voters conducted by the National Federation of the Blind following the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections indicate that 14 percent and 25 percent, respectively, of the voters surveyed who attempted to use an accessible voting system were not able to vote privately and independently, and a survey of voters with disabilities conducted by the National Council on Disability following the 2012 election found that 20 percent of the voters surveyed were prevented from casting a private and independent ballot; and WHEREAS, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration noted in its January 2014 report, The American Voting Experience, that throughout its fact-finding work the Commission heard complaints from disability rights advocates that provisions relevant to voters with disabilities in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and HAVA are underenforced; and WHEREAS, Resolution 113B, adopted by the American Bar Association House of Delegates in August 2014, urges governments "to use all appropriate means to improve enforcement of the voting rights for persons with disabilities": Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization demand that the US Department of Justice increase its enforcement of the ADA and HAVA so that blind and other voters with disabilities can exercise the same fundamental right to cast a secret ballot that is enjoyed by other Americans. ---------- Resolution 2015-13 Regarding the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium WHEREAS, in response to the nationwide adoption of the Common Core State Standards and the Race to the Top grants, several consortia of states emerged to develop assessments that would be used in K-12 to test students, measure their progress, and hold schools accountable to the federal government; and WHEREAS, the largest of the consortia is the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced), a collection of eighteen states and one territory that have supported the development of, plan to implement the use of, or have already begun administering, Smarter Balanced's online assessment system; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind, learning that Smarter Balanced's platform was not fully accessible to blind students and that the consortium's accommodations policy denied access to read-aloud and text-to- speech accommodations for students in grades 3-5 who could not read print or Braille, convened an informal coalition of disability advocates to urge the consortium to make necessary modifications to its platform and policies to ensure equal access for blind K-12 students in the states and territory that are affiliated with the group; and WHEREAS, Smarter Balanced initially resisted our advocacy but later reacted positively to our recommendations and made the necessary modifications, recognizing that denying a blind student equal access to the test platform or any accommodations necessary to take the test and demonstrate proficiency in certain skills was a violation of federal law, violations that would be compounded by the popular deployment of the Smarter Balanced test: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we commend Smarter Balanced for working with our organization and, after significant pressure, agreeing to make the necessary modifications to ensure equal access for blind students; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge Smarter Balanced to follow through with our agreement and continue rectifying identified access barriers and to make administrative changes to ensure that accessibility for students with disabilities is better, earlier, and more efficiently considered as the test is deployed in more and more states; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we warn states about the use of the Smarter Balanced assessment, which, until the access barriers for students with disabilities that are currently being addressed are totally resolved, will be a violation of several federal civil rights statutes and that we suggest policies and practices be put in place at the state level to ensure that assessments do not exclude or discriminate against students with disabilities. ---------- Resolution 2015-14 Regarding Accessibility of Health Information Technology WHEREAS, technology has transformed the healthcare industry, allowing healthcare providers to transition from paper-based medical records to electronic-based healthcare records, share critical medical data across offices and with patients, and perform other functions of their jobs through innovative health information technology (health IT) applications and programs; and WHEREAS, far too many health IT applications and programs are inaccessible, blocking the blind from being able to enter, compete for, participate in, and successfully perform jobs in the healthcare industry and forcing blind and low-vision doctors, therapists, assistants, and other positions in the healthcare sector to endure discrimination that is not only unlawful but also profoundly unnecessary, considering that it can and often does escalate to the point of needless termination; and WHEREAS, one of those inaccessible applications is a software suite known as Epic, which is designed for midsize and large medical groups, hospitals, and integrated healthcare organizations, but is growing in popularity and proliferating in the industry and beyond, despite its inherent inaccessibility; and WHEREAS, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) within the US Department of Health and Human Services has a certification program for health IT, a program that drives the way developers of Epic and other similar technology design their products so that the providers that ultimately use the technology can receive reimbursements for certain federal incentive programs; and WHEREAS, last year ONC released a new, voluntary edition of this certification program and did not make accessibility a key component, a rulemaking that rightly sparked outrage among blind healthcare industry workers and provoked feedback from the National Federation of the Blind urging a revision of the criteria with consideration being given to the need for usability for the blind; and WHEREAS, on March 30, 2015, ONC released a new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking demonstrating that the office had internalized National Federation of the Blind's concerns and proposing new criteria that called for some health IT functions to be compatible with text-to-speech software, a first step toward making change in the market and a move that validates the power of the National Federation of the Blind's advocacy; and WHEREAS, despite this positive step ONC overlooked the need to require all of the criteria, not just certain criteria, to be compatible with text-to- speech software and also overlooked the need for Braille capability, zoom, contrast, captions, and other accessibility features that would have been covered had ONC required conformity with a generally accepted, measurable accessibility standard like WCAG 2.0; and WHEREAS, until ONC makes additional revisions, health IT will be the source of discrimination for blind workers in the healthcare industry, and countless providers that choose to deploy the inaccessible technology and collect money from federal incentive programs will be in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a provision that prohibits the use of federal funds to discriminate on the basis of disability, both outcomes being avoidable if health IT is required to be and is made accessible: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we recognize ONC's reception of our suggestion to consider accessibility, but we demand that the agency enhance the accessibility requirements within the criteria to drive the market further and stop discrimination against blind people in the healthcare industry; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge developers of health IT to consider accessibility during the design phase of their products, lest they drive an entire population of people out of an industry that needs access to their talents, put their customers at risk for being in violation of federal civil rights laws, and undercut the promise of new technology. ---------- Resolution 2015-15 Regarding Orientation and Mobility Instruction for Children WHEREAS, skills in orientation and mobility (O&M) are essential for the successful transition of blind children, including children with low vision, to full and productive lives as adults; and WHEREAS, local and state laws recognize the use of the long white cane as a tool for both safety and independence for blind people, yet too many school systems nationwide do not promote the use of the white cane by blind students; and WHEREAS, regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 300.34[c][7], Related Services, clearly define O&M as "services provided to blind or visually impaired children by qualified personnel to enable those students to attain systematic orientation to and safe movement within their environments in school, home, and community"; and WHEREAS, although IDEA clearly lists O&M as an essential service for blind and visually impaired children, too often these children are denied O&M instruction because the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team assumes that these children do not need this instruction; and WHEREAS, another reason for denial of O&M instruction is insufficient evaluations, e.g., only examining a child's movement in familiar areas, failing to consider environments in different lighting, not requesting input from parents, or not considering such factors as the child's medically indicated expectation of further visual deterioration; and WHEREAS, the IEP team should treat O&M instruction as a presumption for youth who have an IEP based on visual impairment, as it does with Braille, unless a proper assessment determines that O&M instruction is not necessary; and WHEREAS, two states, Maryland and Texas, have incorporated the mobility presumption and stronger evaluation requirements into state law, which will ensure that more students who need O&M instruction in those states will receive it: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization strongly urge every state in the Union, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, immediately to enact legislation that contains a presumption similar to the Braille presumption that explicitly states that all blind and visually impaired children need orientation and mobility instruction unless a proper evaluation demonstrates that such instruction is not appropriate for the child. ---------- Resolution 2015-16 Regarding the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act WHEREAS, on July 9, 2014, the US House of Representatives passed the US Senate-amended version of H.R. 803: the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, or WIOA, and on July 22, 2014, President Barack Obama signed WIOA into law; and WHEREAS, one of the major objectives of WIOA, as demonstrated by Title IV, which amends and reauthorizes the Rehabilitation Act, is to ensure that all individuals with disabilities have the opportunity to obtain competitive, integrated employment, defined as employment that is typically found in the community and is compensated at wages that are "not less than the customary rate paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by other employees who are not individuals with disabilities"; and WHEREAS, Section 511 of WIOA, Limitations on Use of Subminimum Wage, is one major avenue to achieve this objective because it will reduce the number of youth with disabilities tracked into subminimum wage "employment" by prohibiting youth with disabilities from being compensated at subminimum wages by Section 14(c)-certificate-holding entities unless they first have exhausted all resources available to them through vocational rehabilitation services such as establishing an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), working toward their IPE for a reasonable period of time, and receiving career counseling about job opportunities that reflect their IPE; and WHEREAS, on April 16, 2015, the US Departments of Education and Labor released five Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) proposing regulations for WIOA; and WHEREAS, despite the fact that the US Department of Labor has authority over Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the US Department of Education has authority over regulations regarding the provision of vocational rehabilitation services, none of the NPRMs included any language regarding enforcement of Section 511; and WHEREAS, without enforcement, entities that hold Section 14(c) certificates are likely to take a business-as-usual approach to employing youth with disabilities at subminimum wages unless there are penalties (such as fines or threat of 14(c) certificate revocation) to deter such behavior and incentivize them to change their practices as Section 511 obligates them to do: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we commend the US Congress and President Barack Obama for passing and signing into law the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act; although the law is not perfect, we believe that Section 511 and other provisions significantly improve policies designed to create and enhance employment opportunities for American workers with disabilities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education swiftly to propose additional regulations ensuring that Section 511 of WIOA is enforced so that the goal of reducing the number of youth tracked into subminimum wage employment will come to fruition. ---------- Resolution 2015-17 Regarding the Accessibility of Google Drive and the Google Docs Productivity Suite WHEREAS, Google is one of the largest and most far-reaching companies on the internet today, with products that touch hardware, software, work, entertainment, education, and many other spheres of life; and WHEREAS, some of the best-known and most heavily used of these products include Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides; and WHEREAS, these products have been adopted by many businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions; and WHEREAS, the use of these applications has become essential within these institutions and organizations to participate fully in employment and education; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind and Google have spent considerable time and resources in forging a partnership to improve the accessibility of this suite of applications; and WHEREAS, blind people in these environments are increasingly able to use these products due to the increased accessibility of the suite arising from this partnership; and WHEREAS, Google has created some truly innovative solutions allowing blind users to collaborate in real time with their peers; and WHEREAS, the stability and usability of the suite with screen-access software has increased dramatically over the last three years, but some features required for full accessibility of the tool, including full Braille support, have yet to be fully implemented; for example, it is not possible to read spreadsheets with Braille or to move the cursor with a Braille keyboard in any of the Google Apps: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization commend Google for the progress it has made in improving the accessibility of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we strongly urge Google to continue to maintain and improve the accessibility of this suite, particularly for Braille users, by continuing to partner with the National Federation of the Blind so that blind people can enjoy the benefits of these applications. ---------- Resolution 2015-18 Regarding Social Security Disability Insurance for Blind Beneficiaries WHEREAS, according to the 2014 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, published on July 28, 2014, the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) trust fund will be insolvent as early as December 2016; and WHEREAS, if the 114th Congress does not pass legislation either allocating money to the SSDI trust fund or reforming the entire SSDI system to make it more cost effective, there will be an across-the-board cut of approximately 19 percent for SSDI beneficiaries; and WHEREAS, if this cut is made, the average SSDI benefit will be reduced from $1200 per month to just $972 per month, putting beneficiaries that live alone and rely exclusively on benefits for survival to live on an income that is below the federal poverty guideline as set by the Department of Health and Human Services; and WHEREAS, blind SSDI beneficiaries are discouraged from reaching their full employment potential because the current earnings limit test results in an earnings cliff, meaning that benefits are cut off once a beneficiary earns more than the "substantial gainful activity" limit, making it more financially strategic for beneficiaries to work less and stay below the earning limit; and WHEREAS, the transition periods that are designed to help SSDI beneficiaries return to work, such as the trial work period and extended period of eligibility, are confusing and do little to counteract the effects of the earnings cliff and to encourage beneficiaries to return to work; and WHEREAS, the crisis facing the SSDI trust fund has stimulated action by Congress, providing an appropriate window for the National Federation of the Blind to advocate for our long-desired reforms that will create true work incentives for blind SSDI beneficiaries: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we urge the US Congress swiftly to pass legislation that will create real work incentives for blind SSDI beneficiaries, such as a gradual phase-out of benefits and a simplified system for administration that will actually encourage blind SSDI beneficiaries to return to work, reach their full employment potential, and ultimately save taxpayer money and help keep the system financially solvent. ---------- Resolution 2015-19 Regarding Accessible Online Voter Registration WHEREAS, most states currently use a paper voter registration form which is inaccessible to the blind and other persons with print disabilities; and WHEREAS, election officials throughout the United States are implementing online voter registration because its use results in reduced administrative burdens, reduced costs, and more accurate data; and WHEREAS, accessible online voter registration permits the blind and other qualified citizens with disabilities to register to vote conveniently, easily, and independently; and WHEREAS, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration in its January 2014 report, The American Voting Experience, recommended that states adopt online voter registration; and WHEREAS, the American Civil Liberties Union in its January 2015 report, Access Denied: Barriers to Online Voter Registration for Citizens with Disabilities, found that of the twenty states that currently offer online voter registration, only California's is fully accessible and that the majority of the state online voter registration websites do not meet minimal accessibility standards; and WHEREAS, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires all state and local government entities to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to government programs and services and that the information communicated by government programs and services must be equally available to persons with disabilities; and WHEREAS, an online voter registration system is a government program and service, and therefore the information it communicates must be equally available to persons with disabilities: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization demand that all states with inaccessible online voter registration immediately bring their online voter registration websites into compliance with WCAG 2.0 AA; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly urge all states that do not currently offer online voter registration to implement online voter registration that complies with WCAG 2.0 AA so that the information communicated by the voter registration program and service is equally available to the blind and other qualified citizens with disabilities. ---------- Resolution 2015-20 Regarding Accessibility of Employment-Related Technology WHEREAS, technology has revolutionized the way our society functions, particularly in employment; and WHEREAS, although technology in employment could open up countless opportunities for the blind, employment-related technology is instead, more often than not, a barrier to employment because it has been designed without accessibility; and WHEREAS, the blind encounter inaccessible technology during all phases of employment, from the initial job search on inaccessible websites that require completing inaccessible online job applications, to inaccessible pre-employment tests, to inaccessible workplace software necessary to perform on the job; and WHEREAS, inaccessible employment-related technology is endemic across industries, including federal and public sector employment and private employers of all sizes, as well as across occupations; and WHEREAS, as a result of inaccessible employment-related technology, many blind people are excluded from employment or prohibited from performing to their capabilities in their professional occupations, sometimes leading to job termination or failure to be promoted; and WHEREAS, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently sought input for retrospective regulatory review: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization urge the EEOC to update its rulemaking to ensure that employers and vendors of employment-related technology make their technology accessible at all stages of the employment process; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the EEOC to take swift and strong enforcement measures to protect the right of blind job seekers and employees to accessible employment technology. ---------- Resolution 2015-21 Regarding the ABLE Act WHEREAS, President Barack Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act) into law on December 19, 2014; and WHEREAS, prior to the signing of the ABLE Act, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries were subject to an asset limit of $2,000; and WHEREAS, the ABLE Act allows an individual who became disabled before the age of twenty-six to open an "ABLE account," a special account allowing such an individual to save for qualified disability expenses such as housing, employment, transportation, healthcare, and technology, which will not jeopardize the individual's eligibility for SSI benefits, even if the ABLE account balance puts the individual's assets over the $2,000 asset limit, as long as the ABLE account does not exceed $100,000; and WHEREAS, SSI beneficiaries can open ABLE accounts only if states enact implementing legislation: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we commend the US Congress for passing the ABLE Act, which will allow many blind and otherwise disabled individuals to achieve security and pay for critical expenses by saving money in an ABLE account without jeopardizing their eligibility for SSI benefits; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we commend states that have already passed legislation implementing the ABLE Act; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge states that have not yet created an ABLE account program to do so immediately. ---------- Resolution 2015-22 Regarding Accessibility in Higher Education WHEREAS, technology has revolutionized information, course materials, recreation, interaction with administration, and other facets of student life in higher education; and WHEREAS, Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit colleges and universities from discriminating against persons with disabilities and mandate the provision of equal access to opportunities, using separate accommodations only when necessary for providing equivalent facilitation; and WHEREAS, while colleges and universities may have been successful at complying with these mandates in the brick-and-mortar and print world, the vast majority of institutions of higher education are struggling to comply with these mandates as they apply in the digital world, routinely developing, procuring, or deploying inaccessible technology despite readily available solutions and continually providing separate and often inappropriate accommodations for blind students, an oversight that results in unequal access to opportunity, adverse effects on academic performance, and denial of full participation for blind students; and WHEREAS, the Department of Justice has increased enforcement in cases regarding denial of equal access because of inaccessible technology and/or inadequate and inappropriate accommodations for students with disabilities; and WHEREAS, solutions exist to make technology accessible to blind students and faculty members, but until the higher education apparatus makes systemic change, a viable digital marketplace that includes accessible materials will never emerge and the promises of technology will never be realized; and WHEREAS, blind students can no longer wait for developers of technology and institutions of higher education voluntarily to implement accessibility into their products and practices: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that we demand that colleges and universities make accessibility a top priority for their campus communities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we demand that colleges and universities harness their purchasing power and compel developers of educational technology to make accessibility a component of their development framework, to consult with access technology experts, and to include blind and otherwise print-disabled people in their beta testing processes, ensuring that the market includes accessible options and that equal access for all students is the norm, not the exception. ---------- Resolution 2015-23 Regarding the Accessibility of 3D Printing Software WHEREAS, 3D printing is quickly becoming a major element in the creation of tactile graphics for the blind; and WHEREAS, 3D design and printing software is not developed with accessibility in mind, preventing the blind user from performing even the most basic functions such as resizing an object or moving it; and WHEREAS, even software that uses code to create 3D objects does not make that code available to the user of screen-access software; and WHEREAS, it has been amply demonstrated that neither access to menus nor access to coding poses significant technological challenges; and WHEREAS, the Windows and Mac default application menus are accessible; and WHEREAS, many text editors used for coding, as well as more complete developer tools such as Microsoft's Visual Studio, are entirely usable by the blind: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization strongly urge developers of 3D design and printing software to give blind users the ability to print and make menu-driven modifications to models independently. ---------- Resolution 2015-24 Regarding the Accessibility of Social Security Administration Kiosks WHEREAS, self-service kiosks are regularly used in Social Security Administration field offices to check in; and WHEREAS, visitors are required to enter their full names, social security numbers, and reasons for visiting into kiosks prior to meeting with Social Security Administration personnel; and WHEREAS, field office kiosks are not commonly outfitted with accessibility features such as audio output, Braille instructions, tactile keyboards, and jacks for the use of headphones; and WHEREAS, blind visitors must rely on strangers for assistance with entering personal information into the field office kiosks or forego meeting with Social Security Administration personnel; and WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration expanded its public services in 2014 by implementing full-service Social Security Express kiosks in government buildings in which no social security office is located; and WHEREAS, full-service Social Security Express kiosks allow users to substitute visiting Social Security Administration field offices by using the kiosks to create accounts, access benefits, change addresses, and participate in remote video teleconferencing with Social Security Administration personnel; and WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration's 2014-2018 agency strategic plan calls for increased use of self-service kiosks in field offices and partnering external government agency buildings; and WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration is required to provide equal access to patrons with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other antidiscrimination laws; and WHEREAS, existing technology allows accessible features, including audio output, to be built into the operating systems used in kiosks; and WHEREAS, numerous vendors offer kiosks preconfigured with fully accessible physical components, including tactile keyboards, headphone jacks, and Braille notation; and WHEREAS, no software- or hardware-related reasons exist that prevent these kiosks from being made accessible to the blind, offering full and equal access: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization condemn and deplore the Social Security Administration's practice of using kiosks that are not readily accessible to the blind; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist on a commitment from the Social Security Administration to purchase and use only kiosks that offer full and equal access. ---------- Resolution 2015-25 Regarding Discriminatory Practices of Greyhound Lines Inc. WHEREAS, the lack of access to public transportation is one of the greatest barriers preventing blind people from living the lives they want and from full participation in all aspects of community life; and WHEREAS, according to Greyhound Lines Inc., it is the largest intercity bus transportation provider, serving more than 3,800 destinations in North America and 18 million passengers each year; and WHEREAS, Greyhound should serve as a valuable asset to blind travelers but fails to do so because of its policies and practices that create barriers to using its services; and WHEREAS, Greyhound's website is generally inaccessible to blind passengers who use screen-access software to acquire information from desktop or mobile operating systems; and WHEREAS, field labels for graphical icons are rarely present, making it all but impossible for blind people to retrieve current and frequently updated information posted on this website; and WHEREAS, the Greyhound (US) app for iOS is not at all accessible with Apple's VoiceOver, the gesture-based screen reader that has been developed for blind users; and WHEREAS, buying a ticket online or through a phone app is now an impossible task for most blind passengers; and WHEREAS, blind passengers, unlike their sighted peers, are denied the time- saving convenience of presenting a printed ticket at boarding and are forced to work with a ticket agent at the station; and WHEREAS, fares from Greyhound's automated phone booking system are $10 higher than fares from the inaccessible online booking system, and this $10 charge is not waived for blind passengers; and WHEREAS, its website touts Greyhound's services for persons with disabilities, yet fails even to mention nonvisual access to websites and apps: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization demand that Greyhound Lines Inc. immediately end its discriminatory practices by making all of its online and mobile services accessible to blind passengers who use screen-access technology. ---------- Resolution 2015-26 Regarding the Recent Addition of Audio Description to Netflix Content and the Continued Inaccessibility of Aspects of the Service WHEREAS, Netflix is one of the leading services for watching movies and TV shows over the internet; and WHEREAS, Netflix has recently made strides toward making its content more accessible by beginning to add audio description to some of its content, including its original programming; and WHEREAS, despite this important step, many accessibility problems with the service exist across platforms, including the inability to turn on audio description and access playback controls in the web player on Windows and Mac computers; and WHEREAS, other video streaming services do not have integrated audio description at all: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization commend Netflix for the steps it has taken toward making its content fully and equally accessible and encourage it to continue in this process, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge Netflix to improve the accessibility of its mobile and web platforms, enabling all users, regardless of device, to take advantage of audio description and other features of this popular service; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge all similar streaming services to adopt audio description for their content and incorporate accessibility into their services. ---------- Resolution 2015-27 Regarding the Corporation for National and Community Service Policies WHEREAS, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its core programs-Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and the Social Innovation Fund-and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, "United We Serve"; and WHEREAS, the mission of CNCS is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering by harnessing America's most powerful resource-the energy and talents of our citizens-to solve problems and by believing that "everyone can make a difference and that all of us should try to do so," thereby empowering Americans and fostering a lifetime of volunteer service from all Americans, from grade school through retirement; and WHEREAS, CNCS does not model best practices for recruitment, engagement, and equal inclusion of the blind and other Americans with disabilities in all aspects of its programs despite nondiscrimination policies, public statements to the contrary, and legislation such as the Serve America Act of 2009, which expanded national service opportunities for all Americans; and WHEREAS, research released by CNCS in June 2013 concluded that those who volunteer have a better likelihood of finding a job than those who do not and that this is generally the case for all volunteers regardless of gender, age, education, ethnicity, geographic area, or job market conditions; and WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind is uniquely positioned to further the inclusiveness and equality of CNCS and to become a partner in facilitating change, both vocationally and socially within the framework of volunteerism; and WHEREAS, participation in CNCS programs can expose the blind to career-, skill-, and resum?-building opportunities; encourage lifelong volunteerism among the blind; raise expectations of the blind so that they see themselves as participants in society and not just as recipients of charity; serve as a valuable platform to display and enhance the skills the blind already possess; and help to reduce the over 70 percent unemployment rate among the blind: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization urge the Corporation for National and Community Service, its board of directors, and its CEO to work with the National Federation of the Blind in order to ensure the full integration of the blind into all national service opportunities for participants, applicants, and prospective applicants; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the CNCS to develop a partnership with the National Federation of the Blind to ensure that all policies and practices of CNCS comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and to ensure the full accessibility of all websites, forms, and materials, including all equipment to be used by participants in CNCS programs; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization strongly encourage the CNCS to establish a pipeline program that will engage members of the National Federation of the Blind in national service programs and match them to the programs and opportunities that fit their interests and desires best. ---------- Resolution 2015-28 Regarding the Application of the Randolph-Sheppard Act to Military Dining Facilities WHEREAS, in 1974 Congress expanded the priority for blind persons to operate vending facilities on federal property, including military dining halls; and WHEREAS, in 2001 the Fourth Circuit, in NISH v. Cohen, ruled: "[t]he RS Act deals explicitly with the subject at issue, the operation of cafeterias, whereas the JWOD Act is a general procurement statute. Because the RS Act is a 'specific statute closely applicable to the substance of the controversy at hand,' it must control"; and WHEREAS, Congress defined food service contract to include "full food services, mess attendant services, or services supporting the operation of all or any part of a military dining facility" as stated in the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act; and WHEREAS, the R-S Act charges the United States Department of Education, not the Department of Defense, with prescribing regulations, giving the Secretary of Education sole authority to determine whether any limitation on the placement or operation of a vending facility is justified; and WHEREAS, in a conference report accompanying the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress directed the Department of Defense to enact food service regulations based on a 2006 Joint Policy Statement of the Departments of Education and Defense; and WHEREAS, that policy statement was never implemented because of significant opposition by blind vendors and state vocational rehabilitation agencies and second thoughts by Department of Education staff; because implementation of that policy statement would have effectively eliminated the prior right of the blind set forth in the R-S Act to operate vending facilities on all federal property: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization demand that the Department of Education stand up to the Department of Defense and make clear that regulations of the Department of Education pertaining to food services supersede those of any other federal department; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist that the Department of Education clearly instruct the Department of Defense that the Department of Education's regulations mean that a current non-blind operated contract for military dining services cannot be entered into or renewed unless a contract opportunity has been offered to the blind as provided by the R-S Act. ---------- Resolution 2015-29 Regarding Unified English Braille and the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation WHEREAS, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) has voted that as of 2016 the official codes to be used in the United States are Unified English Braille (UEB), the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, the music Braille code, and the International Phonetic Alphabet code; and WHEREAS, to reach the implementation goal, BANA announced as follows: "BANA is providing guidance on how to incorporate the Nemeth Code into UEB context with the intent that the Nemeth Code will continue to be integral to Braille in the United States"; and WHEREAS, each state must create a customized plan for implementation of UEB; and WHEREAS, some states, acting under an impression that part of the implementation process involves setting, at the state level, the standard for how mathematics Braille will be produced and taught in that state, have indicated an intent to move to the use of only UEB symbols for the teaching and production of Braille math in their state; and WHEREAS, Braille production does not occur in isolation within each state, but rather is done to a great extent by a nationally connected network of Braille transcribers and producers; and WHEREAS, the strong support for the use of Nemeth Code for mathematics is based in Nemeth Code being a known quantity, used successfully for decades, and found to be efficient and agile for reading and working mathematics problems because of its use of lower numbers distinct from letters, its one- cell representations of many mathematical symbols, its compact spacing, and other features that make it especially suited to mathematics; and WHEREAS, theories that abandoning the Nemeth Code in favor of the use of UEB symbols for technical contexts will improve Braille readers' access to and performance in math are unproven; and WHEREAS, there exists in the US a well-established network of certified Nemeth code transcribers, but there is no training or credential to ensure the qualification of transcribers producing technical materials using UEB symbols only; and WHEREAS, the differences between the presentation of mathematics in Nemeth Code and math using UEB symbols are so fundamental that a blind child moving to a state with a different math standard could find his or her math books and tests inaccessible even though they are in Braille; and WHEREAS, it is sometimes difficult to find the resources to produce a math book or test in Braille, much less the resources to produce the very same math textbook or test in two different ways; and WHEREAS, during the transition to Unified English Braille, some duplication of effort will be unavoidable to minimize disruption to the education of Braille readers, but to add a further variant to the standards for math would make the transition exponentially more chaotic, costly, and confusing for all concerned: Now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this ninth day of July, 2015, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization call upon state departments of education to eliminate needless confusion and unnecessary cost by using the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, with BANA's guidance for Nemeth in UEB contexts, as the standard for math Braille; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Braille Authority of North America quickly to clarify that, although timelines and processes for UEB implementation are set at the state level, Braille code standards are not set by individual states; and to indicate unequivocally that the Nemeth Code, with the guidance for Nemeth in UEB contexts, is the standard for mathematics Braille in the United States. ---------- Convention Miniatures First Report from the Community Service Division: The Community Service Division celebrated a milestone as we conducted our first-ever division meeting. Excitement and energy filled the room as the seminar came to order. Our seminar had a diverse array of speakers, from young scholarship winners to longtime leaders in the organization, all of them sharing their story and their belief in community service and how it enriches our lives and changes the way we as blind people are viewed. Dr. Maurer shared with us that he sees the division and its members as a vehicle to take our message in the Federation to places it typically would not go as a part of what we currently do in our movement. Brooke Anderson, Secretary of the T-Town chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, told us of a successful service project that she and fellow chapter members took part in at a local food bank. The members packed and organized food alongside their sighted peers. Together they worked as people who saw a need in their community and sought to do their part as citizens to address it. Libra Robinson, president of our District of Columbia Community Service Division and co-chair of the NFB Community Service Division's "75 Days of Service" initiative shared her reflections on a project that she felt brought a number of people together to think about and do community service. She expressed how inspired she was by what our members did and urged that everyone do more of the same. She reminded us that we don't need a special event to do community service. Hindley Williams shared with the members eight ways that a person might get involved in community service if he or she was interested but doesn't know how to start. She suggested that one must be confident in one's abilities. Don't be afraid to communicate and show what you can do. Tap the resources of knowledgeable blind people such as those in the National Federation of the Blind and in the Community Service Division of the NFB. We heard from a host of national scholarship winners who shared their unique stories. Chris Stewart spoke to how he intends to use his law degree to serve populations who can't afford legal counsel. Annika Ariel, Hannah Werbel, and Bryan Duarte talked about teamwork, selflessness, and the role they play in being of service in one's community. Kelsi Watters spoke about the way strength and faith can play a vital role in the service we have to give, and Nefertiti Matos shared how volunteering can in fact help you land that all important job. Oklahoma affiliate President Jeannie Massay explained how community service played an important role in her life growing up in Oklahoma and how the way we wish to serve versus the way we may end up serving may be less important than the fact that we are helping, being seen as contributors, and perhaps for the first time being seen as givers. Julie McGinnity explained the importance of using all of the nonvisual tools we have at our disposal as blind people to live the lives we want through service and how she does this as a guide dog user. Vern Humphry, a blind veteran, told us how he is an ambassador for blindness and the Federation through community service. People see him participating in Rotary club events, and this allows him to educate while he serves. Conchita Hernandez moderated a panel comprised of training center students which included Jessie Kitchens of BLIND Inc., Haylee Holland of the Colorado Center for the Blind, and Yadiel Sotomayor of the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Each of these students told us how they came to be students at their respective center, what they gained in confidence, and how they now believe with not a doubt in their mind that they can live the life they want. Of course with a new division comes new officers. Elections were held, with the following results: president, Darian Smith (CA); vice president, Chris Parsons (CO); secretary, Hindley Williams (MD); treasurer, Corina Salinas (TX); and board members Jonathan Franks (TX), Mary Church (CA), and Juan Munoz (TX) Deaf-Blind Division: Elections were held during the division meeting at convention. Those elected and those who continue to serve are as follows: president, Alice Eaddy; first vice president, Marsha Drenth; second vice president, Janice Toothman; secretary, Danielle Burton; treasurer, Randy Miller; and board members Cathy Miller, John L. Williams, Joseph B. Naulty, and Brooke Evans. Diabetes Action Network: At its recent meeting, held on the afternoon of July 7 during the 2015 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, the National Federation of the Blind Diabetes Action Network conducted elections, with the following results: Mike Freeman, president; first vice president, Sandi Ryan (IA); second vice president, Bernadette Jacobs (MD); secretary, Mindy Jacobsen (NY); and board member Juan Figueroa (MA). NFB Cancer Survivors Support Group Report from Convention: The NFB-Cancer Survivors Support Group convened at the 2015 NFB National Convention for an awesome seventy-fifth anniversary celebration. The NFB Cancer Survivors hosted our annual meeting Tuesday, July 7. With over forty members in attendance, we handed out gift bags filled with accessible information on cancer, healthy snacks, and maracas for those dining with the NFB Cancer Survivors at the fiesta banquet table during the 2015 NFB banquet. The cancer survivors generated $1,080 with the attendance of eighteen survivors shaking their maracas to let everyone know "we are here." The keynote speaker of the cancer survivors annual meeting was Ms. Liliya Asadullina, an NFB Scholarship finalist and a blind cancer survivor. Liliya delivered a phenomenal presentation on holistic medicine. We thank Liliya for sharing an awesome presentation with us and wish her continued success. The NFB Cancer Survivors host monthly networking/conference calls. You are invited to join the National Federation of the Blind Cancer Survivors Support Group mailing list. This list is sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind. To join the list, go to , or send an email to and put "subscribe" in the subject line. If you have technical problems, please contact David Andrews at: . Elected: The National Association of the Blind in Communities of Faith held elections during their annual meeting with the following results: Tom Anderson, president; Renee Akins, vice president; Linda Netenik, secretary; and Sam Gleese, treasurer. Report from the Human Services Division: The Human Services Division held its annual meeting during convention. Elections were held with the following results: president, Merry Schoch [pronounced Shock]; first vice president, Mary Ann Robinson; second vice president, Tyrone Bratcher; treasurer, Candice Chapman; secretary, Lisa Irving; and board members Dennis Sumlin and Sarah Meyer. Dennis Sumlin is spearheading the division's efforts to have a larger presence on Facebook and a strong website. He encourages each of us to click the LIKE button on the Division's Facebook page. Marion Gwizdala suggested that all members and interested parties sign up for and participate on the division's email list. He informed us that joining the list is very simple. Go to , click the "Join or Drop NFBNet Mailing Lists" link, find the "humanser" link, and complete the form with your name and email address. President Schoch introduced our legal panel for a presentation on electronic medical records and licensure access issues. Dan Goldstein is a partner in the firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, which has represented the NFB in a number of legal issues including accessible voting and other civil- rights issues. Mehgan Sidhu is our NFB General Counsel, and Valerie Yingling is her legal assistant. Valerie has been collecting information on access issues which affect blind human service workers in the areas of electronic medical records and accessible licensure/certification examinations. Legislative comments have been submitted stating that federally- certified programs address the access needs of blind clients/patients, but do not address blind employees and our needs to access and utilize these records. The Department of Defense is looking to establish an electronic medical records contract, and they are expecting the contracts to require full accessibility. Overall they expect electronic medical records to become accessible over time, and the NFB is committed to the effort. With help from the NFB, similar issues involving electronic test formats for the legal bar examinations were made fully accessible. Now the two major firms which provide the frameworks for human services licensure examinations are working with the NFB to make these tests accessible as well. The panel's overall recommendation for dealing with these and similar issues is to apply for accommodations early, be specific as to your personal needs, and provide documents regarding your disability. If you have issues, call the NFB early in the process for assistance, and ask for Mehgan Sidhu or Valerie Yingling. National Organization of Professionals in Blindness Education: Elections were held with the following results: president, Eric Guillory; first vice president, Denise Mackenstadt; second vice president, Jackie Anderson; secretary, Casey Robertson; treasurer, Krystal Guillory; and board members Emily Gibbs, Charlene Guggisberg, Michael Harvey, and Carlton Walker. For more information about the National Organization of Professionals in Blindness Education, contact Eric Guillory by email at , or by phone at (318) 245-2157. Report from the Promotion, Evaluation, and Advancement of Technology Committee: The Promotion, Evaluation, and Advancement of Technology Committee met on the convention's first day, Sunday, July 5. We were pleased to have a standing-room-only crowd, who came to witness our showcase of technology. >From low tech to high tech, we had a great group of presenters-some exhibitors, some not. AT&T was there this year, as was CTIA, which is the Wireless Association. [Knowing readers would want to know how the initials CTIA figured into the title, the Monitor inquired. We were told that CTIA was not an acronym but an initialism. We looked that one up and learned that an initialism is a group of letters never meant to be pronounced but said individually. The example was BBC for British Broadcasting Company. Okay, NFB is never pronounced but, like the BBC, it means something. So we wrote once again and were then told that an initialism doesn't have to mean anything. So now you know what we know-CTIA is the Wireless Association and that's that.] We had BAUM USA talking about their new notetaker and HumanWare talking about their long-established one. We had AT Guys talking about low- priced and useful gadgets and a presentation about the new Bradley Braille Watch. Many of our longtime presenters were there, such as Stephen Baum of Kurzweil Educational Systems and Larry Skutchan from the American Printing House for the Blind. One of the more interesting pieces of technology was the new camera that Rhys Filmer of OrCam spoke about. It is worn on glasses and can perform as an object identifier and reader. Many tried it out at their exhibit booth. This year after the showcase our committee discussed some things President Riccobono wished us to pursue, namely evaluating products that come on the market that might or might not help blind people. We are in a much better position to know whether things are useful or are just some well-wisher's idea of something we ought to like and use. The committee intends to be a helping hand to the International Braille and Technology Center for future evaluating. If there are those out there who believe they are experts in certain technologies used by the blind, I encourage you to contact me. We could use a few more folks on the committee. All committees are appointed by the President, but I can't recommend you if I don't know about your interests and expertise. My name is Mark Jones, and I can be reached on my cell phone at (601) 529-8629 or by email at . Travel & Tourism Report from Convention: When registration opened at 6:00 p.m., we had twenty-eight people in attendance, and we had twenty-five people join or once again pay their dues. In addition to our annual meeting at the convention, this division holds meetings by conference call and plans to make use of the new online chat service called NFBLive. In a special election to fill vacant seats, Jo Taylor was elected treasurer, John teBockhorst was elected secretary, and Denice Brown was elected to a board member position. These are all one-year terms. Our division selects a travel site and plans a trip which is used as a fundraiser. Amy Baron is chairperson of our 2016 trip committee, and after much discussion the division decided on New York City/upstate New York. President Echevarria encouraged all those interested in participating in this fundraiser or who are interested in going on this trip to be part of the conference call which will be held in September. Our travel agent will be on the call, and information about the trip will be available on NFB listservs. One does not have to be a member of the NFB or the division to participate. Of course the trip isn't just about traveling and enjoying a vacation. It can also serve to educate those we meet, both fellow travelers and employees of hotels and attractions, about the abilities of blind travelers. We had a brief presentation from Tim Elder, who is outside council for the NFB. He talked about two cases on which the NFB is working: one involving Uber refusing service animals, the other with VeriFone and trying to make taxicab terminals accessible. If anyone has had issues with these companies, they should contact him at . You can also contact Valerie Yingling or Mehgan Sidhu at the national center, and they can put you in contact with him. We had a panel discussion featuring Steve Hastalis and Jemal Powell. Steve talked about his experiences with Amtrak, and Jemal talked about using public transportation in Chicago. Next we heard from Denice Brown, who spoke about her travel experiences in New York City. She talked about going to the theatre when she was a child, and she reminded us that going to the theatre doesn't have to be expensive or inaccessible. All Disney productions like The Lion King and Aladdin (both of which are currently running) are accessible. One can sign up with a company called TDF (Theatre Development Fund) without charge at ) It offers theatre accessibility programs for people with various disabilities. The final item on the agenda was a presentation from two representatives, Suman Kanuganti from a new company called Aira.IO, and our own Michael Hingson. They did a demonstration of a new travel aid called Goggle Glasses. These glasses and software have the potential to connect a blind traveler real-time to an agent who could then guide the user to where he or she wanted to go, as well as read things like a menu or a sign. For more information about Aira.IO, check out their web page at . The meeting adjourned after the presentation, though members were encouraged to stay and get a hands-on demonstration of the Goggle Glasses. National Federation of the Blind Writers' Division: The Writers' Division held elections at their meeting during convention, with the following elected: president, Eve Sanchez; first vice president, Chelsea Cook; second vice president, Myrna Badgerow; treasurer, Shawn Jacobson; secretary, Katie Colton; and board members Robert Gardner, Shelley Alongi, Kinston Walker, and Lori Letham. A Report from the Piano Tuners Group: Don Mitchell, the chairperson of the Piano Technology Group, conducted a piano technology seminar at the national convention on July 7. The general purpose of the group is to support the National Federation of the Blind's mission of changing what it means to be blind. The specific purpose of the group is to change what it means to be a blind piano tuner. More details about this seminar will appear later in the fall. In our piano technology seminar we looked at the history of piano tuning as a stereotypic career. The National Association of Blind Students Meeting: NABS had an outstanding meeting at convention. In what may well have been record setting, 242 people registered, and many more attended. President Riccobono challenged NABS to get twenty-five students to join or increase PAC pledges, and NABS rose to the challenge and then some, hitting fifty-six and winning the PAC Mule. Gabe Cazares gave an excellent presentation about the SMART Act and NFB legislative priorities before announcing that he is stepping down from his position in NABS to focus on his work as a new government affairs specialist at the National Center for the Blind. Sean Whalen updated NABS members on the progress made over the last year and called on each student in the room to pledge fifteen minutes a week to working on passing SMART, recruiting members, raising money, or doing other activities to build the Federation. Karen Anderson, second vice president of NABS, gave a heartfelt speech about why she came to be involved with NABS and the NFB. Karen also announced that she would not be seeking reelection. Scholarship winners introduced themselves, talked about their goals, and expressed their interest in the work of the division. After elections, the board of NABS is: Sean Whalen, president; Candice Chapman, first vice president; Brianna Brown, second vice president; Derek Manners, treasurer; Kathryn Webster, secretary; and board members Hindley Williams; James Garrett; Chris Nusbaum; and Michael Ausbun. We left the meeting with the firm conviction that, though much work lies ahead, we are up to the challenge. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Fri Oct 2 15:33:52 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2015 15:33:52 -0700 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, October 2015 Message-ID: <201510022233.t92MXqAn025393@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 9 October 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 58, No. 9 October 2015 Contents Illustration: A Bridge to Information: NFB-NEWSLINE? Celebrates its Twentieth Year Proving I Could Live the Life I Want by Brian Buhrow The Blind and Amazon by Chris Danielsen The Nature of Blindness by Marc Maurer Sixty Years of Living and Singing in the Federation by Tom Bickford Advocacy and Policy Report by John Par?, Lauren McLarney, Gabe Cazares, and Rose Sloan Shirley Morris: A Life Remembered by Mary Ellen Jernigan #NCBYS: Making the Connection and Equipping the Next Generation by Angel Ayala A Growing Partnership for Accessibility: Google and the Organized Blind Movement by Kannan Pashupathy Leadership through Law: Perspective on Advancing Civil Rights for the Blind by Maura Healey Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Scott White using a telephone to access NFB-NEWSLINE] [PHOTO CAPTION: Pat Maurer using an NLS Player] [PHOTO CAPTION: Amy Mason listening to NFB-NEWSLINE on her Victor Reader] [PHOTO CAPTION: Gabe Cazares uses NFB-NEWSLINE with a Braille display] [PHOTO CAPTION: Anil Lewis listens to NFB-NEWSLINE on his iPhone using a Bluetooth earpiece] A Bridge to Information: NFB-NEWSLINE? Celebrates its Twentieth Year Back in the 1990s the National Federation of the Blind decided to harness computer technology to bring newspapers to the blind. This represented a remarkable possibility, for most of us who were blind had all but given up hope of having access to a daily newspaper and had tried to content ourselves with whatever we could get from the radio. NFB-NEWSLINE made reading our local newspaper as easy as using a touch-tone telephone, but it didn't stop there. The telephone system is still a major staple of the NFB-NEWSLINE network, but now one can read newspapers, magazines, television listings, and blindness-related information using a player from the National Library Service, DAISY book readers from various third-party vendors, and even on one's iPhone. All of the flexibility that has been built into NFB-NEWSLINE is well documented and available from our NEWSLINE team, and all that a blind person needs to do today is decide how much he wants to read, when he wants to read it, and on what device he wishes to do his reading. The rest is done by the dedicated and competent men and women whose pictures appear on these pages. Thank you NFB-NEWSLINE, and thank you to the men and women who make it all look so easy. [PHOTO CAPTION: Brian Buhrow] Proving I Could Live the Life I Want by Brian Buhrow >From the Editor: Brian Buhrow is a network engineer for Vianet Communications in California. He is blind, but he believes his blindness is far less significant than his ability to think, to problem-solve, and to live the life he wants. In this story Brian recounts his adventures as a student who won the right to take classes abroad and the way his desire to see more than his classroom led to a predicament that would test his ability to remain cool while in crisis and to think his way out of a most uncomfortable situation. Here is his story: As I stood in the vestibule of this stranger's home listening to her shouting at me though I did not understand her, I wondered how I had gotten here. The short answer was that I'd been out for the evening, and I'd taken a wrong turn getting home, but the long answer was much more complicated and interesting. It had to do with what we talk about every day in the National Federation of the Blind: how to change what it means to be blind and how to live the life we want in the world alongside our fellow human beings. This moment, alone, in a stranger's front hall was the culmination of all my work to prove that I could be truly independent and travel where and when I wanted. So how was that moment going? Before I answer that, let me provide a bit of background. I have been blind since birth. I was fortunate in that I went to a preschool for the blind, where it was determined that I should learn Braille as young as possible. I was also fortunate to encounter teachers who stressed to my parents that I be given a mainstream education during my elementary and high school years. This meant that, while I was learning Braille and receiving mobility training, I was also attending school with my sighted peers. As a result I became used to living alongside sighted children in all aspects of my daily life. They, in turn, got some exposure to a student who happened to be blind. I was a good student and rose to the top of my classes-not always the very top, but certainly near the top. Consequently, by the time I reached high school, I'd earned a certain amount of respect from my peers. Another change which occurred when I reached high school was that I attended a school where there were a number of other blind students. From fifth grade to eighth grade I'd been the only blind student on campus, and I'd gotten used to that state of affairs. As it happened, most of the other blind students on campus had disabilities beyond blindness, so, instead of just being one of the blind students, I became the star blind student, the special blind student who was different from the other blind students. By the time I reached my senior year of high school, I was feeling pretty full of myself. I had good travel skills, was accepted to several prestigious universities, received a substantial number of scholarships, and was pretty sure I could walk on water! To add to my confidence, one of the scholarships I received was from the National Federation of the Blind. Barbara Pierce woke me up on a Sunday morning to tell me that I'd won and that I should pack myself off to Chicago alone and at the NFB's expense to receive my reward. It was at this point that I began to wonder if perhaps I wasn't as confident as I'd been making myself out to be or as competent as my teachers said I was. I didn't have much experience traveling on an airplane, certainly not cross-country and by myself. Still I was "amazing," and I had no reason to doubt myself as I set out for Chicago as a cocky young high school graduate. Barbara told me everything would be taken care of, and I had no reason to believe otherwise. I'd been to conventions of the blind, and they were awash with volunteers who could help me at every turn if I needed it. My first lesson came when I reached the Chicago airport. I expected someone would meet me at the plane, and I'd be driven to the convention hotel. Such was not the case. Instead I found myself collecting my own bag from the baggage carrousel and searching for a shuttle to take me to the hotel. Once I reached the hotel, the front desk didn't know who I was, and I ended up waking the scholarship coordinator so she could give me my room assignment. As the week progressed, I began to understand that I was not amazing at all, but rather someone who was reasonably trained in techniques of blindness and reasonably well educated. There were blind people at the convention who regularly traveled the world as part of their jobs, others who worked for multinational companies, and still others who were doing things that I could only aspire to do. My fellow scholarship winner, roommate for the week, and now very dear friend John Miller was a mathematical genius who ran his own paper route in his hometown. And did I mention that he completed one of his Boy Scout badges by setting up and camping alone in the woods for a night? I couldn't see myself doing that in a million years. In short, I learned I was normal and that I didn't have to live up to the hype my teachers instilled in me back home. The experience was incredibly humbling and empowering at the same time. Here were people who were pursuing their dreams and lives with skill, dignity, and independence. If I worked hard and learned my alternate techniques, I might, just might, be able to go to college, graduate, get a job, and live as a first-class citizen. For the first time I saw this as a realistic possibility. I still didn't know how I was going to do it, but at least I'd met people who were, and, if I stuck with them, they might teach me how it was done. "Okay, okay," I hear you asking, "but what about that lady incoherently shouting at you in her house back at the beginning of this tale?" Don't worry, we're almost there. When I left Chicago at the end of the week with my scholarship in hand, I realized that I had received much more than the dollars the NFB offered to help me further my education. Just how much more, however, wouldn't become clear for a bit longer. I went to college, where I studied a combination of computer science and English literature. I liked the technical aspects of computer science, but I needed the humanity and connectivity of English lit. As I pursued this twin course of study, an opportunity came for me to apply to the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) as an exchange student for my junior year. Since I wasn't very good at foreign languages, I applied to study in the UK, either in Ireland or England. The competition for these countries was fierce, and I was told my chances of being selected were pretty slim. When, as part of my application, I was asked how I would function as a blind person in a foreign country, I assured everyone that I'd do it the same way I did in the US. I knew how to work with professors and lecturers to get the materials I needed for classes, and I was familiar with working with readers for getting materials "just in time" that weren't available in alternative forms. I had a year and a half of college plus summer school under my belt, and I'd lived both on- and off-campus with roommates and housemates for all that time. The selection committee for the EAP told me I had a strong application but not quite strong enough to make the initial cut. However, I was placed second or third on the waiting list, I don't remember which, and, as time went by, my name got closer and closer to the top. Finally, in August, between my sophomore and junior years, I emerged from the waiting list and became part of the 1990-91 UC Education Abroad Program class. That summer I flew to London for our orientation and took my place as a student at Leeds University in Leeds, England. Living in England as an exchange student, especially that year during the first Gulf War, was an experience I shall treasure forever. The pace of courses at English universities was more laid back than at the UC Santa Cruz campus, where the quarters raced by in ten-week blurs. I appreciated the non-US-centric perspectives I gained from my fellow students, and I enjoyed traveling to different parts of England, so I signed up for an Interrail pass which would let me travel the trains throughout Western Europe. The Interrail pass is much like the Eurail Pass bought in the US, except it's a lot cheaper and requires that you be a current resident of the European Union. I decided I would travel during the last three weeks of June before leaving England for the US and the NFB national convention. I bought Let's Go Europe, a popular tour guidebook for Europe, and a membership in the Youth Hostel Association. The original plan for the trip involved one of my housemates. He and I were going to travel together, staying at youth hostels in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Paris. Two weeks before our departure he experienced a family emergency and was required to leave for his native Malaysia immediately at the end of the school year. I briefly considered canceling my trip but decided that, since I'd already been living abroad for a year, if I really was an independent blind person, I should prove it to myself and make the journey alone. I announced this to my friend, who, after arguing with me for some time about the merits of my decision, helped me prepare by reading large swaths of the Let's Go Europe book as well as the youth hostel guidebook. And so it was that in early June of 1991, I found myself armed with endless Braille notes on where to find youth hostels in Berlin and Amsterdam and heading for the North Sea Ferry to take me to Rotterdam. When I got to Rotterdam I took a train to Amsterdam and thence to Berlin. While on the train to Berlin, I met a group of Americans who were setting out to explore Western Europe with the idea that they'd end up in Prague in a week or two. They seemed to know where a good hostel was to bunk at in Berlin, so, rather than finding my original destination, I elected to stick with them for the three days they were going to be in Berlin. We found our hostel, dropped our bags, and set out to explore the city. We visited the synagogue where Mendelssohn is buried and learned just how thoroughly the Nazis denuded the lands of Jewish people. This synagogue had over 30,000 members before Hitler came to power. By the time the Marshall plan was implemented, there were 1,300 people left. We spent the next two days exploring various tourist sites in Berlin, as well as sampling a few of its beer gardens. On the third day, I said goodbye to my new friends, and they boarded the train for Prague. I decided to explore the area of Berlin around the Wall more thoroughly, and I enjoyed the afternoon I spent at one of the museums commemorating the history of the Wall and what it meant for it to be torn down. That evening I went to a small beer garden and enjoyed some excellent German beer as well as a very tasty and generous meal. I'd become familiar with the subway system in Berlin over the past few days and was quite comfortable making my way through its environs. My hostel was just a few blocks from the subway stop, and I was confident I knew where it was. So after my meal and a pleasant walk in the fine summer evening, I boarded the subway and got off at the appropriate stop. My hostel was three blocks to the right, a left turn after crossing the third street, and the seventh house on the right. The hostel consisted of two buildings, separated by a courtyard. One walked through the first building, straight back, into the courtyard, and thence to the rear building, where the sleeping rooms were. On all the other occasions when I'd returned to the hostel, the door to the front building had always been open. It was more of a breezeway to the courtyard rather than a building. On this occasion the door was closed and apparently locked. "No problem," I thought. I'd always returned earlier in the evening. Perhaps they had a policy of closing up after a certain hour. I rang the bell and waited. After a few minutes the door opened, and a woman asked me something in German. Now I was confused. I'd never seen a woman caretaker at the hostel before. Surely she knew I was a guest there. I tried explaining what I wanted in English, and she became even more confused. After a few more attempts at communicating, she invited me into the hall and asked me to wait. When I stepped in, I realized I'd done something terribly wrong. The hall was warm and brightly lit, and there was a cozy living room adjacent to it. None of that existed at the hostel. Soon the woman came back with a man, probably her husband, and we tried again. His English was slightly better than hers, but still not enough to tell me exactly where I was. At some point I realized there was no way we were going to gain an understanding, and they were becoming more and more distressed by the moment. I decided the best way out of this situation was to flee! I headed for the door and quickly left, not knowing how to do anything else to comfort these people I'd so rudely disturbed. As I retraced my steps to the subway station, I reflected on the predicament I was in. Here I was in a country where I didn't speak the language, in a city where I knew no one. Nor was I quite sure of the address or name of my hostel. In those days cell phones were virtually nonexistent, and GPS technology was used only by the military. In other words, I was on my own, and I would have to get myself out of this situation. When I reached the subway station, I thought about my options. This didn't take long since I couldn't think of many. One way or another, I had to find my hostel because all my belongings were there, and I'd already paid for the lodging for the night. So I tried again. Three blocks to the right, cross the third street, turn left, and find the seventh house on the right. This time, when I tried it, I found the door open as I expected, the front building was like a breezeway, there was the courtyard, and most important there was the sleeping room with my stuff on one of the beds. As I climbed into bed that night, I was not only extremely happy that I'd found my bed, I also realized that I had found true independence. The next morning I awoke, made my way to Cologne, Germany, took a cruise on the Rhine River, and ended up in Amsterdam. I finished my travels in Amsterdam, where I met another American traveler who agreed to go tandem bicycling with me through the Dutch countryside. While I didn't get to Paris on that trip, I did see a good bit of Germany and got a good feel for the attractions Amsterdam has to offer, as well as what the surrounding countryside looks and feels like. It hasn't always been easy to make my way forward in life since that nerve-wracking night in Berlin, but that night plus my continuing participation in the activities of the National Federation of the Blind and the consequent association with the brightest and most forward-thinking blind of our nation has served as a constant reminder that I can succeed even when others believe that I cannot. As a result I've had the privilege of living a full and adventurous life. I've been able to earn and retain good jobs; travel widely, participating in many adventures during those travels; and live life as a contributing member of my community and society. And to think, in many ways, it all started for me while I stood in a stranger's front hall and listened to her interrogate me in a language I did not know. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen] Preliminary Victory for New York City's Blind Students: City School System Backs Away from Amazon Distribution and Content Deal by Chris Danielsen >From the Editor: Chris Danielsen is the director of Public Relations for the National Federation of the Blind, a lawyer, and a person who is able to tell a story involving significant technical detail and keep it interesting. Here is what he has to say about our ongoing struggles to see that students get the materials they need to compete in the classroom: On August 25, 2015, the National Federation of the Blind scored a preliminary victory in our long-running battle with Amazon Digital Services Inc., which has been trying to push inaccessible content into America's public schools and institutions of higher education for over half a decade. Our victory came in the form of a decision by the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to back away from a proposed $30 million contract with Amazon. The widely-publicized proposal would have seen the company build a digital storefront for the school system and provide the city's schools with e-textbooks and other electronic educational materials. The DOE's Panel for Educational Policy, which has the final say on such contracts, had scheduled a vote on the deal for August 26. But, after learning of the Federation's long-standing concerns about the accessibility of Amazon's e- textbooks and its touted content distribution system, known as WhisperCast, and with the threat of blind protesters picketing the meeting, the vote was very publicly postponed, with little indication of when the contract would be considered again. Federation leaders are now hopeful that this high- profile setback will finally bring Amazon to the table for discussions that will resolve the issues that currently prevent blind students from fully and equally accessing educational content provided by the Seattle-based company. Since 2007 Amazon has been selling a family of ebook readers and applications, along with content to read on them, under the brand name Kindle. Blind Americans have been asking Amazon to make its Kindle products accessible since 2008, shortly after they were first released. Dr. Marc Maurer, Immediate Past President of the National Federation of the Blind; Dr. George Kerscher, the creator of the first ebooks used by the blind (or anyone else, for that matter); and others met with Amazon officials to urge them to make the Kindle platform a model for equal access to ebooks so that at last the information playing field would become truly level for blind people. In 2009 Amazon did introduce the first Kindle devices with text-to- speech output, but blind users could not independently access this feature. Furthermore, under pressure from the Authors Guild, Amazon allowed authors and publishers to turn off text-to-speech for specific books. When Amazon began peddling Kindles to institutions of higher education, the NFB brought suit and filed complaints against several of these institutions. These claims prompted a June 29, 2010, joint letter from the US Departments of Education and Justice warning higher education institutions not to purchase inaccessible technology. A follow-up "Frequently Asked Questions" document (known as an FAQ) from the Department of Education made it clear that the prohibition against the purchase of inaccessible technology also applied to libraries and K-12 schools. Federation members took our concerns directly to Amazon's door in December of 2012 with an informational protest outside the company's Seattle headquarters. Following the protest, Amazon added some accessibility features to its Kindle app for iPhones and other Apple devices in May of 2013. Blind readers can now access Kindle content with VoiceOver on these devices, regardless of whether or not the publisher has allowed text-to-speech output. However, while the Kindle app is acceptable if one is merely reading for pleasure, its features are not robust enough to be used in the educational setting-more on the particular barriers that still remain below. The National Federation of the Blind has made its concerns about remaining accessibility barriers in the education context clear to Amazon and to the public from the very day the more accessible Kindle for iOS app was released. Moreover, we have publicly observed many times that Whispercast, the distribution system that allows teachers to provide content directly to students' devices-including notes, highlights, bookmarks, and other instructor- or student-created content-remains inaccessible, meaning that blind students do not have the same opportunity to interact with their teachers and peers as sighted students. The United States Department of Education affirmed in a May 2013 letter, in response to questions from attorney Daniel F. Goldstein-who has represented the Federation in this and many other matters-that inaccessible software with the feature set of Whispercast is not acceptable in the classroom under federal law. Despite all this, Amazon is still seeking to have Kindle ebooks and devices, Whispercast, and Amazon storefronts deployed in K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, and many school districts and colleges across the United States have already adopted these technologies. Indeed, Amazon boasts that its technology is in 130 of the nation's 250 largest school districts. Recently we learned that the New York City Department of Education was considering a contract with Amazon. The New York City school system is the largest in the nation, with eighteen hundred schools and over a million students, around a thousand of whom are blind, as well as some blind faculty members. Many other school districts would likely follow the system's lead if it were to adopt Amazon's technology. Accordingly, we responded swiftly. On August 7, 2015, President Mark Riccobono sent a letter to the chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Carmen Fari?a, and the chairperson of its Panel on Educational Policy, Vanessa Leung, outlining our objections to the proposed deal. A copy of the letter was also sent to Commissioner Victor Calise, who heads the New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. Three days later, President Riccobono received an email from Ms. Leung requesting further information. Here is his response: Dear Ms. Leung, Chancellor Fari?a, and Commissioner Calise: Thank you for Ms. Leung's August 10, 2015, email response to our August 7 letter. We appreciate that the panel is engaging in discussions and seeking additional information about the proposed contract between NYC DOE [New York City Department of Education] and Amazon prior to the August 26 meeting. We write to clarify the specific aspect of the proposed arrangement between DOE and Amazon about which we are most troubled: the limitations of Kindle ebooks. Increasingly, mainstream publishers deliver digital files to booksellers like Amazon in an ePub3 format that allows a print- disabled person using screen-reader software to intelligibly read tables, read mathematical symbols correctly and mathematical equations in correct syntactical order, and take advantage of markup and structural data to navigate from, say, one paragraph to the next or from one heading to the next. Unfortunately, Amazon takes ePub3 content and, due to the limitations of its MobiPocket converter, strips the ePub3 files of this rich reading experience, rendering them accessible only to the sighted reader. The upshot is that, even using an accessible device and an accessible e-reading software platform, a blind reader attempting to work with a Kindle ebook that is anything more than a simple novel will encounter significant accessibility barriers because Amazon's proprietary process of converting the ebook file from ePub3 format to Kindle format has scrubbed the file of the meta-data needed by the blind person's assistive technology. The best Kindle reading experience for a blind student or teacher is using the Kindle for iOS app on an iPad. However, because of the limitations to the Kindle file format (not the app), the blind student or teacher would be unable to: . Read tables . Skip to the previous or next block or paragraph of text . Skip to the previous or next hyperlink or heading . Read the "alt text" labels on photos, illustrations, or graphics, i.e., know what the photos, graphics, or illustrations in the book are . Move reliably between footnotes/endnotes and where they are indicated in the text Barriers are explained in greater detail at EPUBTest's "Fundamental Accessibility Tests: Kindle for iPad".[1] Unlike the ePub3 file format that publishers deliver to Amazon and other distributors, the Kindle ebooks file format does not support Math Markup Language (MathML), a markup language for mathematical and scientific content developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that, among other things, makes digital mathematical and scientific notations accessible to screen readers. [2] In sum, Kindle books are wholly unsuited for the rigors of the classroom, whether in a purely verbal subject, such as English, or a STEM subject requiring mathematical and scientific notation, such as biology. By contrast, there are many other distributors that, unlike Amazon, sell digital books in the ePub3 format used by major publishers. These ePub3-formatted books provide blind and other print- disabled students and faculty the same rich reading experience as their nondisabled peers. We trust this letter demonstrates how Amazon's lack of regard for accessibility when creating Kindle ebook content would leave blind students and teachers far behind their sighted peers if NYC DOE chooses to proceed with the proposed contract with Amazon. We hope you will take these concerns seriously, and we remain eager to sit down with you and other panel members or other DOE personnel to discuss these issues further. Please respond to Mehgan Sidhu, Esq., General Counsel to the National Federation of the Blind, at (410) 659-9314 extension 2314 or , to inform us if you are amenable to such a meeting. Sincerely, Mark A. Riccobono, President National Federation of the Blind After the August 13 letter several days passed without further word from NYC DOE, and with the vote of the Panel for Educational Policy pending on August 26, President Riccobono felt that a more aggressive plan of action was needed. This plan consisted of two components: a protest outside the building where the panel meeting would take place, and direct participation by blind people, such as students and parents of blind children, in the public comment portion of the meeting itself. Email blasts went out to affiliate leaders in the New York City area and to other supporters. A social media campaign was also begun by the Federation's new coordinator of social media and member engagement, Danielle Trevino, anchored by a blog post on the Voice of the Nation's Blind, the Federation's official blog. Here is the full text of the blog post: We Must Stop the Amazon Fail! Once again, Amazon Inc. is trying to push its inaccessible technology into public schools, despite our years of advocacy, and clear warnings against the adoption of inaccessible technology by the United States Departments of Education and Justice. In this case, blind students throughout the New York City public school system will be denied an equal education if the city goes through with a proposed $30 million deal under which Amazon would construct an electronic storefront for New York City schools and become the primary provider of electronic textbooks and related educational materials for students. Unfortunately, Amazon ebooks inhibit the ability of blind students to access complex material like tables and equations and the ability to easily navigate through a book, among other significant accessibility barriers. We have informed New York City Department of Education officials of these issues in two separate letters, sent on August 7 and August 13, but so far we have received no acceptance of our offer to meet with these officials, nor any firm indication that the proposed deal will be altered or scrapped. Since we have not been offered a meaningful reply to our concerns or an in-person meeting with relevant officials, we have decided to take more public action. The school system's Panel for Educational Policy, which has the final say on the deal, will meet next Wednesday, August 26, to vote on it, and blind Americans will be there in force to let the panel members and the public know that this is a bad deal for blind students and faculty and, therefore, for New York City schools. We plan to tell the panel that a vote for this deal is an outrageous act of deliberate discrimination against blind students and an equally outrageous and deliberate violation of federal law. Following the demonstration we will enter the auditorium where the meeting is taking place and participate respectfully so that we can encourage the Educational Policy Panel to do the right thing and shut down this "Amazon Fail!" If you would like to attend the protest, you can get more details by viewing our Facebook event, which we hope you will also take the time to share with others. If you are not able to attend the protest, you can still get involved by posting on social media using the following information. Be sure to tweet the New York City public schools (@NYCSchools), the mayor of New York (@NYCMayorsOffice), and Amazon (@Amazon) to tell them that blind children deserve equal access to e-textbooks. Use the hashtag #AmazonFail when you tweet so that our collective posts can all be found in one place. It is imperative that we protect the rights of blind students in New York City and throughout America by stopping this deal and sending a clear message to the New York City public schools, to Amazon, and to school systems across America that we will not tolerate blind children being treated like second-class citizens in our nation's classrooms. Help stop the #AmazonFail! That was our blog entry. Other protest plans were made: chants were composed, buses to transport members to the protest site were arranged, and signs from previous Kindle-related protests were removed from storage. But on August 25, President Riccobono received an official response from the school system. The text of this letter follows: Dear Mr. Riccobono, Thank you for your letter on August 13th. We take your concerns about the accessibility of Amazon ebooks seriously. In particular, you stated, among other things, that readers with visual impairments working with an Amazon ebook containing illustrations, graphics, or mathematical notations would not have access to such information because it is not programmed to be accessible through assistive technology. The DOE continues to evaluate the accessibility features of Amazon's services and other contractors. Please send us your best practices on procuring and incorporating electronic and information technology in the classroom to help us with our evaluation. It is worth noting that the procurement of digital books is only one aspect of the DOE's long-term technology vision for our schools. At the moment, DOE has no storefront for e-content, which is a detriment to our students and our learning communities. The goal of the contract with Amazon is to utilize a web platform for the distribution of e- content, including assistive technology, to schools. Regardless of which contractor creates the online distribution tool for the DOE, the DOE will retain its ability to procure content from different vendors. We appreciate any guidance NFB could share in regards to our goal. In the meantime, the vote regarding the proposed Amazon agreement scheduled for the August meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy will be postponed while we continue to consider all our options. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Ursulina Ramirez, Chief of Staff, New York City Department of Education cc: Vanessa Leung, Panel for Educational Policy Chair Victor Calise, Commissioner, New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities This letter did not specifically respond to our request for a meeting with NYC DOE officials. However, President Riccobono judged it a sufficiently promising gesture to justify postponing the protest. He issued a statement saying as much, while making it clear that the National Federation of the Blind stands ready to take further action if needed. Quoting fully, he said, "The National Federation of the Blind is firmly committed to the principle that blind students must have equal access to the materials used by their sighted peers if they are to receive an equal education and live the lives they want. That is why we have expressed our strong opposition to the deal with Amazon as currently proposed. While we stand ready to take any and all steps necessary to protect the rights of New York City's blind students, we are now hopeful, in light of the cancellation of tomorrow's vote on this deal, that we can resolve the issue through an amicable and productive dialogue with school officials. We continue to urge everyone concerned about the rights of students who are blind or who have print disabilities to contact Chancellor Carmen Fari?a and let her know that equal access and equal education are one and the same." While the picket outside the meeting location was dropped from our strategy, it was decided that a representative should still speak to the panel during the public comment portion of the meeting and that blind people from the New York City area should still attend. Maria Garcia, a Brooklyn parent of a blind child, was permitted to speak to the panel before any other business was conducted. Her prepared remarks follow: Good evening. My name is Maria Garcia. My family and I are longtime residents of West Harlem. I currently serve as the president of the Parents of Blind Children of New York and have served on the boards of the Citywide Council on Special Education and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. I also serve on the Executive Board of the NYS Commission for the Blind as the governor's appointee. Most important, I am the parent of a wonderful daughter who happens to be blind and has Cerebral Palsy. Elora is 18 and attends the Bronx Collaborative High School. Both as a parent and representative of parents of blind children in New York, I have seen how critical decisions like the Amazon contract are to the academic and future success or failure of our blind children. I want to thank the commissioner and panel for postponing today's vote on the contract to investigate accessible options. My daughter, like the more than one thousand blind students in this district, has tremendous potential to live a meaningful and productive life and strong ambitions of what she might accomplish. But when a school employs inaccessible technology, the opportunities for our blind kids shrink as the hurdles to education increase. At its best, Amazon's e-content would mean a blind student like my daughter would be unable to navigate through a book and access critical information available to her sighted peers. At its worst, Amazon's e-textbooks exclude blind students altogether. When our children with disabilities are excluded, they fall behind not only in their academic growth, but in their own belief about their abilities as equal members of school and society. They internalize themselves as second-class citizens. This need not be so. The technology exists and is commercially available to make these books and technology accessible and to put our blind children on an equal footing. New York City's DOE has the largest population of blind students in the nation. The impact of your decision is tremendous. As you consider how to move forward, this administration faces the choice to entrench barriers that push our district's blind students and other students with disabilities further behind or to choose to serve as an example to uphold the value of students with disabilities and your legal obligation to provide equal educational opportunities. I hope you will choose the latter course and be a role model to districts around the country and know the NY Parents of Blind Children stand ready to assist in that effort. President Riccobono quickly responded to Ms. Ramirez's August 25 letter with two detailed pieces of correspondence outlining the accessibility barriers inherent to Kindle content. Both letters are reproduced below. Please note: Both pieces of correspondence refer to a chart comparing the accessibility of Amazon's ebooks with those of another provider. The chart was included with both letters, but revisions to it were made after the first letter to incorporate information about access to math content. Only the second, more complete chart is reproduced at the end of the second letter. August 26, 2015 VIA EMAIL Ursalina Ramirez, Chief of Staff New York City Department of Education 52 Chambers Street New York, NY 10007 Re: Proposed Contract Between the New York City Department of Education and Amazon Digital Services Inc. Dear Ms. Ramirez: Thank you for your letter of yesterday's date. You note that the Department of Education will retain the right to order books elsewhere, but it appears to us that teachers and school administrators wishing to buy books and take advantage of deep discounts would be inclined to buy Amazon's content through the DOE storefront. Regardless of the original source of the ebooks or econtent, if DOE distributes the book through Amazon's current distribution software, the student or teacher will receive content with the same accessibility shortcomings as Amazon's Kindle content. Amazon's distribution mechanism converts all content to Amazon's proprietary Kindle format, including accessible ePub3 content provided by publishers or accessible instructional materials provided by a teacher. While Amazon's converter accepts ePub and other accessible content, it locks the distributed content into the Kindle format. Unlike many other vendors, Amazon's current distribution platform does not permit "side loading" that would enable non-proprietary formats to be presented in the reading system. As a result, otherwise accessible content, when channeled through Amazon's distribution system, will have the shortcomings described in the attached document, or worse. The attached document shows the problems with two Kindle formats in two charts. The first chart addresses Amazon's Print Replica formatted ebooks, books that even when used by a blind student on the optimum device, the Kindle Fire, still have significant deficits compared to the reading experience for the sighted student. The second addresses the standard Kindle format when the blind student uses iOS hardware, the optimum device for this format, and again results in inferior access to information. To demonstrate that there are commercially available alternatives that deliver to the blind student a more equivalent reading experience, the document shows that the features unavailable to blind students in the Kindle formats are available to all students in ePub3 books on the VitalSource platform. VitalSource is by no means the only choice. With respect to best practices, we can be of greater assistance if we have a more in-depth meeting to explore what the DOE wants to offer all students. In broad terms, ePub3, a set of HTML standards, includes accessibility standards that represent all that technology can currently offer to students with print disabilities, such as the ability to read MathML, tables, and a rich markup to allow quick navigability. There are a number of web-based readers that are accessible and can make available all of the content features present in ePub3. Some, like Kobo and the Adobe Digital Editions reader, rely on the open-source software of the Readium Foundation that fully supports ePub3. Others, like Apple, use their own distribution format, but they also support the reading of other formats such as ePub3. Apple has the additional advantage of offering an authoring tool targeted at education; iBook Author is designed to empower authors and faculty to create ePub3 content. If you wish to learn further on this topic, I note that James English of the New York Public Library is on the Readium Board of Directors; thus, he may be able to acquaint you further with the pros and cons of various readers that use the Readium software to deliver ePub3 to the reader. I have never spoken with Mr. English, but have been advised that he is extremely knowledgeable. For more information about best practices around ePub3, you can obtain "Accessible EPUB 3, Best Practices for Creating Universally Usable Content," a free book by Matt Garrish from O'Reilly Publishers, . Obviously, the web platform for ordering or selecting books must also meet WCAG 2.0 AA standards. Finally, you raise the question of distribution. Again, there are a number of accessible choices. For example, VitalSource, a member of Readium, has a distribution system that includes the ability to share notes or bookmarks, enabling the teacher to give assignments and raise questions or comments across the class. I would also note that VitalSource integrates with other portals, such as Blackboard. By contrast, here is what happens with content loaded on to Whispercast for distribution. NFB tried loading an accessible ePub3 book on to a Whispercast account but was unsuccessful because ePub3 is not a format supported by Whispercast. The only way to get this accessible title to read would have been to convert it into Amazon's Kindle file format, which would have stripped it of all markup, as described in the table in the attached chart that addresses reflowable text. NFB also uploaded the attached chart as a fully accessible .docx format document to Whispercast. The result: a blind user could not tell there were tables, could not know what column and row was being read, and, since the alt tags were gone, could not know whether the cell contained a check mark, an X, or a caution sign. Finally, NFB uploaded a .pdf file that it knew to be accessible (NFB's annual report). On an iOS device, Voiceover stated "This file format is not supported." On the Kindle Fire, nothing was vocalized at all-it simply could not be read. We are not endorsing any given product. To the contrary, we continue to request a true dialogue where we can give you information about the accessibility of different features that you identify as pedagogically important. I am confident that when selecting Amazon for final consideration, you were unaware of the accessibility barriers present in Kindle content-barriers that the National Federation of the Blind knows all too well. I am equally confident that a meeting would allow us to help you identify the people, resources, and products that can help you get a solution that will serve all of your students optimally. Sincerely, Mark A. Riccobono, President National Federation of the Blind Inaccessibility of Kindle Ebooks Subject: From Mark Riccobono: NFB addendum email to New York City Department of Education Please see below and attached. Ms. Ramirez: In our letter of Wednesday's date, we excluded reference to the ability to read math correctly (to read presentations in MathML) from the charts we attached, because we had not had the opportunity to re- confirm that VitalSource books have that capacity. Since that time, we have received the following statement from VitalSource: "We support MathML in all clients equally (browser, Mac, Windows, Android, Kindle Fire, Chrome Book, iOS). Specifically: VitalSource uses the evolving standard MathJax javascript framework to renderMathML. MathJax fully supports accessibility including ChromeVox, Texthelp, JAWS, and MathPlayer with more player support planned. We handle the implementation internally. In other words, publishers just have to provide valid MathML markup. VitalSource's platform handles the rest. When inquiries from end users, or institutions are received by VitalSource, we have the capability to test markup and work with the publisher in implementing and enhancing their MathML titles." As we have earlier stated, there is no Kindle format that correctly reads MathML. Please consider this an addendum to our information from Wednesday. Mark A. Riccobono, President National Federation of the Blind To further elaborate on the inaccessibility of the Kindle ebook experience for blind students, the tables sent to Ms. Ramirez are reprinted here: Inaccessibility of Kindle Ebooks Compiled by the National Federation of the Blind, August 2015 Amazon currently offers ebooks and econtent in two formats: Print Replica and reflowable text. The following two charts identify accessibility barriers for academic reading. Inaccessibility of Kindle Print Replica Ebooks Typically, Amazon's electronic textbooks are only available in Kindle Print Replica format and cannot be accessed as reflowable text. The most accessible experience available from Amazon for reading Print Replica books is with the Kindle Fire. Even so, a blind student who follows the instructions provided by the Fire will be unable to read a Kindle Print Replica book at all. A technologically sophisticated adult can force the reading experience, but it is a difficult, inconsistent, and buggy reading experience that would cause a blind student to read far less efficiently than other students. The following chart assumes that a blind student has managed to get the Kindle Fire to read the Print Replica book. The chart describes those tasks that a sighted student will be able to perform that a blind student cannot. As a point of comparison, the chart also shows how the reading experience on VitalSource's desktop application allows both sighted and blind students to accomplish these same tasks. Please Note: Traditionally, iOS is considered the most accessible platform for accessing Kindle books, but when a Print Replica book is loaded, a blind user will hear the message, "VoiceOver does not support this content," rendering iOS unusable for Print Replica textbooks. |Features |Usable by Blind |Usable by Blind | | |Students: |Students: | | |Kindle Print Replica |VitalSource Desktop | | |Ebooks |Platform | |Look up the meaning of |[pic] |[pic] | |words and terms | | | |Read a text description |[pic] |[pic] | |of a picture or graphic | | | |Highlight text |[pic] |[pic] | |Make notes |[pic] |[pic] | |Read by paragraph |[pic][3] |[pic] | |Read tables |[pic] |[pic] | |Read MathML |[pic] |[pic] | |Return to highlights and|[pic][4] |[pic] | |notes | | | |Read text in Braille |[pic][5] |[pic] | |Determine the spelling |[pic][6] |[pic] | |of a word or term | | | Inaccessibility of Kindle Ebooks with Reflowable Text Amazon's Kindle ebooks with reflowable text (text that can be sized independently of layout constraints) are most accessible on an iOS device. Even then, a blind student will encounter many significant barriers to having a reading experience equivalent to his sighted counterparts. The chart below describes activities that cannot be successfully completed by a blind student with Kindle for iOS and compares these activities to the experience of reading a textbook in the desktop VitalSource application, which is one of the ebook platforms the National Federation of the Blind knows to be accessible. |Features |Usable by Blind |Usable by Blind | | |Students: |Students: | | |Kindle on iOS |VitalSource Desktop | |Read tables |[pic] |[pic] | |Skip to the previous or next block|[pic] |[pic] | |or paragraph of text | | | |Skip to the previous or next |[pic] |[pic] | |hyperlink or heading | | | |Read the "alt text" labels on |[pic] |[pic] | |photos, illustrations, or | | | |graphics, i.e., know what the | | | |photos, graphics, or illustrations| | | |are that appear in the book | | | |Move reliably between footnotes / |[pic] |[pic] | |endnotes and where they are | | | |indicated in the text | | | |Read MathML |[pic] |[pic] | |Highlight text |[pic][7] |[pic] | |Make notes |[pic][8] |[pic] | |Braille support in text |[pic][9] |[pic] | Please Note: The preceding table focuses on the tools that are unavailable or impractical for a blind student to use with Kindle on iOS. Students are able to read basic text continuously, and by both character and word. They are also able to use bookmarks, search for terms, use the table of contents, and go directly to a specific location in the book. These features make the Kindle suitable for basic leisure reading, but without the features described in the preceding table, a blind student would be wholly unable to participate in the majority of classroom activities independently. As mentioned earlier, the proposed deal between Amazon and the NYC DOE had attracted a good deal of publicity, owing to the size of both the deal and the NYC school system. The sudden postponement of the vote on the contract also attracted notice in the media. The New York Daily News reported on the vote's cancellation via its website almost immediately. Although school officials had not mentioned our pending protest, we had alerted the media in the area and so the paper quickly put two and two together and contacted us for our reaction. As a result, a substantial part of President Riccobono's statement was included in the published article, which ran under the headline "Ebooks at NYC Public Schools Leave Out Blind, Advocates Say." Education Week, which is widely read by K-12 educators, also ran a story on the deal's failure to sail through as expected on its Marketplace K-12 blog. Blogger Michelle Molnar wrote in part: New York City schools delayed a vote this week on awarding a $30 million contract to Amazon to develop an online ebook storefront for educators, after advocates for blind and visually impaired individuals raised accessibility concerns. The National Federation of the Blind is questioning whether its community would have full accessibility in the online platform that would be built for teachers and principals to order ebooks and digital content, and whether blind and visually impaired educators and students will be able to adequately use the content once it is downloaded via the Kindle file format. "Our concern is that what we knew of the criteria for the project didn't include clear accessibility requirements in either area," said Mark Riccobono, the president of the Federation, in a phone interview. His organization's objections to the Kindle's custom file format date to 2008, he said, because visually impaired users who access ebooks that way cannot read tables, skip around in the text, or know what illustrations are in them. The vote on the agreement, originally scheduled to take place on August 26, has been postponed until a meeting in the fall, although no specific date has been set. "We are working closely with Amazon and community partners to ensure that all school communities-including those serving visually impaired students-will be able to take advantage of the ebook and e-content marketplace when it meets their needs," said Devora Kaye, the press secretary for the city's Department of Education, in a prepared statement. It is unclear what will happen next in this saga, but the National Federation of the Blind remains willing to engage in constructive conversations with all parties. Watch this space for further developments. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer] The Nature of Blindness An Address Delivered by Marc Maurer, Immediate Past President At the Convention of the National Federation of the Blind July 10, 2015 >From the Editor: We spend a lot of time at conventions critiquing our progress and planning for the future we intend to make for ourselves and those who follow. But sometimes we ask ourselves difficult questions, ones the world may think have already been answered, but which, with a bit of analysis, prove to be superficial and unimaginative. "Blindness, Handicap or Characteristic," seemed an absurd title to many of us who saw it for the first time, but a quick read through revealed that there was more to know about this topic than we had thought, and a second and third reading revealed some of the wisdom contained in Kenneth Jernigan's life altering article. What follows is another speech that may well change how people come to feel about blindness, and it is obvious that our former president has not stopped thinking about or exploring all of the ramifications, real or imagined, that are associated with it. Here is what he says: What is the nature of blindness? When a person becomes blind, how does that person change? Inasmuch as blind people and sighted people do not have identical characteristics, how are blind people different from the sighted? After seventy-five years of work in the National Federation of the Blind, it may seem that these questions must already have been answered. We must already know everything there is to tell. This speculation comes to mind because Gary Wunder, editor of the Braille Monitor, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri, a former board member of the National Federation of the Blind, and a man who has been a very good friend of mine for a quarter of a century, sent me an email that he had received from Sabra Ewing dated April 29, 2014. A portion of the text in that email says: I think someone should write an article about the advantages of being blind. You might be thinking that articles like this already exist, but the ones I have found are about people who use their blindness to avoid lines and do inappropriate things, which even if viewed as advantages, are a result of the way society views blindness rather than blindness itself. Lots of people who were born blind, including me, want to remain that way even if given the choice to become sighted. We still want to be blind even though society sends lots of messages that this attitude isn't okay. Why do we still want to be blind even knowing that we could fit into society so much better as sighted people? In my case I don't know why I want to stay blind, but I know it doesn't have to do with fear, and it's not a coping mechanism like some sighted people would suggest. That must mean there are lots of advantages to being blind. I think it would also be good for sighted people to read the article so they can learn to avoid insulting people who are happy with their blindness. In responding to this email, Gary Wunder said in part: You seem to hold that it [blindness] is a blessing, an unexplored territory that offers a great deal to those of us who are blind if only we would take the time to reflect upon it. When I encountered this correspondence, I thought: fair enough-an interesting point of view, and one which suggests certain lines of thought. Maybe, Sabra, I wondered, you want to remain blind because you know quite well how to manage your life as a blind person. Maybe you are identifiably and interestingly different from people who are sighted. Maybe the thought of change, of becoming a sighted person, is challenging to you. But just maybe, being blind carries with it enough advantages to make it attractive to you. A brief look at the internet tells us that the Yahoo company believes the three major advantages of being blind are: enhanced senses of smell and touch, an increased confidence, and a heightened capacity for sensuality. Although this list has a certain charm, I suspect that the reporter for Yahoo was not thoroughly informed. On the other hand, my own experience indicates that advantages do exist. In 1940 Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, the founder and first president of the National Federation of the Blind, said that blind people are normal, useful, and self-respecting. However, he did not attribute these characteristics to the blindness itself. In 1963 Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who later served as the second long- term president of the National Federation of the Blind, delivered an address to the banquet of the national convention of the Federation entitled "Blindness: Handicap or Characteristic." He said that blindness is a characteristic but that it is not a handicap unless certain conditions make it one. Furthermore, other characteristics can also, under certain circumstances, become handicaps. Dr. Jernigan pointed out that every characteristic is a limitation. He stated that ignorance and poverty are limiting, but he also asserted that the opposite of ignorance, intelligence, is itself a limitation. My daughter faced this limitation when she was urgently seeking work. When she applied to become a barista, she was refused the position because she had graduated from college. The owner of the coffee shop said that college graduates do not become baristas for very long, and she (the owner) wanted a permanent employee. Because all characteristics are limitations, blindness is also a limitation. However, it is only a disadvantage if the activity being pursued by the person who is blind is one that requires sight. If the activity being pursued does not require sight, blindness may become an advantage. Furthermore, most activities of life do not require sight-even though many sighted people use vision to perform them. Thus, blindness, though a limitation, is not more limiting than many other characteristics. However, we are here considering not the limitations of blindness but its advantages. What do blind people get that others do not? Blind people are free of the requirement to do things visually. I, a totally blind person, can read in the dark or perform other tasks without worrying about light. When I was working as a lawyer for the Civil Aeronautics Board, several of us visited the flight facility operated by the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma. We were examining what is involved in emergency evacuations of aircraft. In one of the demonstrations, an official filled the fuselage of an airplane with nontoxic but very dense smoke. My colleagues were disoriented, but I was not. They were worried about my safety, and they offered me a great deal of advice about what to do to avoid collisions with obstacles. I had no problem finding my way, but they felt that I must be disoriented because they were. All of the systems designed to provide illumination or present images are almost entirely irrelevant to me except when I am helping out my sighted friends. I do not need a computer monitor, a flashlight, or a candle except when the candle is being used as a votive offering or a dish warmer. Because I do not use visual mechanisms, my mind takes advantage of alternative methods of knowing about the world in which I live. When we were working on the construction of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, many of my sighted colleagues learned of the nature of planned construction by means of drawings. However, I often found myself making revisions to the plans with mental images instead of relying on paper. This brings to mind the consideration of imagination. Inventive genius is often highly regarded. Inventions benefiting society have come into being (at least in part) to serve the blind. Thomas Edison wrote in his application for a patent on the phonograph that this product could be used to create talking books for the blind. Decades later, the long-play phonograph record was invented for the Talking Book program. The recording industry quickly adopted the long-play record which brought profound change in the music business. Inventive genius intended to benefit the blind has been dramatically enhanced when the blind themselves have been involved. A good many of us, as blind students, invented symbols for writing concepts in Braille which had not previously existed. Dr. Jacobus tenBroek invented a shorthand system for legal writing in Braille that he used to keep notes on disability law and constitutional matters. The shorthand he devised is recognizable to me though the one I used in law school is much different. Dr. Abraham Nemeth invented a symbol set for writing mathematical and scientific notation. The symbol set was big enough to be called a code, and Dr. Nemeth fought fiercely to ensure that it was adopted within the field of work with the blind. When Dr. Raymond Kurzweil was inventing the Kurzweil Reading Machine for the Blind, we asked him to include blind engineers in the inventive process. Dr. Kurzweil told me later that this request was among the most beneficial he received. Having blind people work on the reading machine was useful because those who were building it could incorporate within the design the characteristics they wanted it to have. To build a proper reading machine, Dr. Kurzweil had to invent a scanner, which came to be a necessary product for offices throughout the world. Scanning information, capturing it electronically, and making it capable of transmission by computer benefited the blind, but it also brought enormous benefit to the sighted. The reading machine for the blind changed substantially the possibilities for sighted people working in offices to gain access to information. Those who possess disabilities know that the systems customarily used by others are not always readily available to them without adaptation. Consequently, using such systems often demands ingenuity. The necessity for imaginative thought becomes a pattern of behavior in many disabled people, and invention of systems, techniques, or products accompanies this imaginative thought. Invention is a necessity for disabled people who want to participate in society. Can blind children play tag? Many people would think not. However, one small blind child in a schoolyard thought the answer should be otherwise. He altered the rules of the game slightly. He brought a small can to school which contained a stone. He required those who played tag and who were "it" to hold the can and to shake it as they ran. With this minor alteration, invented by a child in kindergarten, the game of tag was modified so that the blind and the sighted could play it together. At the Louisiana Center for the Blind, Jerry Whittle and some of his colleagues invented a modified version of football that can be played by the blind. I learned of this when he asked me for some funds to obtain uniforms for the team. He told me that when you run out onto the field, smash into opposing team members, and knock your opponent base over apex, this is fun. Simultaneously an advantage and a disadvantage for the blind came into being. We can now play football, but we also know that a bunch of big ornery blind people are looking forward to smashing us into oblivion. A common misunderstanding is that blind people have a perpetual experience of darkness, but I do not. The world I encounter contains light, shadow, and color along with occasional elements of darkness. These visual images come from my imagination, but language and literature tell me that these characteristics are essential-the world cannot be constructed without them. Therefore, the image that I project may be different from the image that a sighted person has, but I never touch anything without ascribing to it a color. Many people fear darkness, but I do not. When I work at it, I can identify the difference between light and darkness, and I can speculate about the alterations that come with the change from one to the other. But most of the time the worry about darkness is unimportant. I do the things that I do without looking, and I regard this as natural. Perhaps this accounts for the Yahoo assertion that we who are blind have increased confidence. Occasionally this pattern leads to unfortunate accidents. One time I invited a man into my office, a room without windows, for a meeting. Somebody had shut off the lights in my office to save money on electricity. My custom is to turn them on in the morning and to leave them that way. As I am totally blind, I did not know they were shut off. I closed the door to my office, and I discussed the business at hand. My companion seemed very tentative, but I did not know until the meeting was over that we were having our conference in the dark. Although the man with whom I was having the meeting had wanted to sell me some products, he never came back. Maybe he was afraid of the dark. Numerous articles have been written about the plasticity of the brain. The visual cortex in blind people is not idle, they say. What are these people doing with their visual cortex? Are they thinking with it? I do not believe that blind people are noticeably more thoughtful or more intelligent than the sighted people I know, but I have never tested the hypothesis. On the other hand, I have found many thousands of blind people prepared to contemplate with equanimity altered patterns of understanding from those frequently encountered. These altered patterns of understanding provide a greater perspective than would otherwise exist, which necessarily requires a degree of imaginative work. I believe that the willingness to engage in this kind of mental exercise builds comprehension. I have also speculated that blind people, who must face challenges often not encountered by others, may be less fearful than some who have not faced such challenges. Independence for the blind demands a measure of rebellion, and rebellion cannot occur without mental effort. One of the elements of the rebellion involves the insistence that we who are blind have the right to participate fully in our society on equal terms with others. We have demanded that systems for providing access to information be constructed such that they can be used either visually or non-visually. We have been told that this insistence limits creativity and stifles invention on the part of companies providing information. However, a senior official of one of the premier technology companies of the world expressed the exact opposite to me. He said that requiring his company's systems to have multiple mechanisms for presentation of information helped his engineers to assure that internal mismatches between his company's programs had disappeared. He considered that our demand for equal access to information was a significant assistance to his inventors in creating a more thoroughly integrated and manageable system of presenting information to any of the populations he serves. Mr. Frank Kurt Cylke, the former director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress, told me that blind library patrons read more books than sighted borrowers. Many blind people listen to computer voices or recorded material at several hundred words a minute, faster than most sighted people can comprehend. A good many blind people have devised mechanisms for ensuring that their socks match and that their items of apparel present a coordinated appearance without being able to look at the colors. Invention, rebellion, creativity, planning-these are words that I associate with the successful blind people I know. What are the other advantages that come with blindness? We who read Braille can deliver speeches with the documents under our hands, which lets us "look" at the audience, but of course having your hands in one place does cut down on the gestures. We can read notes stashed in a briefcase or pocket without other people (at least most of the time) knowing we are doing so. We are not troubled by visual appearance. Dr. Kenneth Jernigan liked very sweet bananas, and he was not discouraged from eating them by the color. When bananas are very ripe, they lose the yellow which is characteristic of them becoming brown or black. He was attracted by the taste but not deterred by the appearance. I am told that human beings who are pretty, slender, and white get more promotions than others. These characteristics, which are primarily visual, have generally not been a part of the decisions I have made. I suspect that discrimination based on visual appearance occurs less often with blind people than it does with others. This offers a notion about some of the advantages of blindness, but undoubtedly there are others. Because some people believe that the absence of our vision causes other senses to be heightened, they suggest that we be placed in certain professions. A proposal made forty years ago recommended that blind people be employed as perfume testers because the absence of vision increased the olfactory capacity. Wine tasting has also been recommended because the taste buds of the blind are superior to those of the sighted. An article from a Hawaii newspaper offers the observation that our heightened sense of touch makes the blind better at kissing than the sighted. Could Yahoo be right after all about our sensuality? I can't be sure, but it might be interesting to find out. I do not really believe that blind people have enhanced senses, but I do think that blind people often concentrate on the use of some of them more assiduously than sighted people. Consequently, the experience of identifying objects by touch is probably more thoroughly developed in blind people than it is in the sighted. How much would you pay to get your sight? The answer to this question is often a million dollars or more. When I have thought about the question, I know that I would not pay a million. The debt load I would have to carry would be just too great. If the price tag were smaller, I might think that trading the advantages I currently have as a blind person for those I would have as a sighted person would be worthwhile. However, becoming sighted would demand work. I do not know how to read print. If I became sighted, people would expect me to know this. I would also have to master all of the other things that sighted people do with sight. I believe that observing things visually is a learned experience, and all learning requires effort. One of my good friends (unfortunately now deceased) was Ray McGeorge. He had been a blind person, and he gained his sight. He bought a car for himself, and I rode in it while he drove. One of the things he liked to do very much was read the advertising on boxes and bottles in the grocery store. The wide variety of what was available had not previously occurred to him. When he became blind again, he felt discouragement and depression, but the teachings and the experience he had obtained in the National Federation of the Blind got him through. Both in becoming sighted and becoming blind, he had no real serious problems in regaining his equilibrium. I believe that the world is a more interesting place with disabled people in it than it would be without us. Although we in the National Federation of the Blind have emphasized how similar blind people are to sighted people-how our talents, our aspirations, and our capacity to function have not been diminished by our blindness-we are in certain ways different from sighted people, and the difference is sometimes a disadvantage and sometimes an advantage. As you know, I am not a broken sighted person; rather, I am a blind person. This expression indicates that I believe each of us has value, blind or sighted, and I believe that the value that each of us represents should be cherished. Therefore, Sabra, when somebody wonders what there is about blindness that makes you think it is worthwhile, let your inquisitor know that the advantages are abundant. Blindness helps to teach me to know the world by touch, to read extensively in environments where others cannot, to imagine a world of possibilities that others have not attempted, to invent, to plan, to face the challenges that come, and to approach the world without the ancient fear of the dark. Let your questioner know that ours is not a restricted life but a liberated one. In the autumn when the leaves begin to fall, you may observe us chasing the pigskin. Furthermore, those of us who are blind never have to spend our hours hunting for a parking spot; well, anyway, not yet. This too is a place that will require our further thought and invention. Those who believe that we live in a constant experience of darkness and despair do not know the joy that we have found, the excitement we have created, but we will tell them. The voice of the National Federation of the Blind rises in a thunderous declaration to proclaim what we know to be true. We will determine the destiny that must and will be ours. We will imagine the future as we want it to be. We will invent the techniques, the devices, and the programs that we need. We will use the advantages, the intellect, the energy, and the spirit within us to build a life of participation, equality, and joy for the blind-and nothing on earth can stop us. Our hearts are filled with gladness; we feel the power that rises within us. When we are together, the future is ours! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Tom Bickford] Sixty Years of Living and Singing in the Federation by Tom Bickford >From the Editor: Tom Bickford is well known to many in the Federation both because of his tenure in the organization and his notoriety as a songwriter, singer, and as the author of The Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane. Here is an amazing account of his observations about the National Federation of the Blind during his sixty years as a member: Thank you. In the beginning there were seven states, as we know. The president of the Pennsylvania Federation of the Blind, Gayle Burlingane, invited other states to come to his 1940 convention to form a regional-or perhaps larger-organization. And larger is what happened. Six states responded: Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California. I'm not going to tell you all the people who came; that's more names than I can say. Those people got together in a separate room and organized the National Federation of the Blind. Because of the Federation you and I can live the lives we want to live. The NFB taught me what to do, how to do it, and then gave me a good shove and said, "Now go out and do it," so I have. The most important influence in my years of blindness has been the National Federation of the Blind. In 1955-that was sixty years ago-I enrolled in the Orientation Center for the Blind in California, where I met Kenneth Jernigan and the National Federation of the Blind. And when you met Kenneth Jernigan, you for sure met the National Federation of the Blind. At the orientation center Jernigan gave of himself to the students in many ways. Here's one example: in men's gymnasium class, where he both taught and participated, there were several goals that he set for us to achieve in order to earn a steak dinner that he would buy for us. I got my steak dinner for 370 continuous jump ropes. No, I couldn't do it now. A couple of years after I graduated from the orientation center, my mother said to me once, "When you came back, you weren't the same person that we sent to that orientation center." And I say that was good! Live the life you want. At one time a friend of mine said to me I had taught her how to walk with a cane. That surprised me because I had never given her any lessons. She said she just paid attention to what I did, then did the same. Another time, a lady I knew who was married to a blind friend of mine said that I had helped her husband so much. Again, what had I done? I had offered him my friendship and shared experiences with him, which included taking him to some Federation meetings, and I'm sure that most of you here in the room have had this same experience: sharing your lives with other blind people and showing the Federation to the world. [Applause] Employment is one of the areas that the Federation has worked on from the beginning. First, getting financial aid for blind people, then helping blind people to believe in ourselves and giving us the confidence and determination to find employment so we can live the lives we want. We're not going to get tired of that phrase, are we? In about 1950 the Federation began the work to open the federal civil service to blind people. The law case of Russell Kletzing, himself a blind lawyer, was the opening battle in that war. Kletzing later served two terms as president of the National Federation in the mid-1960s. We have the capable and eager members. We have the determination. We have a lawyer's division of our own. We have the capable and willing lawyers to help us on our side, we just heard from one. Both Kenneth Jernigan and Marc Maurer and many others have used the word "love." The English language is not always very specific in its usages. The Greek language has three words, all of which can be translated into English as "love." When we say "love" we sometimes would think of what the Greeks would call "eros," romantic love. That's not the kind of love I'm thinking of now, although we are fully capable of that kind of love-good for us. The next word is "philia," which is usually translated as "brotherly love." That's closer to my thought, but it's still not the one I want. I think of the Federation kind of love as "agape," A-G-A-P-E, agape: kindly concern or predetermined goodwill. Before I meet you to know you individually, I want good things for you. We want good things for each other. [Applause] Dr. Jernigan, at his last convention in 1998, said, "Why do we do these things for each other?" And he answered his own question: love. That, I think, is agape-kindly concern or predetermined goodwill. Dr. Maurer in 2002 said, "And love, freely given, is at least as demanding as any other taskmaster." I will say it again, "And love, freely given, is at least as demanding as any other taskmaster." We take that seriously. Love, given to us freely, requires many things of us. Love is why we buy raffle tickets. [Laughter] Love is why we give door prizes for other people to win. Love is why we write letters to our state and federal officials and attend hearings. Love is why we go to our own meetings and greet each other. The world changes, and so does the NFB. In 1957 we adopted the small, round membership pin with words, "Security, Equality, Opportunity." Those words are still in our NFB pledge. In 2002 we adopted the Whozit as our logo. Last year, President Riccobono kept the Whozit and put six of them around in a circle. In 1968 two New Yorkers, Floyd Fields and Josephine Huff introduced what they wanted to be the official NFB song. Other people wanted in on the act, so we had a year-long contest. In 1969 their song, "The NFB Battle Hymn" that we know much better as "Glory, Glory Federation" was adopted as the official song. This year, for the seventy-fifth anniversary, James Brown will introduce a new song to us. It shows up on the Friday agenda. After all, musical tastes have changed in the last forty- six years, so we're changing with the times. After the first song contest the musical ideas just broke forth; everybody wanted a song. We started hearing songs that had already been sung, and new songs appeared as the time occurred. When it was time to tell United Airlines that blind people should keep our canes with us in the plane, we gave them back their own music: [singing] "Don't fly unfriendly skies of United/don't take our long white canes/we have the right to be free/We take care of ourselves/we're the NFB." [applause] A couple of years ago an air hostess wanted to take my cane from where I had it between my seat and the wall of the plane. I said, "No, it can stay here, that case has been to court." She dropped the subject. The most prolific songwriter I met was Ted Young of Pennsylvania. I met him at a Chicago convention one year, and one of the songs I learned from him had to do with getting more help than we sometimes need. Here's the chorus: "Helping, helping, helping, helping/sometimes it's help that I can use/but sometimes I feel like yelping/especially from a 'helping' bruise." After the convention who should I meet in the airport but some Pennsylvania delegates. We were in the "helping" area where the airport had asked us to wait to be assisted to our departure gates. The dear little ground hostess would come running up in quite a dither, and she'd say, "Who's next?" And then she'd take somebody off to their departure gate. Those of us who were still there smiled at each other and sang, "Helping, helping, helping, helping/sometimes it's help that I can use/but sometimes I feel like yelping/especially from a 'helping' bruise." In 1990, the fiftieth anniversary, three of my Maryland friends- Debbie Brown, Lloyd Rasmussen, and Judy Rasmussen made use of their time waiting in the restaurant line to compose the "Ode to the Code": "Going to the school/to write an IEP/the teacher says use print, because your child can see/the equipment is too big/and large print is too rare/and fifteen words a minute will not get you anywhere./Oh, Braille is here/Braille is here/Braille is here to stay/We will keep on using it/we don't care what you say/ Braille is here/Braille is here/we will sing its praise/it's the system for the blind/to get a job that pays." These songs and many more are on the NFB's website-check them out, learn them, sing them, write some more of your own. I plan to keep coming back and singing, as long as money and health hold out. You do the same! Thank you. ---------- Advocacy and Policy Report by John Par?, Rose Sloan, Gabe Cazares, and Lauren McLarney >From the Editor: Before I could afford to go to the convention, the part of the Braille Monitor I most looked forward to reading was the Washington Report by James Gashel. I loved hearing about our legislative skirmishes, the arguments made against us, and the way we were so often able to prevail. Much of the Monitor was interesting, but this section was where I got my marching orders-something I could really do beyond my local chapter to help the National Federation of the Blind. It is with these thoughts in mind that I try to include much of what we now know of as the Advocacy and Policy Report. I hope you enjoy the remarks made by these dedicated men and women as much as I do: [PHOTO CAPTION: John Par?] John Par?: Good Afternoon, fellow Federationists. The Advocacy and Policy Department is responsible for NFB-NEWSLINE?, public relations, and governmental affairs. The mandate for our department is to promote equality and opportunity for all blind people so that we can live the lives we want. This is our assignment and our joy. The problem is that society views blindness as a tragedy. Our founder Dr. tenBroek said, "The principal misconception, the one that embodies and epitomizes all the rest, is that blindness means helplessness-social and economic incapacity; the destruction of the productive powers; the obliteration of the ability to contribute to or benefit from normal community participation; in short, the lingering image of the helpless blind man." I know a lot about these dismal views of blindness and the hope the NFB has to offer because of the role the NFB has played in my own life. About twenty years ago I began losing my eyesight. At the time I was working for the Advanced Digital Information Corporation and was one of their top salespersons. The company would fly me all over the country and sometimes the world so I could tell prospective clients about our high-end digital mass storage equipment. While on a business trip in Chicago, I first noticed problems with my vision. My eyesight deteriorated slowly, and it took several years for a retina specialist to finally diagnose my condition as cone rod retina degeneration. The doctor told me that my condition was incurable and degenerative. As the late 90s progressed my eyesight got worse and worse. Eventually I had to stop driving and turned in my driver's license for a state-issued ID card. In retrospect my biggest problem was my lack of a role model. I did not understand how a blind person could be successful at much of anything, and as I became a blind person I did not think I could be successful. I progressively relinquished all of my responsibilities at work to others because I didn't think I could do the work as a blind person. Eventually I agreed with my employer that the only option for me was to leave the company and go on SSDI [Social Security Disability Insurance]. I was resigned to the fact that I would spend the rest of my life sitting at home, very busy at nothing. In 2001 I was living in Tampa, Florida. I had learned about NFB- NEWSLINE? and spent hours listening to the service. I began to wonder: if the NFB was able to create a service as great as NFB-NEWSLINE, maybe I should learn more. One day I researched the NFB and discovered that there were hundreds of chapters and that one met close to where I lived. I went to the meeting and after all those years of feeling isolated and alone, I met another blind person. In fact, I met lots of them. But they were not sitting at home busy doing nothing. They had careers, families, and avocations. I was amazed. I was intrigued. I was motivated. I was filled with hope. I quickly got involved in NFB-NEWSLINE at the state level and traveled to the national center for NFB-NEWSLINE administrator training. I met Jim Gashel and Dr. Maurer and others. I was even more motivated and inspired to know that I could live the life I wanted to live. I could go back to living the life I used to live, but I would simply do it as a blind person. This would require me to do a lot of things nonvisually, but I quickly learned, from my ever-increasing number of NFB friends, that I could still do what I wanted to do. In February 2004, after attending the Washington Seminar, Dr. Maurer invited me to the national center to interview for a job. Well, as most of you know, I got the job. At the NFB we say that our battles are not over until we win. That is because our battles are personal. At one time I perceived being blind as an insurmountable problem. I was wrong. But being blind in a sighted world can pose some challenges. I am frustrated when I encounter inaccessible websites, inaccessible apps, inaccessible kiosks, inaccessible instructional materials, inaccessible home appliances, and inaccessible technology of all types--which brings me back to the Advocacy and Policy Department. We all share a similar story: our bond is our personal journeys to conquer our blindness; not with restored eyesight, but with our shared attitude that blindness is not what holds us back, that blindness does not have to be viewed as a tragedy. As you have heard, NFB-NEWSLINE is what introduced me to the NFB, and this year is the twentieth anniversary of this terrific service. It was conceived, designed, and implemented by the blind for the blind. NFB-NEWSLINE is available in forty-five states and the District of Columbia. It serves over 108,000 subscribers. There are 347 newspapers, sixteen breaking news sources, fourteen international newspapers, and forty- three magazines. Over the last year NFB-NEWSLINE subscribers have: enjoyed over thirty-eight million minutes of news, made over two million calls, received over two million emailed articles, logged into our web portal over two million times, and accessed our mobile app over 260,000 times. Over the past year several new features and services were added to the system. In December of 2014 we introduced a new continuous reading mode for the telephone access method. By simply pressing 99 at the section level of a publication, a subscriber can hear the entire publication read cover- to-cover without having to prompt the system to move to the next section or article. I love this feature. Two of the most recent publications added to the magazines category are Braille Book Review and Talking Book Topics. Books listed in these two publications are listed as individual articles which can be emailed to you by pressing #9. These emails can then be forwarded to your regional Talking Book Library to request these books. I still listen to NFB-NEWSLINE every day, but now I do it with purpose and pride. I am proud that the NFB could create such a valuable service for blind people. And I listen to learn how we can convince more companies to make their websites accessible, to make their apps accessible, to make their kiosks accessible, to make electronic instructional material accessible, to hire more blind people in competitive integrated employment, and to increase access to Braille. I am now part of the strongest, most effective advocacy group of blind people in America. When I go to the halls of Congress or to Fortune 500 companies or to universities, I go with my long white cane, the confidence you have given me, and the knowledge that we are all working together side by side to live the lives we want. Thank you for what you have done for me. [Applause] Alright, we have more to go. We're going to go through more details with each of our three specialists. The first one I would like to introduce is Lauren McLarney: [PHOTO CAPTION: Lauren McLarney] Lauren McLarney: Good afternoon, friends. I'm here to talk to you about the TEACH Act, so I want to know what that stands for: [tepid audience response] Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education. What does the bill do: it creates guidelines [slight audience response when uttering that line]. Oh, that was awful. Okay, what does the bill do? [The audience responds, "It creates guidelines."] Okay, you guys got it. Before I get into any more details, I want to start by saying that this is my fifth or sixth convention, and the one thing that I notice is that you get to hear from us in government affairs, but there are a lot of other people at the National Center who work on these issues, particularly higher education, that you don't get to hear from. So there is Kristian Kuhnke and Mya Jones-they do a lot of our administrative support-Chris Danielsen helps with public relations. Mehgan Sidhu is our general counsel, and she has listened to me rattle on and on about the higher ed lobby for hours. Stephanie Witt is the person who did the TEACH Act video. Jen White makes me smile every day. There are tons of people at the national office who support our higher education issues, so if everybody could acknowledge their work even though they're not up here talking [applause]. Now back to the TEACH Act and just a brief reminder of what brought us here. We saw the effect of inaccessible technology on students with disabilities in college. We saw that blind students were delaying their education, changing majors, even dropping out-not because they didn't have the work ethic and not because they weren't smart enough, but because the very technology that should've leveled the playing field for them was inaccessible and creating needless barriers. We knew we had to do something to stop it, and so we initiated litigation. We went to the Department of Justice; our student division started letter-writing campaigns; we did petitions; we have done everything, but we knew that nothing would change unless the market was stimulated to include accessible things, and that meant schools needed to be told that "This is what accessibility looks like, this is the criteria you should follow, and this is what you should ask for." So that is what the TEACH Act was meant to do. We introduced it in November, and then Senators Warren and Hatch introduced the Senate companion the following February. Then we got fifty-six cosponsors in the House and six in the Senate. We had twenty-two different groups endorsing the bill. We had over 1,000 views of our video, we were on a roll, and we were feeling good! And then the higher ed lobby said "We don't like the bill." Then members of Congress said "You might want to get them to like the bill." We thought that this made sense. We don't like it when other people who are not blind people say they know what's best for the blind. We say that we know what's best for the blind, so when Congress says higher education knows what's best for higher education, go talk to them; this made sense. So we reached out to them; that was nine months ago. I will tell you that we have spent the last nine months negotiating with them, and in that time I've had several moments of frustration. I keep hearing in my head this line from one of my favorite comedy bits, where the comedian is talking about how absurd it is when the airline tells you that when the oxygen mask drops down, you should adjust your mask before helping the person next to you. He says, "I did not need to be told that." And I have heard that in my head countless times over the last nine months. The education people told us that they do more for students with disabilities than anybody else. I asked if they had any specifics. They said no, we have 7,000 institutions, and we couldn't possibly tell you any specifics. They told us that the experiences that our students were reporting were the exception and not the rule, that we were only hearing from students who are having problems. We said no: we are listening to the National Association of Blind Students, not the National Association of Blind Students with Problems at institutions of higher education. They then began to lecture us, saying that they want help because they don't want to have to spend all of this money on accommodations. They say that the accommodations model, the separate but equal model, is really expensive, and again I thought, "I don't need to be told that; I know, and that's why we're here trying to help you." They told us that they wanted a new title for this bill. We said that was okay. They said they wanted a purposed-base commission instead of the access board, and we said we would be glad to think about it. Then they said they wanted a safe harbor for considering the guidelines during the decision-making process-just considering them-they should be able to buy whatever they want but should get a reward for considering buying accessible technology. This was the equivalent of saying, I sat outside the bank, and I considered not robbing it, but I decided to go in and rob it, and you shouldn't arrest me because I really thought about it. We said we would never accept that. I'm happy to report that nine months later, as of about two or three weeks ago, we have finally reached an agreement with the higher education lobby on the TEACH Act. [Applause] So what does this agreement look like? First of all, it has a new name. It's called the SMART Act, so scratch all of that practicing about what the TEACH Act stood for. The SMART Act stands for Stimulating the Marketplace to Make Accessibility a Reality Today. The guidelines will be created by a purpose-based commission with equal representation from all of the different stakeholder groups, so there will be seven representatives from the disability community, including two students with disabilities. There will be two or three technology experts, seven representatives from institutions of higher learning-higher education, and five industry reps. There will also be a bifurcated safe harbor, which is a fancy way of saying that they didn't get what they asked for. They are going to get the safe harbor that we proposed in the first bill, and then they will also be incentivized to adopt the guidelines into their decision-making process and write down why they make the decisions that they make, what's available on the market that they're choosing to reject, and how they are going to provide equal access to students with disabilities. So the next step is getting all of the different disability groups to join us. I thought this would be really easy, but I was on a call last week with a few other blindness groups, and it was kind of eye-opening. They had some concerns. They started out by saying, "Well, up until now we really appreciate all you have done. Up until this point NFB has done some phenomenal legal advocacy-what you have done with your litigation, those settlement agreements-those settlement agreements have changed everything, and accessibility is mandatory because of those settlement agreements." Then they said that their biggest concern was not the change in the safe harbor, not the purpose-based commission, not the new name: their biggest concern was that the guidelines were not mandatory. And I said, "The bill last year had voluntary guidelines and all of you endorsed those." And they said, "Well, we had a different interpretation of that bill." So I read them this line: "Nothing in this Act is to be construed to require an institution to only use technology that conforms to these guidelines." I asked them if they really thought that meant that it was mandatory. They said yes. But, when we were wrapping this conversation up, the group said they couldn't support it. And I said, "Okay, I'll take your concerns back to the higher ed lobby." And they said, "When you go back to them, go back with strength." I did not need to be told that. What did they think we had been doing for the last nine months--and they weren't there when we were doing it! Here is what NFB is doing: we have initiated over a dozen lawsuits; we have settled those lawsuits; the Department of Justice has intervened in some of our lawsuits; we have had the Department of Justice issue guidance that we urged them to initiate; we have conducted two or three letter- writing campaigns, we have met with presidents of institutions of higher education, we have brought the higher education lobby to the table, and they agreed to this bill. What have these other groups done for blind students? Nothing! So I'd like to have them with us, but we don't need them- they either need to steer clear of us or join our team, because we don't need anything from a group that doesn't understand this bill, the lawsuits they don't help us with, and the negotiations they don't participate in. [Applause] So what's next? Well, we're going to pass the bill, so we have to write it. The person who is going to write it you will meet in a minute, but the reason I'm not going to write it is because I'm leaving in August to go back to school. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to say: First, don't forget me because I want to come back. Second, what has driven my career choice is a quote; it's really cheesy, but I like it. William Carey says, "I'm not afraid of failure; I'm afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter." And that has driven my choices. The Federation is changing lives, and nothing can matter more than that. I have loved being a part of this family, so thank you! To tell you more about the SMART Act and how important this is for students with disabilities, here is the newest member of our team. First he was my friend; now he is my colleague. Please welcome Gabe Cazares. [PHOTO CAPTION: Gabe Cazares] Gabe Cazares: Howdy to my record-breaking Federation family! It's an honor for me to address you this afternoon as the newest member of our government affairs team for the National Federation of the Blind. By way of introduction, my journey in the Federation began in the summer of 2009 when I applied for a summer work program through the school for the blind. I had the privilege of working for the National Federation of the Blind of Texas as an intern. The internship was supposed to be six weeks long that summer, but six years later here I am. Because of the mentorship and love I received in my home affiliate, the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, and the skills and confidence I gained by attending the Louisiana Center for the Blind, I am now living the life I want. As a student I have experienced firsthand the barriers and frustrations that inaccessible technology pose. For instance, during the 2015 spring semester, my last semester of college, I took a math course to fulfill a core curricular requirement. The textbooks, homework, and quizzes for the course were all web-based. I'm a Braille reader, so I requested Braille copies of all the course materials since, as is too often the case, the web-based interface was completely inaccessible. However, because of a staff change in the office of disability services, my request for Braille materials was never submitted. So what did the school decide to provide me as a reasonable accommodation you may be wondering: a print copy of the textbook and a human reader/scribe. I was fortunate in the sense that the reader/scribe is also a mathematics instructor and a friend of mine who truly understands both the importance of Braille and the capacity of blind people. But stop to think about what could have happened if the circumstances had been different. What if I had been unsuccessful in completing my course assignments, my quizzes, my exams successfully because of the lack of access in the course? I would have failed and not graduated from college on time. The frustrating reality is that I know my story isn't the only story. Hundreds of students are here this week who know what it's like to be left behind by the same technology that has the potential to level the playing field for us. When you need to sign up for a course, but you can't independently access the registration system, that is second-class citizenship. When you need to check your grades-although some of us would rather not sometimes-but you can't independently access the learning management system, that is second-class citizenship. When a professor assigns you an online reading, but the PDF file they upload is not properly tagged, making it impossible for you independently to access it, that is second-class citizenship. It's time for developers of electronic instructional material and institutions of higher education to stop thinking about accessibility after the fact. It's time for schools to stop adopting a separate but equal attitude about accessibility. We will not accept second-class citizenship in society, and we will not accept it in the classroom. But this is what it's all about, right? This is not necessarily just about education. It's about the fact that, if we settle for less than equality in the classroom, then we are settling for being one, two, three steps behind everyone else for the rest of our lives. To those outside the Federation it's easy to assume that this second-class citizenship is just part of being blind-that technology benefits plenty of people-just not blind people, yet. And accessibility is too far beyond the horizon. We are just going to have to wait, and we should learn to live with this discrimination. But I know this is not true, and I know this is not the life I want to live. [Applause] Students are the only ones who can change the landscape, and that is why the National Federation of the Blind has fought for the rights of the blind, and we will continue to do so until both developers of electronic instructional material and institutions of higher education understand that we will not accept being an afterthought. We are not against innovation; in fact we know the innovation is and should be there. What we are against is the deployment of technology that shuts out blind students. Because having equal access to education is not a privilege; it's our right. In closing I'd like to address students in particular. As we move forward with the SMART Act, I call on you to be engaged and active. Passing this proposed legislation will revolutionize the development and procurement of electronic instructional materials. But we need your help. Tell your story. The National Association of Blind Students is always collecting stories about the effects of inaccessible technology. Talk to a fellow NABS member, and learn about how your story can make a huge impact in the fight for equal access. When we call for grassroots mobilization, don't sit on the sidelines. No one does grassroots like the National Federation of the Blind, and that's because our members are active, engaged, and energized. In the last few months I've been sitting in on and participating in our negotiations with the higher education lobby. They're at the table, it's true, but they don't get it. And how could they? They haven't heard from us. They need to hear from us, and I'm calling on you students to make it happen. One of the reasons I wanted to come work at the National Center for the Blind is because I want to take my experience as a blind student and use it to bring about meaningful change for blind students across the country. I know what it's currently like to be a blind student in the United States. And let me tell you something, Federation family: it's unacceptable. However, I take comfort in knowing that with our grassroots movement, our legislative influence, and the love, hope, and determination of the nation's blind, we will see complete access to electronic instructional materials become the norm, not the exception. [Applause] Thank you for giving me the privilege of working for our movement. I sincerely look forward to building the Federation with you. [PHOTO CAPTION: Rose Sloan] Rose Sloan: Good afternoon, NFB family! It's so great to be here at our seventy-fifth convention. Before I begin I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to someone who has been a huge positive influence on me. And also, you might want to know who I am. I'm Rose Sloan, and I'm also a government affairs specialist at the NFB National Center. I specifically handle everything employment with regard to policy. The person who I would really like to say thank you to is someone I talked to two years ago in this very room. I sought her out because she had the type of job I wanted. Ladies and gentlemen, the person who has been such a role model to me is Lauren McLarney. Thanks in part to her advocacy on my behalf, I got a shot at working at the national office. Lauren, I, along with many Federationists, will really miss you. You've inspired and motivated us all with your never-ending determination and energy, and we can't thank you enough. I wish you the best of luck as you further your education. Can we take a moment to show Lauren our appreciation? [Cheers, applause] You'll truly be missed. I also wish to welcome Gabe to the team; wasn't his presentation great? Finally, I just wanted to say I cannot wait to start working with Mr. Parnell Diggs; it'll be wonderful. As our one-minute message so eloquently states, we raise expectations for blind people, because low expectations create obstacles. These obstacles couldn't be more prevalent than in the employment sphere, and specifically in the jobs and wages that are assigned and paid to people with disabilities. Passed in 1938, but practiced prior to, and even today in 2015, people with disabilities are being paid sub-minimum wages. Some of our fellow Americans with disabilities are being paid a dollar, a quarter, even zero dollars and zero cents per hour! [Boos from crowd] But although this practice may not be affecting you directly, it is absolutely affecting each and every one of us indirectly. The low expectations that society sets for us stem from many places, but the mere fact that we can be paid sub-minimum wages does not reflect our attitude of high expectations. The low wages that are paid to our brothers and sisters with disabilities are a reflection of the low expectation set for them and, in effect, for all of us. We, the National Federation of the Blind, are committed to ending this antiquated, discriminatory, and demeaning practice of paying people with disabilities sub-minimum wages. We support H.R. 188, the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act, or the TIME Act. Sponsored by Congressman Gregg Harper from Mississippi, the TIME Act will responsibly phase out section 14(c) over a three-year period. The idea of repealing section 14(c) is supported by over eighty disability organizations, and thanks to all of your hard work at and after the Washington Seminar, I'm happy to report that the TIME Act is up to forty cosponsors. And to me, the very exciting thing about these particular forty cosponsors is that there are eighteen Republicans and twenty-two Democrats-very bipartisan legislation so far. I encourage all of you, especially if you live in districts that have a Republican representative, please to write, email, or call your national legislators, and urge them to join the forty members of Congress who already support the TIME Act. Maybe you wrote them after Washington Seminar. It's time to write them again; it's time for 14(c) to be repealed. After all, a few states in our great nation have already shown that every person, regardless of disability, is worthy of at least the minimum wage. On May 7, 2015, the governor of New Hampshire signed S.B. 47 into law. S.B. 47 says that no entity can pay a person with a disability a sub-minimum wage. Congratulations, New Hampshire! Other steps have been taken, too. For example, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act created a committee tasked with increasing the integrated and competitive opportunities for workers with disabilities. Dr. Schroeder is a member of this committee. I want to join him in urging all of you to write emails to the committee, and now there's a simpler way to do this. To personalize a template email, please visit . ICE stands for Integrated Competitive Employment; remember ICE. The form will allow you to include your own personal reasons as to why you feel that 14(c) should be phased out. Perhaps you might explain how discriminatory and unhelpful sub-minimum wage environments are for people with disabilities. Maybe you'll remind the members of the committee that there are alternatives to 14(c) certificates such as customized and supported employment. Or maybe you'll mention that New Hampshire and Vermont have already figured it out, and there are competitive, integrated employment opportunities for people with disabilities. If enough of us use our voices, the committee will recommend that Section 14(c) be responsibly phased out. Who can I count on to fill out the form at ? [Cheers] That's what I thought. No other group does it like us; our voices will surely be heard by the committee. Since I last spoke to you at Washington Seminar in January, the legislative affairs team has been working diligently on legislation that will help improve the Social Security Disability Insurance system. As you've likely noticed, SSDI is a rather hot topic right now. The trust fund will be insolvent as early as December of next year, and, unless Congress takes action, SSDI beneficiaries will see about a 19 percent cut in their benefits. As you can imagine, Congress does not want this to happen, as demonstrated by actions they are taking every day. This morning they held a meeting about this very topic. The insolvency of the SSDI trust fund is not the only problem. The work incentives currently in place for blind SSDI beneficiaries are broken. To illustrate my point and explain the need for change, I'm going to tell you about my friend, Allison Duttner. Allison is a smart woman who loves to teach. She taught in New Mexico and now lives in California. She is an SSDI beneficiary. Because she cannot live on her SSDI benefit alone, and because, quite frankly, she doesn't want to just sit at home all day collecting money from the government, Allison works part-time as an electronic transcriber. But Allison has to be really careful about how much money she earns. Because, believe it or not, she could lose money if she works too much. And Allison isn't alone in this predicament. In fact, many blind people throughout this nation are either turning down jobs or discouraged from looking for work at all because it could cost them money. Simply put, blind SSDI beneficiaries can maximize their take-home income by working part-time and collecting SSDI as opposed to working full-time. This is backwards! Blind individuals want to raise expectations for ourselves; we want to be independent, but the system doesn't allow us to do that. So what will the reform look like? As long as we make our voices heard, it will encompass the Blind Persons Return to Work Act, a piece of proposed legislation that will create a two-for-one phase out of benefits, eliminate the confusing and unhelpful trial work period, and expand work expenses to blind SSDI beneficiaries. Low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our vocational dreams. We want real jobs at real wages. [Applause] We want an SSDI system that encourages us to always work to our full potential. By working together as we have been doing for seventy-five years, we will be heard on Capitol Hill. We will ensure that the TIME Act and the Blind Persons Return to Work Act are signed into law. No one does it like the Federation; no one does it like us. Be on the lookout for emails that will alert you to contact your members of Congress about all of the legislative priorities you've heard about today. Have a great convention, everyone. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Shirley Morris] Shirley Morris: A Life Remembered by Mary Ellen Jernigan Shirley Morris passed away on August 10, 2015. An active Federationist for nearly fifty years, Shirley and her husband Don (high school sweethearts who had eloped during their senior year) celebrated their fifty-ninth wedding anniversary earlier in the year. Their life-long partnership was so complete that one rarely thought about "Shirley" or "Don." Rather what came to mind almost invariably was the unit which one thought of simply as "the Morrises." It is difficult to think about Shirley without feeling the warmth of her seemingly ever-present smile. Shirley joined the Federation in 1968 at the time Don was one of Dr. Jernigan's students at the Iowa Commission for the Blind Adult Orientation and Training Center. Not merely an "accompanying spouse" Shirley quickly became a Federationist in her own right. Many came to know her as the capable manager of convention registration processes and the compassionate problem solver when an individual had troubles-be it a mangled spelling on a name badge, a lost banquet ticket, a lost cane, a lost wallet, or, in many a case, offering comfort to those who felt that they themselves were the "lost item" and were in need of encouragement. At the national convention (in later years often with a grandchild in tow), and at the Maryland state convention, Shirley carried out these tasks with dedication, grace, and that radiant smile for more than thirty years. A lesser known fact about Shirley is that in the early 1970s when the national office of the Federation was located in the Randolph Hotel Building in Des Moines, Iowa, she more or less single-handedly managed what today we would call the Independence Market and the Materials Center. At that time there were very few sources where a blind person could buy such things as Braille watches, Braille playing cards, measuring devices, and so on, and Dr. Jernigan asked Shirley to help get our program underway and to otherwise manage the operation of that office. Most often we tend to think about the value of participation in the Federation in terms of what it does in the lives of blind people. Far less frequently do we consider and recognize the very significant gifts all of us-whether blind or sighted-get from the kind of training and life experience the Federation offers. In the case of a sighted Federationist, I am talking about something more than merely having a blind spouse or sighted children who have blind parents or sighted parents who have blind children and the benefits gained by such families in their understanding of blindness. Shirley gave deep expression to what I am describing in how she dealt with her cancer. Having fully understood and embraced the tenets of the Federation for much of her adult life, she knew the path she would take. So for eighteen years she refused to let cancer be the characteristic that defined her life. She did the things that it made sense for her to do with respect to it, making this or that accommodation in the way she did things as necessary, and then she lived the life she wanted to live. The low expectations of others never came between her and her dreams. She lived with love and joy and hope-radiating those qualities to her family and others in her wide circle of friends and admirers. She combined her very considerable natural attributes of grace and generosity with her Federation training to leave to those of us who loved her a profound legacy for living. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Angel Ayala] #NCBYS: Making the Connection and Equipping the Next Generation by Angel Ayala >From the Editor: We know that the road to success often begins with a good education, and we know how often this is where a string of failures leading to passivity, low expectations, and a poor self-concept can begin. Not only do we pledge to change that system but to work with those currently in it so that they get what they need to think of themselves as positive and productive human beings. Angel Ayala is now a freshman in college, but at the time of his presentation he was a newly graduated high school senior. Here is what he has to say about his school experience and the part the National Federation of the Blind has played in helping him to think of himself as someone who can make a difference: Good morning. My name is Angel Ayala, and I am honored to speak to you about the NFB STEM2U apprenticeship program. But first, I think I should tell you who I am. I was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and at the time I was a healthy little boy. Blindness was the last thing on my mother and father's minds. That all changed when I started to get sick. I was about eight months old, and the doctors were a bit confused as to what was happening to me. The only thing that was clear was that I was losing my vision. Not only were my parents extremely young, but now their firstborn was rapidly losing his vision. I took a battery of tests, and the doctors confirmed that I had a rare form of ligneous conjunctivitis. Soon after my diagnosis my parents moved us to Philadelphia. I have lived in Philadelphia ever since. After years of checkups, tests, and different doctors, it finally occurred to me that I wasn't getting my vision back. At first I was depressed. I didn't think I would be able to be on the same level as my brothers and sisters. I saw them playing outside or inside on the GameCube, and I thought I was less a person, that my lack of sight was what defined me. But I eventually realized that I was wrong. My mom enrolled me in the Overbrook School for the Blind's early childhood program, where I started to learn Braille. That was the point at which I realized that I love to learn new things. I loved to challenge the things that I've read, and I love to ask questions about the things that I didn't know. I learned about Louis Braille and Helen Keller, and this gave me the hope that I needed to challenge what I believed was a wall that I could never get past. Fast-forward five years. I was a troublesome kid when I came to school. I would get my work done, and I was left with nothing to do for the last thirty-five minutes of the class. So I would start to joke around and mess with the other students in my class. I knew it wasn't helpful to the staff or the students for that matter, but I was bored, and I had nothing else better to do. It was frustrating because I knew what the issue was. I was not challenged. The work was way too easy, but who was I to say that? With no one listening to what I had to say, I was labeled a bad apple, and that was pretty much it. Two years and many middle school parent-teacher conferences later, I finally felt like someone was taking notice of what the real issue was. My IEP was restructured, and I was placed in a classroom that was challenging. For the first time in years it was great. I was challenged; I got the help I needed; I got the materials I needed to succeed. But public school came with its own set of battles. The physical education instructor told me that I couldn't participate in class because she didn't want me to get hurt. [Moans from the audience] So let me paint this picture for you. There were thirty-five sighted students playing and exercising around me, and if I so much as made a move to do something productive, I got in trouble. Honestly my favorite time was when the teacher got sick. A substitute would come in who didn't know about the regular rules when it came to me, so I was able to play basketball with my classmates; I was taught to jump rope. I was simply tired of people telling me what I couldn't do, so I made the extra effort to prove that I could. My mom gave me the freedom to learn whatever I wanted to do. She let me do things myself. But the independence I enjoyed at home didn't carry over to my school environment, and that was frustrating. When I started high school, I realized that I was not prepared for the transition like I should've been. My O&M skills were severely lacking, and I still had some issues when it came to my visual impairment. Despite feeling unprepared, I took advantage of all the opportunities high school had to offer. I joined the swim team; I began to wrestle; I played goalball, and I did track and field. I also got involved in my community-many community service projects such as the campout for hunger, which is a Thanksgiving canned food drive. It was through community involvement that I ran across the NFB STEM2U apprenticeship program. NFB STEM2U was a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program that focused on the development and mentoring of both elementary and high school students. At the program elementary school students were called juniors, and the high school students-we were called the apprentices. Each program was run in collaboration with a science museum. This past school year the NFB STEM2U program was held in Baltimore, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; and Boston, Massachusetts. Each program had eight to ten apprentices and twenty juniors. At the program all the students learned a lot of STEM: for example, we learned how to build racecars out of recyclable items and how to assemble circuits to power fans. In addition to learning STEM, the apprentices had another job to do. Our job was to help the younger students, if needed, to make sure they were safe and to help bring them information and knowledge throughout the program. At the beginning of the school year in September, the apprentices from all the different regions met at the NFB Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, for the NFB STEM2U Leadership Academy. The objective of this leadership academy was to teach how to be good mentors, role models, and leaders of the younger students. Among other things, we learned how to interact with the juniors and learned the nonvisual techniques for keeping track of kids. We also took time to lay down goals that we wanted to keep in mind during our regional program. We exchanged contact information at the leadership academy because we learned that we would have to have weekly meetings until the program weekend was here so that we could prepare for the activities and get the information that we needed to make a successful program. We were responsible for completing different tasks in order to prepare ourselves for the regional programs with the juniors. For example, we figured out which students would be with which mentor, and we determined the junior-to-apprentice ratio that would be most helpful. We also planned the opening activities for all the juniors. We spent a lot of time preparing ourselves for the regional program, but we still felt a little uneasy going into it. This was a new role for all of us, and we weren't sure how it would go. It was finally time for the Baltimore program, which I had the pleasure to be a part of. I took an Amtrak train for the first time, and others took a plane or two to get to the NFB Jernigan Institute. We got to meet the juniors we were responsible for as well as their parents. We had to show the parents and their children how to get to the different activities. This meant posting mentors in the hallways as marshals to help participants to find their way to meals, lessons, and workshops. That weekend took a lot of teamwork and communication, not only among the mentors, but also between the juniors and the parents. During the Baltimore NFB STEM2U regional program we taught the juniors that "I can't" is not an option. We taught them to be advocates for themselves. We had to show the juniors that the possibilities are endless and that, if you create a goal and develop ways to reach that goal in order to reach that bigger picture, you will succeed. The NFB STEM2U program improved my self-confidence in several different areas. It made me realize that with some help I can make a difference in these young juniors' lives. I didn't really know how big of an impact I made on the juniors' lives until a parent of one of the juniors for whom I was responsible reached out to my homeroom teacher and let her know that after the NFB STEM2U, she saw a boost in her son's willingness to try new things. The mom said that the mentors took a great amount of time and patience with the juniors, and that allowed them to focus on the activities that were provided for the parents that weekend. When I learned what this mom had said about our work, it made me smile. I didn't know if the lessons we taught that weekend would actually stick over time. This is when I figured out that I could really make a difference. Another way the NFB STEM2U affected me was my traveling skills. First of all, I had never taken Amtrak. I had taken a plane several times by myself, but I had never taken Amtrak. It was a new experience that encouraged me to travel more and to learn everything I could when it came to O&M. I plan on taking the confidence I have gained from the NFB STEM2U mentorship program with me to community college. I recently was accepted into the honors program, and I want to get my associates degree in music production. But I am extremely scared. I'm starting to second-guess my decision. Music has always been a passion of mine that I have had since I was a young boy, but I don't want to get a degree that I will do absolutely nothing with. Too many people achieve degrees that they do not end up using. What does this mean? Well, they have a degree, and they also have a huge debt but no way to pay it off. I don't want to be stuck in that position, but I also don't know what I can do that would make me happy and also pay the bills. I guess only time will tell. You all probably know this already, but I want to reinforce what a big impact programs like NFB STEM2U have on everyone who is involved. Children are our future, and in order to make sure that they have the skills they need to succeed, we must start the learning process early in their lives. A Hebrew proverb states, "A child is not a vessel to be filled but a lamp to be lit." NFB STEM2U has lit many lamps. I hope that we can continue to have programs like NFB STEM2U so that we can reach these children at a younger age. Programs like the NFB STEM2U allow young adults to mentor young juniors, expanding their willingness to learn new things, and I would love to remain involved in programs that help youth. I know that I am not the only apprentice who feels this way. By the time the NFB STEM2U Baltimore program was over, many of the mentors asked if we could do it again. I enjoyed teaching, I enjoyed helping the young students, and I know that the other mentors did as well. I'd like to thank the NFB for hosting a program like the NFB STEM2U in order to prepare the youth for the future. I'd also like to thank Natalie Shaheen, Mika Baugh, and Ashley Ritter for being a part of our conference calls every week leading up to the program. Your insight into how to deal with our juniors was very much needed. Thank you to everyone who gave their time instructing both the apprentices and juniors. I believe it took all of us working together in order to make this program work. Thank you to my fellow mentors. There was no way I could've done this alone. It took a lot of preparation and teamwork, but because we all pulled our own weight, we were able to give the juniors the tools they will use for the rest of their lives. Thank you to Mr. Mark Riccobono for giving me this opportunity to speak to you about a program that has affected so many people's lives. Words aren't enough to show the gratitude that I feel, so I think I will just stick with thank you. If you are thinking about participating in a program involving youth, my advice is to just do it. It is an experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. Thank you. ---------- Giving a Dream One of the great satisfactions in life is having the opportunity to assist others. Consider making a gift to the National Federation of the Blind to continue turning our dreams into reality. A gift to the NFB is not merely a donation to an organization; it provides resources that will directly ensure a brighter future for all blind people. Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first- class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Kannan Pashupathy] A Growing Partnership for Accessibility: Google and the Organized Blind Movement by Kannan Pashupathy >From the Editor: Readers of the Braille Monitor will remember that we did an in-depth article about Google in the June 2014 issue. That article began with generally accepted criticisms of productivity tools being offered by Google to state governments, colleges, and universities. It explained how this mass deployment of products would be almost irresistible to those organizations, and therefore Google's products must meet a higher bar and be accessible since the result would be lesser opportunities for blind people if they could not be used. That article ended with a positive interview featuring Eve Andersson and Kannan Pashupathy. In it they promised many positive changes in Google products, and this report confirms that they are as good as their word and have made major strides in making their products usable by blind people. Here is what Mr. Pashupathy said: I was really taken by deputy secretary Lu's speech, and frankly I have forgotten what I was going to say. [Laughter] Fortunately I have some written notes here. A very, very good morning to all of you, and thank you for inviting me to speak at this gathering. When Mark sent a letter to me, he said this was the largest gathering of blind people in the United States and some people said maybe in the world. I heard that you set a record-a Guinness World Record-congratulations on that. [Applause] As was said, my name is Kannan Pashupathy, and for the last couple of years I have had the pleasure and the honor of leading Google's accessibility efforts globally. I know that you've heard from Alan Eustace in years prior, and Alan decided that we clearly weren't making the kind of progress that we needed to make as a company and asked me to step in and take charge. This has involved ensuring that all our products work well for people of all abilities, creating a culture where designing for accessibility is baked into our DNA and engaging with organizations such as the NFB to make sure that we're meeting and exceeding your needs. As many other speakers have mentioned, it's particularly a great time to be talking to you here on the important milestone of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NFB. I also want to congratulate Jim Gashel on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As you all know, his role was pivotal in the creation and the passage of the ADA, and I happened to share a ride with Ray Kurzweil yesterday on the flight over from San Francisco, and he was telling me stories about back then when they used to talk a lot while the passage of the ADA was in progress. It was two years ago, and I had just taken over this role at Google that I just mentioned. At our very first meeting Dr. Maurer invited me to the convention to experience what you all go through every year here in Orlando. So I came, and boy what an experience it was. I'd never seen anything like this before, so I went back extraordinarily inspired. I was here, of course, to learn: learn about the community, learn about your hopes and aspirations, and learn about how well we were or were not serving the community. My goodness, as I said, it was a great experience along so many different dimensions, and I was so glad to have come. At the end of that, while I was sitting at the banquet, I resolved that I would not only work hard to make our current products accessible but that we would also undertake to make fundamental changes in the way in which we approach the notion of accessibility right from design to implementation to launch. I vowed that we would make a positive impact on the culture of the company with regard to accessibility. To do this we started training programs in accessibility for every new engineer, product manager, and user experience designer who joined the company. As you probably know, accessible product design is not something that is taught in universities. This was a big surprise to me-I thought that this would be something that would be part of the standard curriculum in computer science, but it isn't. By the way, this is something that I'm trying to fix on the side. We also developed programs for engineers who are already in the company and even non-engineers. We have created online courses for developers both inside and outside the company as well and have set each product area of the company on a path to address all of the critical issues, whether they be bugs to fix or features that we needed to develop. You may not know this, but throughout this entire process we've had regular meetings with the NFB. Throughout this process we were guided by the NFB and in particular Dr. Maurer, Mark [Riccobono] here, Jim, of course, and Anne Taylor, I know is here, who encouraged us when they knew that we were trying our best to make these very large and critical changes at the company. They scolded us when they thought that it was not enough, but, most importantly, I think they inspired us to innovate in this important area, and I really feel privileged to have had a chance to work with such strong advocates for the blind and just such fantastic human beings. So thank you. As I mentioned, we were also fortunate to have a pioneer and a friend of the NFB, Ray Kurzweil, [applause] as a key advisor to us in our efforts, along with Vint Cerf, who many of you know is often called the father of the internet. Both of these folks are Googlers-my colleagues-and people who kept us honest and played a pivotal role in making sure that what we were attempting to do was not a flash in the pan but built to last. I recall that when I came two years ago a journalist had written at the time that Google had begun to listen but that listening was not enough and that we would be judged by our actions and our results. [Applause] While I would be the first one to acknowledge that we continue to have a lot to do, and you have my word that we'll stay on it, I'm proud of the work that we have done so far to make meaningful improvements in our products and innovating across a number of areas to go beyond current notions of accessibility and to have fundamentally changed how Google the company now looks at accessibility. Our teams are passionate, they are driven, they are inspired to do the best for all of you. Some of them were actually here until a couple of days ago-you guys have dueling conventions, so they had to spend part of their time here and go off to the other convention that is also happening this week. I hope that many of you got a chance to meet them. One of them, Astrid, was even working hard over the last couple of days in doing user experience research with many of you on our hangouts and Google cross products. I'm here to tell you that this is only the beginning and that there's a lot more to come, and I hope that one day we will not only have earned your respect but your love of our products and our efforts. [Applause] The product-related efforts that we're doing at the company are too numerous to mention-I won't bore you, and I believe that you're running a little late, so I'll cut it short. But, let me go through a few things- particularly those where I know you've experienced some positive changes because I've gotten that feedback and also because most of these were prioritized based on input from the NFB. To begin, let me mention the innovations and accessibility improvements in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, including Braille keyboard input and output on Docs. I know we need to do more work here-lots of improvements coming-but we're really happy to have made the progress we have on that in the last year. We have seen lots of improvement in Google's Chrome OS Operating System (which you may know is the one that runs on our Chromebook laptops) including touchscreen gestures like you would use on a phone, Braille keyboard input, Unified English Braille support, and other features. Roger Benz, who is a blind Google employee who was here earlier in the week, has narrated many "Getting Started with Google Docs" videos that you can take a look at on YouTube. Those are a great way to get started if you haven't had a chance to see all of the improvements that we've made. In addition, on Android we've worked on features like color inversion to help people with low vision, color correction for people who are colorblind, and something new called Switch Access to help people who have motor impairments actually use the phone effectively. Earlier this year we won the FCC Chairman's Award for advancement in accessibility for our reCAPTCHA improvements. This is one thing Dr. Maurer complained about at the very first meeting I had with him. We're actually going a step further- we've been able to replace most CAPTCHAs with something called no CAPTCHAs. This is where the user just has to hit a checkbox and say "I'm a human; leave me alone." Yes, we did test it with screen readers, and it works. As Secretary Lu mentioned in recounting the story of the company he saw, we've also been working on various automated and manual and testing tools to allow developers both inside and outside Google to automatically test their software for accessibility issues like missing image descriptors or unlabeled buttons that I know you've been very frustrated about. These tools should really simplify how people develop and test accessibility features in their applications across all of these different platforms that I've mentioned, and these are only some of the improvements that we've made in the past year. You may have heard that Mark and Jim were at Google I/O, our annual developer's conference, a few weeks ago. At that meeting Mark inspired a large gathering of developers about why they should be thinking about accessibility early and often and exhorted them to innovate in this space. He even showed us a video of him driving one of the cars, which I believe is a research project that has been going on at NFB for a while. This talk by Mark was done in the context of a larger session on accessibility, where we spoke with developers about how to do a great job of making products fully accessible on all of our platforms. At this event we also launched a very important initiative which was a $20 million grant funding from Google.org, our philanthropic arm, for a first-of-its-kind Google Impact Challenge focused entirely on disabilities. [Applause] This challenge will last a year, and throughout the challenge we will identify, fund, and support nonprofits working to increase access to opportunities for people living with disabilities. We are looking for big ideas here from nonprofits with technology at their core that show serious potential to scale the impact on people around the world who are living with a disability. You can learn more by doing a Google search for Google Impact Challenge. I know the team here at NFB is working on coming up with some great ideas; I'm looking forward to hearing about them soon. Finally, I was very heartened to hear from Jim just a few minutes ago that you've actually passed resolution seventeen this year, which acknowledges our efforts and improvements that we've made in Google Drive, Docs, Spreadsheets, and Slides. That vote of confidence is a real inspiration for me and our team, and I really thank you for your support in acknowledging that. As I've already said, I know that we have a lot more work to do, particularly on Braille support, and we will continue to work on it; you have my word. With that let me thank the NFB leaders and the members for working with us to make the internet and its vast array of products and benefits fully available to all blind people, and we look forward to a long and continuing partnership in the years to come. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Maura Healey] Leadership through Law: Perspectives on Advancing Civil Rights for the Blind by Maura Healey >From the Editor: Maura Healey is the attorney general of Massachusetts. The National Federation of the Blind has partnered with her in a number of actions which have resulted in significant advancements in access. Her commitment to civil rights and her belief in serving the public is clear. Here are the remarks she made on Friday afternoon, July 10, 2015, following a presentation by Dr. Raymond Kurzweil: Thank you so much, Mr. President. Good afternoon, everyone. It is great to be here. I'm just reminded, Ray-see I chickened out. I was a government major in college-go figure-I stayed away from all that science, but God bless Ray and all the folks out there who take the time to do that great and important work. That was fascinating. Happy birthday, NFB! It's so great, and indulge me: I want to give a shout-out to our Massachusetts delegation back there: David, Amy, Mika, and I've got to give a shout-out to Maryland as well. You see, I was born in Bethesda; I spent the first two years of my life in Rockville. And how about that Guinness World Record? That is so impressive: give yourselves a hand! I'm going to tweet that on our site. We're going to blast that out all over Massachusetts, and let everybody know what you did. I got down here last night late, but I know some of you had to get up really early in the morning to do that, to make that beautiful mosaic, and to make such a bold statement. Live the life you want; you better believe it. Good for all of you; it's just great. As was mentioned, I worked in the attorney general's office long enough that I actually became the attorney general. I started life as a young lawyer at a big firm after I hung up my basketball shoes. If you were to see me--I'm about five-foot-four; you wouldn't see that one coming--but I was a feisty point guard in college and then ended up playing ball overseas for a few years. So I was always a little bit used to being underestimated most of my life, not being taken seriously on the court, not exactly fitting the profile, not exactly fitting people's expectations. But I, like many of you, came to use that to my advantage. I ultimately decided that basketball wasn't going to be the be-all and end-all for me. At some point my knees were going to give out. So I went to law school, and I went to law school because I wanted to be an advocate; I wanted to help people. I graduated from law school, got some terrific training at a big law firm in private practice, but then followed my heart, left that to join the attorney general's office eight years ago, and had a wild ride to the point where I loved it so much I actually quit that job two years ago to run for attorney general. People thought I was nuts because I wasn't a politician, hadn't run for anything before, but I believed passionately in the power and the possibility of the law and what it could do to change people's lives and make a difference. I'm going to come back to that, because I have to tell you that I would not be attorney general of Massachusetts were it not for the NFB: Were it not for the experience that all of you in this organization taught me about the law and about how you can use it to make a difference. I am just so honored to be here; I am so privileged to be here among all of you. Flash forward-I won the race last November, and I got sworn in in January. So we're just a few months into the work, but the work of the attorney general's office in this area has been ongoing for many years. In my time, I want you to know that I have come to know first-hand the value and the power of this organization. I have been wanting to come to Orlando for many years, not to Disney, but to this convention. I've got to tell you: I'm so happy to be here. So the NFB is unique. You are a remarkable organization with a dedicated staff and incredible leadership. I want to commend President Riccobono and all of your team who put on this wonderful event. It's amazing with over 50,000 members, and chapters and affiliates in all fifty states. You are such a powerful voice for individuals: pushing expectations, breaking barriers, shifting the lens in such important ways- not only to see what is possible but also what is right-what is right and what it should be. Your mission is one that I admire, that I embrace, that I support: education, empowerment, teaching people the tools to live the life that they want. This is so, whether it's ensuring access to housing; employment; transportation; education; equal access in public spaces, both physical and digital; and equal access to quality healthcare. Now I know that equal access doesn't just happen. It takes thoughtful policy-making, strong advocacy, and aggressive enforcement. But most of all it takes people like you: the members of NFB out there every day, living your lives, telling your stories, and teaching people along the way about what is possible and what is right. The NFB has done that time and time again, from dedicated legal representation to your legislative and regulatory advocacy across this country, to your investment in new technologies and research. The NFB has truly been and continues to be a leader in fighting for equality, for accessibility, and for what is right. [Applause] But your work goes beyond that. It's about the community that you've built together-it is inspiring. With young and old, with programs, with training, with encouragement of Braille literacy, the NFB-NEWSLINE? talking newspaper and more: in so many ways you are so remarkable. But enough about the NFB. Let me get back to me for a minute, okay? I'm going to tell you a little story. I'll tell you the story about how I came to know the NFB. In March of 2007 I quit my job in private practice, took a big pay cut, and became chief of the civil rights division in the attorney general's office in Massachusetts-a dream job for me. I was so excited to be there and so excited at the opportunity to use the law to advance civil rights. But I didn't know a whole heck of a lot. I had the passion and the commitment, but I had a lot of education in front of me. I also had a new boss, who had just gotten elected, and we were all sort of feeling one another out. One day in my office I got a telephone call from a guy named Dan Goldstein; have you heard of him? [Applause] Well, one of my colleagues had given me a little bit of a warning about Dan-in the nicest of ways described him as tough, persistent, the smartest lawyer I'll ever meet, and a real advocate. I took the call, of course, and I was blown away and at that point began my education-an education that has led me to today. Dan told me a little story about one of his clients, an organization called the NFB. He told me about some of the problems that the NFB was having with a little company called Apple. Now, I'd heard of Apple; I hadn't heard of the NFB. In no time at all, Dan was offering, in his indomitable way, to hop on a plane and bring to Boston a guy named Marc Maurer. I didn't know Marc Maurer, but boy did I come to know Marc Maurer. A few weeks later Dan, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and the terrific folks from Brown, Goldstein, & Levy, accompanied by folks from NFB-let's give it up again for Dr. Maurer [Applause]-how about that? [Chanting of "Dr. Maurer"] Those are better than any cheers I ever heard on any basketball arena-that's pretty good. So they came to town. They came to Boston, and they told the story about what it was that was happening with regard to Apple. Now I have to say this was a real education. JAWS-I thought Jaws was a movie about sharks; I had no idea what they were talking about. But, as they walked me and the team in the office through the issue, demonstrating the problem with the technology, I quickly realized how Apple products were leaving students and users behind, leaving them in the dust. In the wake of incredibly interesting emerging technology, there was going to be a whole category of people in this country who were going to be left behind. I understood fundamentally as a civil rights lawyer that that was wrong. But the story continues, and my education continued. I got an invitation from Dr. Maurer to go to Baltimore. I visited the NFB, and I toured the NFB. I went to the Jernigan Institute. I had the privilege of attending the Jacobus tenBroek program-wonderful-and learned so much from those sessions. You know what I also learned? I learned that so much of the civil rights laws and civil rights stories and speeches from people like Dr. Martin Luther King-you know who inspired that? Jacobus tenBroek. That's where so much of that began. That's something that not enough people in America know. But that is the truth, and that is a rich part of the history of this organization. At some point I figured we had accumulated enough information to be able to go forward, and I can't say enough to you about the lawyers that you have on your staff: Mehgan Sidhu and her folks-just amazing people, and also the folks-the advocates, the lawyers that you have at Brown, Goldstein & Levy. I think they all deserve a great round of applause [Applause] because this took some work. At first when we reached out to Apple, they didn't believe it was true; they didn't think that it was a problem, and they resisted. But the NFB persisted, and ultimately we were able to reach an agreement with Apple to ensure that iTunes and iTunes U would be accessible to blind and print-disabled consumers who depended on screen- reading software. That was groundbreaking, and I so appreciate all that NFB members did to move that forward. Because it took the NFB to show Apple the way. I remember being in conference rooms with engineers, executives, and lobbyists from Apple who just didn't understand what the issue was. It took NFB members actually demonstrating the technology and the failures-and also the workarounds and the fixes to be able to get this done. It really was remarkable and a huge credit to this organization. I also remember the first time Apple showed up in our office, and they brought us the very first talking iPod. That was pretty cool, too. Again, all inspired by the effort and the fight of this organization. [Applause] In this rapidly changing world it is so important that technology not leave anyone behind, particularly when it comes to educational opportunities. I learned how important collaboration is, that it's so important that we work with companies and businesses to make sure that they are incorporating accessibility into their design of software and technology. Otherwise, how else do we fulfill the promises of equal opportunity that the laws require? What this collaboration with Apple also showed me was that we have good laws on the books which promise inclusion and equal opportunity-great words on the page, but they are not self- executing. They require aggressive and creative enforcement, and this is often best accomplished through partnership. At the attorney general's office we are willing and able to bring cases to vindicate these rights. Using our experience with the NFB, we proceeded to go after movie theater chains, look at what they were doing, and ultimately reach agreements with the nation's three largest movie chains to provide more accessibility to persons who are visually impaired, blind, and deaf. [Applause] Because everybody should be able to go to the movies with their friends, their spouses, their loved ones. In 2013 it was mentioned that we worked with the NFB to reach an agreement with Monster.com, the popular job website. This was important because it is about websites needing to be accessible, but it's also about jobs. I know how serious a problem it is when it comes to underemployment and unemployment in your community, and it's why we need to do things like take on Monster.com. In addition to agreeing to change the website, I know we worked with NFB to make sure that Monster paid $100,000 to fund the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind's job internship program and to sponsor the NFB's annual convention a few years ago. This case illustrated to Monster and to the business community as a whole that failing to consider accessibility on the front end has significant costs. Every time we bring a case or Dan Goldstein threatens to bring a case, the learning curve for the defendant is one of the biggest challenges. But this is where the NFB comes in-in getting people up to speed. We want every business, every landlord, every municipality to think about accessibility and access up front, on the front end, when making their daily decisions. [Applause] Daily decisions, daily activities: this is about people being able to live their lives the way that they want and exercising what everybody would want to exercise in the regular course of the day. You know, that's what the Cardtronics case was all about. Again, so important: the work that this organization did. Our office was so proud to be able to partner with you on that. The fact of the matter is that so many sighted people take for granted the ability to conveniently withdraw money from ATMs. It was just wrong that for so long those who are blind or visually impaired were shut out from that. I know that we were pleased when the court approved the settlement agreement, when Cardtronics failed to comply that the court then ordered them to comply, and I know how great it was for you all to get that check earlier this week- that's terrific, $1.5 million, terrific! Look, it would be difficult to overstate for me the important role that disability rights work has played in my career and in shaping the perspective that I now bring to bear as an attorney general. From the NFB I learned about the harm of judgements; the harms of stereotypes; the harm that is incurred when people set expectations that are unfounded, that are misplaced, that are too low. It's why in my office in a few weeks' time we're going to do something that hasn't been done before and institute office-wide unconscious-and implicit-bias training. I want people who work for me in this public agency to understand unconscious bias, understand something about stereotypes and judgements, and I'm hoping that every agency and everybody in law enforcement and every business in Massachusetts also undergo that same training. From my good friend David Ticchi I learned the importance of educating employees and staff. David, you know, on the side works with one of the leading restaurant chains, Legal Sea Foods, in Massachusetts and teaches all of their new servers and employees about how to best interact and sort of the how-tos of engaging with customers who are blind or visually impaired. Really really important work-something we're also going to do in our office. Because this is about breaking barriers and breaking down stereotypes. It's also important as an office that we listen, that we listen to the stories like we did when we put the cases together with NFB. We field hundreds of disability rights complaints every year from people across Massachusetts. Often after educating both parties, we've been able to mediate quick and effective resolutions, whether it's handicap parking spaces, staircase railings, restroom grab bars-we help with service animals, with changes to employer policies, and with unlawful terminations. But we wouldn't be able to do this if people didn't come forward and be willing to tell their stories. I encourage you to do that: face injustices head-on, report them to your authorities, and certainly if you're in Massachusetts (though I'll take complaints from anywhere), let your attorney general's office know. Because as attorney general, I am committed to reaching out to other attorney generals across this country. So you may be in another state, but know that I'd be the first to pick up the phone and try to work with an attorney general from another state to get at discrimination and to make things right. I also know that when education and mediation attempts fail, the power of the law is important. I understand that fundamentally, and I want you to know that that was made clear to me and taught to me by the work that I was able to do with NFB. As Jacobus tenBroek said, "The right to live in the world consists in part of the right to live out of it. The blind, the deaf, the lame, and the otherwise physically disabled have the same right to privacy that others do; not only the right to rent a home or an apartment, public or private housing, but the right to live in it; the right to determine their living arrangement, the conduct of their lives; the right to select their mates, raise their families, and receive due protection in the safe and secure exercise of these rights." Nobody could say it any better, and that's what we strive to put into practice today, day in and day out. Later this month we're going to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a tremendous law. But make no mistake about it: as we celebrate the anniversary of this landmark civil rights law, it's important not only to reflect on what has happened, but more important that we look ahead at where we still need to go. It's a brilliant law. It provides a brilliant framework for eradicating injustice and discrimination and ensuring equal access to the civic, social, and economic elements of our society. But we need to do more work; more work is ahead. When you look at all the websites that are out there that are still inaccessible, you know we have work to do. When we look at the lack of affordable and accessible housing, you know we have more work to do. When you look at the rates of unemployment and underemployment in this community, we have more work to do. When you look at the low rates of Braille literacy, we know we have more work to do, and that is something that I am committed to talking publicly about in Massachusetts. I want every child to have access to learning Braille at an early age. When we look at what is happening to parents when it comes to parental rights and child custody, we know we have more work to do. And we know we have more work to do when it comes to accessing healthcare. Doctors and hospitals must have the equipment they need to provide appropriate care to all patients, and all patients need to be able to easily access healthcare. This is something that is so important: no person with a disability should ever have to leave his or her dignity at the door or rely on the help of a stranger in order to receive or access necessary medical treatment or care. So we know we have more work to do. In the area of education, with the infusion of technology into every classroom, we need to make sure that all of the technology that is available is accessible to all students. We cannot continue to allow technology to create a divide among students, and thanks to Ray Kurzweil and others, we know we won't. I'm committed to advancing an aggressive agenda within my office and beyond on these matters. This is about civil rights. This is about human rights. And all of us benefit when those rights are advanced. Whether we're fighting about race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, at the end of the day it is the same. This morning I woke up and watched and listened to the story that was unfolding in South Carolina with the removal of the Confederate flag. [Applause] I mention that because that's what we're talking about; we're talking about persistent discrimination that exists across so many lines in our country: race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, and the like. But I'm inspired when I see something that I think many of us thought was not possible, and that should give us hope and continued inspiration and also should reaffirm that we are all in this together. Again, I want to thank you for having me here today. Congratulations to the NFB on seventy-five years. Keep up all of the great work that you do. Live the life you want, and let your own imagination be your only limitation. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes are from the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia. Mama's Easy No-Yeast Dinner Rolls by Sandy Streets Sandy is the secretary/treasurer of the Harrison County Chapter. Sandy is very creative and enjoys doing crafts and crocheting. Ingredients: 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 2 tablespoons mayonnaise Method: Combine all ingredients. Spoon batter into a greased muffin pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes or until golden brown. Makes five to six rolls. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Charlene Smyth] Easy Potato Soup by Charlene Smyth Charlene is the president of the West Virginia affiliate and of the Harrison County Chapter. She has worked for twenty years as an office assistant for the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services. Charlene has a good friend, Tina, to thank for this recipe. Ingredients: 1 bag of frozen hash browns (30- or 32-ounce bag, the round ones, not shredded) 1 32-ounce carton chicken broth 1 can cream of celery soup 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 8-ounce package cream cheese (not fat-free, but 1/3 less fat is okay) Bacon bits to taste Chopped onions to taste Chopped celery or celery salt to taste Method: Combine all ingredients in pot. Let cook until potatoes are tender, or throw in the crockpot in the morning. When the potatoes are done, or when you return home, slice up and add cream cheese, let melt. You can top your bowl of soup with shredded cheddar cheese if desired. I always double the recipe, so I use a combination of cream cheese and Cheese Whiz. I like the mix, although you could use Cheese Whiz instead of cream cheese. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sheri Koch] Spicy Shrimp and Pasta by Sheri Koch Sheri is the president of the Kanawha Valley Chapter and the legislative chairperson for her affiliate. Ingredients: 6 ounces linguine 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 medium onion, slivered 4 mini tri-colored sweet peppers, sliced 12 ounces uncooked small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 cups tomato juice 1/2 cup tomato sauce 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 cup white wine 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil Method: Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saut? garlic, onion, and peppers in oil for three minutes. Stir in the shrimp and saut? for three or four minutes. Add tomato juice, tomato sauce, Sriracha and basil. (If using fresh basil, add at the end.) In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and wine until smooth; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for five or six minutes until shrimp is done and sauce is thickened. Stir drained linguine into sauce. Enjoy! Yields four servings. ---------- Baked Rigatoni by Karen Haught Karen is the board member for the Sightless Workers' Guild of Wheeling Chapter as well as executive director for the Seeing Hand Association. Ingredients: 1 pound of rigatoni 1 pound of sage or Italian sausage crumbled 8 ounces of pepperoni 1 quart of favorite marinara, homemade or jarred 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese Grated parmesan cheese Method: Preheat oven to 375. Cook pasta in salted water according to al dente time. Brown sausage in a skillet and drain, slightly brown pepperoni in same skillet and drain. Heat sauce together with sausage and pepperoni in skillet. Drain pasta and place in large shallow baking dish. Stir in meat sauce. Mix in half of the cheese and top with the remainder of the cheese. Grate some parmesan on top. Bake uncovered for about half an hour or until slightly browned and bubbly. For variation, add eight ounces of ricotta cheese with the other ingredients--makes it more like lasagna. Get an extra jar of sauce to top with after it is cooked if you like it saucier. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Karen McDonald] Ed and Karen's Italian Hash by Karen McDonald Karen McDonald is a member-at-large of the West Virginia affiliate. She is the wife of longtime member and first vice president Ed McDonald. She has been a member of the affiliate for over twenty years, and she serves as its state secretary. She is also a musician and a partner in the couple's broadcast production business, EIO Productions. The McDonalds put this recipe together one evening when they didn't have all the necessary ingredients for the dish they had in mind, and they ended up with a concoction that turned out to be a favorite. Ingredients: 2 pounds ground beef 2 peppers 2 or more onions, depending on size 1 28-ounce can tomatoes or two fourteen-ounce cans 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon fresh garlic 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 box of any kind of macaroni Method: Brown ground beef, drain. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Grease slow cooker, add all ingredients and cook for three to five hours on high or seven to nine hours on low. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sheena Struble] Orange Cream Cupcakes by Sheena Struble Sheena has lived in a variety of places including Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and now, fortunately for us, West Virginia. She has a long work history as an executive with AT&T, but is now retired. Sheena is a member of the Kanawha Valley Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia and holds our newly established office, Chef and Cook. We are fortunate to have her aboard. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, room temperature 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon orange extract 1 cup sour cream Frosting: 3/4 cup fresh orange juice 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature 10 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces, room temperature 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon orange extract 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest 6 drops yellow food coloring (optional) 2 drops red food coloring (optional) Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the eggs, granulated sugar, and butter in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Reduce the speed to medium low, then add the orange zest, vanilla, and orange extract. Beat half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Then beat in the sour cream and end with the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just combined (do not over mix). Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each muffin cup about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about eighteen minutes. Let cool five minutes; then remove the cupcakes from the muffin tins to a rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the frosting. Bring the orange juice to a boil in a saucepan; reduce the heat to medium and simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 tablespoons, about eight minutes. Let cool. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low; sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla, the cooled orange syrup, orange extract, orange zest and food coloring and beat on medium speed until combined. Refrigerate if needed until spreadable, about fifteen minutes. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes. --------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Wilbur Webb Dies: We are saddened to announce the passing of our longtime leader Wilbur Webb on August 5. Wilbur had been a dedicated Federationist since the New York Affiliate was chartered in 1956. He helped build the Syracuse Chapter and was a staunch advocate for changing lives of the blind. Wilbur participated in many NAC rallies. He was fond of telling the story of helping carry the NAC coffin through the streets of New York City in the late 1960s. He also helped remove the barriers that prevented blind people from attending college in the SUNY system simply because they could not pass the physical exam which included an eye test. Wilbur was the only person most of us know that actually knew and worked for our founder, Dr. tenBroek. He was instrumental in growing the Federation in New York, and he also went to other states to promote the NFB. He was a pioneer. He will be missed, but his legacy lives on because his efforts will continue to positively affect the lives of all blind people in New York. Science and Engineering Division 2015 STEM Conference Scholarship: The Science and Engineering Division of the National Federation of the Blind is proud to announce that it is now taking applications for the 2015 STEM conference stipend award. All applications must be submitted by December 1, 2015. The award includes up to $2,000 towards attending a technical conference in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. The winner of the award will attend a conference and submit receipts to the science division for reimbursement. The science division is excited to share the accomplishments of blind scientists with other blind people. The science division asks that when submitting receipts the winner also provide an approximately 500 word essay describing the conference experience and what was learned. We will share this information on the science and engineering division listserv. The stipend award also includes up to $500 toward costs of attending the next NFB convention after attending the STEM conference. The science division would like to send a worthy candidate to a STEM conference of their choosing. The science division also invites the selected candidate to attend the science division meeting and make a ten minute presentation on the candidate's interest in science and what was learned at the conference. A candidate is eligible if he or she is legally blind and attending a full time college or graduate program in a STEM field in the US in the fall of 2015. A candidate is also eligible if he or she is legally blind and has received a bachelors or graduate degree in a STEM field in the spring of 2013 or later and is currently living in the US. The science division welcomes both blind students that are working toward a STEM degree and blind new STEM professionals to apply. Email your application to John Miller at johnmillerphd at hotmail.com. The application should include: proof of legal blindness, college transcripts, a personal essay, and a contact phone number. The personal essay should be no more than 500 words, describe your interest in science, and describe the blindness techniques you use in performing scientific work. The essay should also list the conference you wish to attend and the dates of the conference. If you do not know the exact conference at the time of application, then please describe the field of the conference and some candidate conferences that you are considering. You need not present at the conference in order to receive the STEM conference stipend. As part of the application process the science division may contact you to discuss your application. The STEM stipend will be awarded by January 15, 2015. The STEM stipend is a great opportunity for personal growth in a field of science. Buffalo Chapter Elections: The National Federation of the Blind of New York, Buffalo Chapter, held its elections in May. Elected are Michael P. Robinson, President; Christian Minkler, vice president; Margo Downey, secretary; Jessica Snyder, treasurer; and board members Julie Phillipson; Angie Robinson; and Linda Kaminski. Web Accessibility Training Day: The National Federation of the Blind Center of Excellence in Nonvisual Access to Commerce, Public Information, and Education (CENA) and the Maryland Technology Assistance Program are proud to announce that we will be hosting another Web Accessibility Training Day on November 4, 2015. This year we are expanding both the technical and the policy tracks to pack more content that fits your needs into the day. Whether you are wondering how to implement accessibility in education, curious about the Section 508 update, or wanting to learn more about how to test for web accessibility, we've got you covered. The registration fee will be $100, and the event will be held at the NFB Jernigan Institute at 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230 For more information, please visit , or contact Clara Van Gerven at . Come learn with us! New Novel: If you would like a print autographed copy of Jerry Whittle's baseball romance, Slingshot, or his novel, Standing with Better Angels, about a blind minister who works in the New Orleans' French Quarter, please send a check or money order for $20 (includes shipping) to 506 University Blvd., Ruston, LA 71270. These and other books by Jerry are available as Kindle editions at . Ten percent of sales are donated to the NFB. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. The 2016 Ski for Light International Week: The forty-first annual Ski for Light (SFL) International Week will take place from Sunday, January 24 through Saturday, January 30, 2016. Note that the traditional Sunday to Sunday SFL week has been shortened by one day to a Sunday to Saturday event for 2016. The 2016 Ski for Light event will take place in Northwest Lower Michigan on the grounds of Shanty Creek Resorts in Bellaire, Michigan. Located just forty-five minutes from the Traverse City airport, Shanty Creek Resorts is a 4,500 acre complex containing three housing and entertainment villages, both cross-country and downhill ski trails, a tubing hill, several swimming pools and hot tubs, a fitness center and spa, and much more. Applications are requested by November 1. Late applications can only be considered on a space-available basis. Full details about the event and the accessible online application, which can be completed on the Ski for Light website, can be found at . If you are a novice and want to learn how to cross-country ski, or if you have skied before and just want to be matched with an experienced guide and meet new friends for a wonderful week of fun in the snow, this is the event for you! In addition to finding more details on the SFL website, information about the event can be obtained by contacting Bob Hartt at . A Message of Hope from Unity: Unity Message of Hope? is an outreach program sharing the assurance of God's love and grace by providing free spiritual materials to a variety of audiences including individuals who are visually impaired. The program provides a virtual library of downloadable Braille (.brf file) Unity publications, available free of charge and accessible on a computer with Braille translation software, Braille notetaker, or digital talking book player. For more information visit , call Message of Hope toll-free at (866) 421-3066, or email us at . Envision Seeking Blind Employees: Envision is proud to be a leading employer of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. At Envision we focus on ability, not disability. Each Envision employee comes to work driven by a sense of purpose in what they do, and they see their purpose in action through the employment opportunities, programs, and services which their work with Envision helps fuel. Each Envision employee has different roles and responsibilities, but everyone works toward the same mission: to improve the quality of life and provide inspiration for the blind and visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education, and research. For more information or to apply for an open position, please visit us at . We look forward to hearing from you. Donations Needed for Bangladesh Library: The Louis Braille Memorial Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped provides free services for all ages of blind, deaf, deaf-blind, and other physically handicapped people in Bangladesh. They are looking for donations of any used Braille materials, print books, large print books, magazines, or journals of any type, including religious materials. They are also looking for white canes, talking watches, talking calculators, Perkins Braillers, Braille writing paper, Braille slates and boards, laptops, computers, printer paper, or a copy machine. Donations can be mailed through the post office with "Free Matter For the Blind and Physically Handicapped" on the label. Ship to: Ms. Afroza Mili, Librarian, Louis Braille Memorial Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Plot # 11/1 Road # 06 Block # E Section # 12 Pallabi, Mirpur Dhaka-1216 Bangladesh. Example label below: |FREE MATTER FOR THE BLIND AND HANDICAPPED | | | |DONATION OF BOOK AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS FOR THE | |BLIND AND HANDICAPPED | | | | FROM | | NAME: ------------------------------------------ | | ORGANIZATION | |NAME:-------------------------------------- | | MAILING | |ADDRESS:------------------------------------------------| |--------- | |To | |Ms. Afroza Mili | |Librarian | |LOUIS BRAILLE MEMORIAL LIBRARY FOR THE | |BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED | |Plot # 11/1, Road # 06, Block # E, Section # 12, | |Pallabi, | |Mirpur, Dhaka - 1216, Bangladesh. | ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. ----------------------- [1] See http://epubtest.org/rs/182/accessibility/ [2] See http://www.w3.org/Math/whatIsMathML.html [3] Kindle Fire instructions for reading by paragraph result in a student reading by sentence fragment. No workaround strategy has been identified. [4] Because blind users cannot highlight, the returning-to-highlights-and- notes feature could not be tested. [5] Braille can only be used with difficulty. Word wrap is not supported. Navigation of text is difficult as text is interpreted as one block per page for purposes of Braille, so paragraph markers and other separations in the text are lost. [6] As students will be required to start from the top of a page when searching for each word they are trying to spell and reading commands are inconsistent, it is technically possible but very labor and time intensive for a student to learn the spelling of a term. [7] Text cannot be selected with Braille. The word that is first highlighted when a student begins to select text is not the same word as that which she had intended to select. [8] This would be available only when text has been successfully highlighted. [9] Braille navigation is limited to the ability to move page by page, or the length of the Braille display, so a user cannot move to different paragraphs in the text easily. Paragraph breaks are not clearly displayed. The ability to move only within these smaller chunks of text hampers a blind student's ability to skim content quickly. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Fri Dec 4 10:11:32 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2015 10:11:32 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, November 2015 Message-ID: <201512041811.tB4IBWaN006957@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> [ Hello. I realize it's December 2015 and not November 2015. somehow, I missed getting this out at the beginning of November. My sincerest apologies. - Brian ] BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 10 November 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 58, No. 10 November 2015 Contents Illustration: Effort and Planning: A Crucial Part of our Successful Mosaic The Gift by Debbie Wunder Pushing the Limits: Changing the World through Big Ideas by Eileen Bartholomew Crafting Your Diamond: The Four Cs of Bringing Up Blind Children by Carlton Anne Cook Walker Leadership through Education: Raising Expectations, Improving Training, and Innovating Opportunities by Michael Yudin Important Changes 2016 Washington Seminar Logistics by Diane McGeorge The Foundation of Our Federation by Jeannie Massay iBRAL is Back! by Robert Gardner Transforming the Training of Professionals in Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind by Edward Bell The Joy of Getting a Summer Job by Everett Elam A Therapeutic Research Collaboration by Anil Lewis Increasing the Investment in Accessibility: Nonvisual Access in Microsoft Products and Services by John Jendrezak Food for Thought about the BEPLT by Sheryl Bass Innovation and Accessibility: Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences at Target by Alan Wizemann Raising Expectations: A Commitment to Full Participation in the Twenty- First Century by Christopher Lu Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: A view of the empty parking lot, each place an NFB member will stand marked with an umbrella.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Members getting instructions from volunteers before entering parking lot] [PHOTO CAPTION: Members stand in marked places as more file in to fill the mosaic] [PHOTO CAPTION: Federationists stand, umbrellas at the ready, for the signal to open and create the mosaic.] [PHOTO CAPTION: View of the Guinness World Record umbrella mosaic from the drone.] Effort and Planning: A Crucial Part of our Successful Mosaic We began planning meetings in the fall of 2014. This started by working with an image of the parking lot captured from Google Earth to help with the planning of our design. An order for 3,000 umbrellas was placed in December 2014. We took pictures of the lot during a pre-convention visit in May to assist with logistics. In both May and July we walked the parking lot. The Rosen Centre Hotel closed the parking lot to its staff beginning on July 2nd. A small team created a grid outline using spray chalk in the parking lot on July 4th. Test columns of dots were laid out on July 5th, the first of 3,280 dots to be sprayed. Teams of fifteen continued with the spray chalk at 5 a.m. on both the mornings of July 6th and 7th. Work was scheduled for the evening of the 7th, but a particularly angry Florida storm forced us to change plans. About twenty folks helped place umbrellas at 5 a.m. on July 8th. Our work plan had assignments for 113 staff and volunteers, but, as is typical of NFB events, additional willing hands jumped in wherever needed. It turned out we needed those hands as well to make up the mosaic. [PHOTO CAPTION: Abbey Houchen stands next to the butterflies her mother painted for her] [PHOTO CAPTION: Abbey Houchen, Debbie Wunder, and Megan Wilson.] The Gift by Debbie Wunder >From the Editor: Debbie Wunder is the mother of four, is my wife, and together we live in Columbia, Missouri. She has long held the view that blindness, while something that cannot be ignored, is not her most significant characteristic. This message she has communicated to her family by word and deed. In this article Debbie commits to do something she is sure she can, has second thoughts and emotional doubts, and looks for a way out. But what she finds both uplifts and terrifies her-her children believe she is as capable as she has always claimed, and they will expect no less from her, even when self-doubt threatens to erode her confidence and immobilize her. Incidentally, the little girl about to turn ten in this story celebrated her twenty-first birthday on October 5, 2015. Here is Debbie's story: All of our children's birthdays are special, but some more than others. When my youngest daughter Abbey was about to turn ten, I asked her to think hard about what she wanted on her special occasion. She said she would be happy if we could redecorate her room, buy her some new clothes, or get her a GameCube. "Which of those do you really want" was the question I asked her, and she thought through the choices. She knew I wasn't enthused about a GameCube, since I'd already warned her that her game time could not cut into her reading time. She was old enough to know that winter was coming and that new clothes were something she was likely to get whether they were on her birthday list or not. Eventually she answered: "I want to fix up my room and paint it in mixed colors." I immediately thought about the cost of repainting. For a moment I felt sadness and regret for offering something I might not be able to afford. But after my initial shock I began to feel excited. Here is why: I have an addiction; it is not to chocolate, drugs, or alcohol-well okay, maybe a slight addiction to chocolate. But the addiction I am speaking of is HGTV, the Home and Garden Television Network. I can spend hours watching programs such as Design on a Dime, Trading Spaces, or just about any fix-it-up show they carry. One of my strengths has always been arts and crafts. A wonderful possibility was taking shape in my head and my heart: I could give my daughter something more than a gift off a store shelf-I could give her a gift that showed my love, my talent, and my creativity. Her tenth-birthday gift would be something she would treasure for a long time to come. I decided that I would do it on my own, my way of providing a very special gift to her. I told Abbey that fixing up her room would be her present, and I anxiously began to plan the project. We made a trip to the paint store to choose her colors. I told her to pick three that would complement one another. I already knew that her first choice would be some shade of pink. I was right; she chose a color called "passionate pink," otherwise known as Pepto-Bismol pink. The other two were a slightly lighter shade of pink and purple. She asked what I was going to do with three different colors, and I told her this would be part of her surprise. From HGTV I learned that you need one wall to be the focal point. It can contain a piece of artwork or furniture, or the focal point can be the wall itself. I could not afford to buy new furniture, and neither did I have an eye-popping piece of artwork, so it would have to be the painted wall that made the room. I had a good idea what could make that wall the focal point if only I could figure out how to do it: I remembered Abbey telling me that one day she would like to travel with me to Mexico to see a mountaintop that is filled with beautiful butterflies in the winter. This provided the inspiration, but could I possibly paint a wall of butterflies? Then it hit me: I realized I could use a large rubber stamp to stencil the image. I used two of the colors Abbey had chosen, painting one half of the butterfly in one color and the second half with the other. Those contrasting colors would make the butterflies stand out. When the weekend before her special day drew near, I went out and got the other items I would need. I also arranged for Abbey to visit a friend for a slumber party and made plans to paint her room. The night before she left, Abbey began questioning me about how I was going to redecorate. It was clear that she was skeptical but didn't want to show it. Some of her skepticism was whether an adult could do the kind of makeover a ten-year-old would want, but some was because my husband Gary and I are blind. Painting is not something blind people typically do, and Abbey was worried about what she would return to at the end of her weekend. I reminded her that we did all kinds of things that others thought blind people couldn't do and asked if I had ever disappointed her or broken a promise. "No, Mommy," was her reply, but her tone was less confident than her words. "Will Megan help you?" Megan is one of Abbey's older sisters, and Abbey has always adored her, respected her judgment, and admired her honesty. "No, I am going to do the job myself, but of course Megan will want to take a look once it is done, and we all know how Megan always gives her honest opinion." I assured Abbey that I knew what I was doing, told her to have a good weekend, and once again promised she'd be happy with her room when she returned. The initial steps were easy. The first thing I did was remove all the switch plates and socket covers. I then taped around all of the woodwork, door frames included. I probably used more tape than necessary, but I wanted to protect the woodwork and thought that I might get to it faster when I was painting than someone who could see. Then I put tape between the walls and the ceiling. I put plastic on the floor, unwrapped the brushes and the rollers, got out the cans of paint and a couple of paint trays, and closed the door to the room I would soon turn into my daughter's dream place. But when it came time to open that paint, put it on the roller, and start painting the wall, I fell apart inside. The thought of painting the room energized me; the thought of taking that brush in hand and messing up an already painted wall terrified me. Could I follow through to create something worthy of my daughter's tenth birthday, or would I create a tenth birthday memory that would shame us all? I sat down on a stool and began to cry. I was a sweating, shaking, crying mess, and I couldn't think of any easy way out of what I had committed to do. Then my cell phone rang, and my older daughter Megan said she was dropping by to see how the room was coming. I started to tell her I was at my wits' end and was paralyzed by doubt, and then it came to me: God was delivering a response to my unvoiced prayer. Megan was coming over. She could help. I would do my share, but she would be there to do the hard parts, to supervise my work, and to make sure I didn't mess things up. I could still deliver on my promise, and no one would have to know how scared I had been of failing. When she arrived, Megan could see that I had done all the preparation but hadn't yet started on the wall. I told her I was nervous about the project, and I suggested we have a girl's night, order a pizza, laugh about some memories and stories, catch up with one another, and together create a gift her sister would love. She was not enthusiastic about spending the evening together, reminding me that it was Friday and that she already had plans with her friends. Again I began to feel panic, and it showed. Noticing my imminent meltdown, Megan began to repeat back to me things I had said to her since she was a baby. She reminded me that I had told her I could do anything I set my mind to and that blindness only made the way I did a thing different-not better, not worse, just different. She said that I had always been as good as my word, that I had never let my family down, and that she was so proud of the mom I was. She told me that there was no way I'd let Abbey down, that I was perfectly capable of painting that room, and that I needed to put myself back together, remember how much I loved to do artsy craftsy things, and that, by the end of the weekend, we'd all have something to treasure. I heard what she said, and, although they were nice words that were exactly what I had dreamed she would one day say to me about raising her, my fear held fast, and I begged her to stay and help. After listening to my pathetic protests, Megan turned to me and said, "Okay, I'll help you," and immediately she went for the paint can and the roller. She dipped the roller into the can, and I gave a big sigh of relief when I heard paint being applied to the wall. We would do this together. I could hand her brushes and pour paint into the trays, but she could do the painting, and we'd do a great job. But my elation was short-lived. The next thing I heard was the roller being placed back in its tray and Megan saying, "Okay, Mom. I've started it. It's your turn. Bye!" I laughed, and in a shaking voice I said, "Oh Megan, don't tease me. I don't think I can take it tonight." "I'm not teasing," she said. "Mom, this is Friday night, and I have plans. You told Abbey you could do this, and you can. You've been planning it for two months. This is only paint; you can't break anything. Now get to it, and I'll come by tomorrow to see how you're doing. Bye. Love you." With a hug and a kiss, out the door she went. Again I was alone, but now Abbey's wall, which had been an off-white color, had a big pink stripe across it. There was no turning back. Eventually I pulled myself together, thought about what Megan had said, said a silent prayer for God's help, and started to paint. I painted all that night and much of the next day. I used a specially-made stamp to place the imprint of butterflies on the wall, being careful to ensure that each went on at a slightly different angle to give the appearance of the butterflies in flight. I had to be careful about their spacing since being too close together or too far apart would ruin the intended effect. When Saturday night came, I was a boiling mix of emotions: exhausted, exhilarated, proud, scared, anxious for Megan to return and give me her always painfully honest opinion, and afraid of what she might say. When she entered the room, I felt as tense as I have ever felt. "Hey, Mom, it looks great! This will be the best present ever. Abbey will be so excited." Again I began to cry, but these were not tears of fear but tears of relief. When Abbey came home on Sunday and looked at her room, the joy she felt wasn't conveyed just in what she said but in her tone. She kept saying, "Thank you, Mommy, oh thank you, Mommy. This is the best birthday present ever!" After all the fear, all the anxiety, all the concern that I had pushed too hard, promised too much, I felt supremely happy. There wasn't one trace of surprise or amazement in her little voice-just appreciation for a promised birthday gift that was exactly what she had asked to receive. Again I cried. This time I shed tears of joy-I had given my ten-year-old a gift she would remember for the rest of her life. I had done what I said I would-just as she expected I would do. We always tell people that blindness poses two problems: one is the physical lack of sight, the other the reaction that we and others have to being blind. A big part of what we do in the National Federation of the Blind involves changing the attitudes of the public with the words we say and the actions they can see, but it is hard to measure something as large as a change in public acceptance. What we can more easily see is the reality our children come to know as we tell them what we believe about blindness, and they then compare those words with what they see day after day and year after year. My daughter Megan believed what I told her about the role blindness played in my life, and she accepted as true what I said about being able to do anything. She then reflected or echoed back that belief to me at a time when I was down on myself and was questioning whether I had promised to do something beyond my capabilities. So certain was she that I could succeed that she placed me on a road that ran in only one direction-forward-and left me alone to navigate that road by myself. The Bible tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and I am a living example of that truth. To my daughter that newly decorated room was something she enjoyed, treasured, and proudly showed her friends. But soon she was no longer ten and wanted a bigger room downstairs. Now she is in college, the newly decorated room a treasured but distant memory. But for me the picture of that room will always remain in my mind, and the accomplishment it represents often reminds me that I can do more than I think I can, that I should encourage others to go beyond what they think they can do, and that sometimes discomfort is a necessary ingredient in finding the joy of real accomplishment. Blindness almost stopped me from giving my youngest daughter the best gift I've ever given, but it was my older daughter's faith, her belief in my ability, and her reluctance to accept anything less than my best that has made this one of the most treasured stories of my life. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Eileen Bartholomew] Pushing the Limits: Changing the World through Big Ideas by Eileen Bartholomew >From the Editor: One of the most exciting presentations made by someone from outside the organization occurred when Eileen Bartholomew from the XPRIZE Foundation took the stage on Friday morning, July 10, 2015, to address our seventy-fifth convention. We often tell people that success is primarily about attitude, so it was interesting to hear the words of another organization that holds this view. Here is what Ms. Bartholomew said: Thank you for that welcome, and I'm so glad to be here. At XPRIZE we like to say, "The day before something is a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea." You know, the world needs a lot of crazy ideas, and never before has the world been poised to take individuals and empower them to make those crazy ideas the breakthroughs we need. The reason behind that is because of exponential tools, business models, and a mindset that I know you all have in this room. I'd like to share a little bit about what we think is possible in the coming years and decades ahead of us. But first, to do that, I want to talk about a big problem with all of us. That is that we are pretty linear in how we think about things. Our brain hasn't had an upgrade in about 50,000 years. We get up every morning, and we think that tomorrow is going to be pretty much like it was yesterday, only that's really not the case. The brain that we have is limited in our ability to understand that. There's even a famous number called Dunbar's number, which is really the number of relationships that you can keep track of and that's about 150. So for all of you who have more than 150 friends on Facebook, you really only know about 150 of them. But the world and technology is exponential and global, and to give you a sense of that, the world created more information in the time the last speaker from Google spoke then we really have had in almost all of human history. That is exponential. What does exponential feel like? Well, I'll give you a brief exercise to think about this. If you took ten steps linearly, you'd go about thirty feet-one, two, three, four. If you took ten steps exponentially-one, two, four, eight-you'd be all the way to the moon and back. Technology grows exponentially, and it's really hard sometimes for us to know about that and understand about that. I want to give you an example of what exponential looks like. All of you probably know Kodak, the famous photography company. In 2012, when it was about a $26 billion dollar company employing one hundred thousand people, it declared bankruptcy-a hundred year company gone basically overnight. Its competitor in the same year, Instagram, a company that captures moments and images and memories all over the world, had an IPO, and it was worth $1 billion and only employed thirteen people. That is exponential change. Kodak was known for creating the digital camera, but it didn't take advantage of that, and it was instantaneously usurped overnight. That is exponential change and exponential technology's impact. As a result, the average lifespan of most companies today has gone from about seventy years in the 1920s to less than fifteen today. What that means is that in ten years about half of the Fortune 500 companies we know today won't be around. Innovation is going to happen at the corporate level; it's going to happen with individuals. Why is this happening? I want to talk about some new, amazing tools, many of which you may have heard about to help realize this future. There is a little-known but important fact that is driving all of this: Moore's law, the idea that every eighteen months the processing power of computers will double. We've all seen the benefits of this; that's why we're all carrying around small phones and not ginormous contraptions. But the world is now going to see the impact of this, and what's going to be happening is going to take us in an amazing direction. Today we can process things at about the rate of a mouse brain. In about ten more years we'll be able to process information at the rate of a human brain. But in ten more years after that we will be able to process information at the rate of every human brain on this planet, and, when that happens, brilliant new things will occur. So what is driving this? We are seeing advances in things such as biotech, robotics, artificial intelligence, energy, medicine-changing what it means to be human every day. Companies like: HLI (Human Longevity Institute) are going to be taking every piece of medical data that exists and trying to find a cure for individuals, not for groups of people; companies like Rethink Robotics that are making humanoid-like robots that have facial expressions and arms and legs-robots that you don't have to program that you can simply train-you teach them to do things by showing them how to do it, just like you would teach a child or teach a friend; things like synthetic meats-we may no longer have to grow meat, we will craft it in factories and breweries all around the world; things like advances in healthcare. You know about five or six years ago the only product you had to help you understand your health was a thermometer and a telephone to call your doctor, but now we have millions of devices-Fitbits, iPhones, Pulse oximeters, bringing health care to individuals. That is going to be the patient of the future, not just the clinician of the future. Companies like Matternet that are taking drone technology and are able to craft the last mile of logistics in a space of just a few months' time-in other words, getting things to remote villages in Africa can now be a matter of delivery by drone, not by having to build roads and infrastructure to do this. And, most importantly, things like 3-D printing that are changing the way manufacturing happens and even personalized development-cooking in your home. These are the tools and technologies that are driving changes, and they're pretty exciting, but they are only one part of the equation. The next real piece is the new type of business models that are happening because we are all connected online. What does that mean? Well right about now there is about 25 percent of the planet that is connected to the internet. Only a quarter of the possible minds are actually connected online, but in the space of the next five or six years, that number is going to grow to about 70 percent. That equates to about 3 billion new minds coming online that have not had a voice in what we consume, create, desire, demand, and legislate; when those minds come onboard, they are going to want to be engaged and connected in really amazing ways, and we're already starting to see that. We have new business models like crowdfunding, crowd labor, and crowd knowledge that are taking problems that before used to have to be solved by governments and now are solved by individuals. You probably have all heard of something called Kickstarter. [Applause] Kickstarter is democratizing the way companies and individuals get access to capital and resources. Companies like Oculus that have developed the Rift virtual reality goggles that are going to be crafting the virtual worlds of tomorrow: they set out to raise $200,000 on Kickstarter. They ended up raising $2.5 million. Less than a year after that campaign, they were acquired by Facebook for over $2 billion. No longer will companies and individuals need to wait around for financial markets to invest in their ideas. Individuals can now ask other individuals to give them the resources to make this happen. What about the future of work? There's a new model out there called crowd labor, where individuals are asked to help participate in small tasks. Consider a company called Gigwalk which is based out of San Francisco, that pays people anywhere from one dollar to ten dollars to perform tasks that used to take staffs and staffs of researchers and companies-things like, go and see if a product is at the end of an aisle at the local CVS. Or perhaps the assignment is to test out this new application. Today almost $1 billion worth of gigs that before were the responsibilities of companies are now happening on a one-to-one basis. Individuals are now the new movers and shakers of the business economy. What about creativity? Here is a great story from only two years ago: the Super Bowl ads-those ginormous, expensive, frustratingly difficult, and sometimes non-comical ideas-in 2013 the number twenty-four placed commercial, which, by the way, was an advertisement for Speed Stick Deodorant, was developed by a team of four people, not by a multi-tiered corporation or a big advertising agency, not on a $500,000 budget or even a $5 million budget. It was done for $14,000 by a group of four kids. That's the new type of creativity and creation that's being allowed to happen because of the connectivity of these exponential tools and technologies. Even really hard challenges, things like finding Genghis Khan's tomb, which, by the way, we haven't been able to figure that out for about 800 years-we're closer than ever before because a famous National Geographic researcher realized that the research and archaeology community couldn't find the answer to this. He turned to the entire collective crowd, and almost 30,000 people helped him sift and sort through data to identify fifty new sites that had never before been determined. They think that they are pretty close to finding something that has eluded the experts for almost 1,000 years. These are the types of tools and technologies and business models that are changing what's possible, but these are only just a start. Because the third ingredient for making this new world possible is something that every one of us has; it is so simple and yet so hard; it is a new mindset. Most of the world looks at the world today and sees a lot of problems, sees things that feel like they can't be fixed-and trust me, every major media news network out there loves to talk about that. So whatever you call it (CNN, the constant negative news network or whatever else it might be), they are always talking about how bad things are, how difficult things are, how it's harder than ever before to do that. But you know what's funny? Our brain-the one that hasn't had an upgrade in 50,000 years-we're actually wired to think and pay attention to negative news. We are wired to pay attention to it almost ten times more than positive news. We've all experienced that, right? You pay attention to a negative comment much more often than you do a positive comment in your life. An abundant mindset needs to be thought about today because the biggest problems we talk about are actually the world's biggest business opportunities. A billion people on the planet can't take a drink of water without risking their lives. That's a great business opportunity. How can we bring tools and technologies to make that not a reality? In reality the world isn't getting worse; it's getting better, and the data show it. There's a recent article in The Economist called "The End of Poverty." In the last twenty years the number of people who have lived below a dollar and a half a day, which is the international poverty line, has been cut by half. Access to things like connectivity, energy, and water is happening, and it's happening through these tools and technologies. Right now your world is pretty darn safe. In primitive society almost 20 percent of the people died because of some form of violence. Today that's down to 1/500th of what it used to be. We are safer than ever before; the world isn't worse off; it's way better off. As a result, we need to think about these problems differently. I want to tell a little story about an abundant mindset, something that I think really resonates with me and maybe something you'll take home with you as well. Back in the 1840s when Napoleon III had a very important diplomatic event happening, the King of Siam was to visit him, and of course the entire kingdom wanted to layout its finery. So at the dinner where the King of Siam was to be greeted, Napoleon's staff was to eat off silverware. The King of Siam's staff was to eat off gold, but the king himself was going to eat off aluminum plates-aluminum plates-because in 1840, aluminum, although very plentiful, was extremely rare in its purest form. In fact it was so rare that it was reserved for the most royal of Royals. Today, because we've invented a simple system that separates aluminum from bauxite, which naturally occurs in nature, we throw it away. Aluminum foil is a throwaway substance. Something that in decades past was scarce, impossible, and rich is now available, plentiful, and in fact throw- awayable. The idea of changing your mindset about what is scarce versus what is abundant can really happen through simple technological breakthroughs, and it is that type of mindset that we have to bring to all of the world's problems today. So what do all of you think about scarcity in your lives or in the world today? Do you think about diamonds? Diamonds are now being crafted in the lab for about five dollars a carat. What about energy? A lot of people talk about a lack of energy all around the world. More energy hits this planet every day in solar rays than we can use in any given year at our rate today. All we need to do is figure out how to tap into that solar power, and we're seeing these changes happen-solar power's cost has come down 50 percent in the last year; it's almost on parity with diesel generation, and, when that happens, we will unlock a future of abundant energy that will free us from a lot of issues around environmental concerns and access to energy. It is a simple change that we need to have, and that changes the mindset that we bring to it. What about water? We know that water is not necessarily available where it needs to be, but there are breakthroughs that are happening right now in osmotic technologies, and things like Dean Kamen's SlingShot, where you can literally put a SlingShot into a pool of anything that looks like water and, for about the voltage required by a hair dryer, in a few minutes you can have completely drinkable water-simple, simple things that are changing the mindset of what's possible. Again, we think that the day before something is a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea, but we need to think exponentially, abundantly. We can't think linearly and statically. At XPRIZE we've crafted competitions to help try to change the mindset of what is possible. A great example is that everybody knew in 1996 when we launched our first prize that only governments go to space, but we didn't think that that was right, and we thought exponentially about what was possible. In 2004 the first privately built spaceship went a hundred kilometers up in the air. That is underpinning the Virgin Galactic technology that may one day allow all of us to buy a ticket to go to space. We ought to think exponentially, abundantly, to craft the future that we think we can create. There are others around the world using prizes to help do that. We think that's a great idea. One simple example: right now, today, the Christopher and Dana Reeve foundation says there are about 7 million individuals who are paralyzed, and in a hundred years the only thing we've been able to develop is a wheelchair. We think that should change, and there are a lot of robotics companies around the world that think that should change too. They are launching a Paralympic competition in the fall of next year to take formerly paralyzed individuals, strap prosthetics, bionics, and all kinds of great new advancements on them to try to change what we think of in terms of disability. That type of exponential and abundant thinking is what we need. In closing I would like to ask all of you: where are you thinking linearly, where you should be thinking exponentially? What do you think of as scarce that, with a simple mindset, could be looked at as abundant, and where are you attempting crazy ideas? Thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carlton Anne Cook Walker] Crafting Your Diamond: The Four Cs of Bringing Up Blind Children by Carlton Anne Cook Walker >From the Editor: Carlton Anne Cook Walker is the immediate past president of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, an attorney, an educator, and-most importantly-the mother of a blind daughter. She has recently taken a job at the NFB Jernigan Institute as manager of Braille educational programs. Here is what she said to parents attending the seminar held at the 2015 national convention: Good morning! Again, welcome! As president of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), I am eager to share with you over this next week all that the Federation, including the NOPBC, has to offer. First, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carlton Anne Cook Walker, and I am the mother of a blind fourteen-year-old, Anna Catherine. In addition to serving as president of the NOPBC, I am a teacher of students with blindness/visual impairment in South Central Pennsylvania, and I am an attorney with my own solo law practice. Of all my roles, parent is most important, and it will always be so. However, after faith and family, the most important facet of my life is the Federation-the National Federation of the Blind. For without the NFB and its Parents' Division, the NOPBC, I would not have the information I need to be an effective parent for Anna Catherine. Indeed, it is the education from and support of my fellow Federationists-both in the Parents' Division and in the membership at large-that has taught me how to provide my Anna Catherine the tools and skills she needs to become the successful blind adult she has the right to be. You may have heard that the NFB is celebrating a diamond anniversary- seventy-five years of the blind advocating for, supporting, and serving the blind. Seventy-five years-and still going strong! On a personal level this year's convention is the tenth for my daughter Anna Catherine and me. You might know that the traditional gift for a seventy-fifth anniversary is the diamond. We will encounter many of those this week. But guess what? The tenth anniversary gift is also a diamond! Coincidence? I think not. When my husband Stephen and I went to our first NFB convention in Dallas, Texas, we thought that our "low vision" five-year-old would probably be okay because she had some remaining vision. After just one week of learning from parents and blind adults, listening to new ideas that made sense, and seeing competent, successful blind adults with varying levels of vision, we left with the knowledge that it would be our daughter's level of blindness skills-not her residual vision-that would determine her chances of future success. Diamonds are created from a common element-carbon-which has been subject to uncommon external pressures. Most natural diamonds were created in the high-pressure environment of the mantle of the Earth (about ninety miles deep) at temperatures of around 2,000 degrees Celsius and were brought up toward the Earth's surface by deep source volcanic eruptions. Other tiny, natural diamonds have been found where asteroids have hit the Earth. The necessity for high temperatures and extremely high pressure render natural diamonds a rare gemstone. As parents of blind children we know how rare blindness is-there is a good reason it is called a low- incidence disability. Diamonds also come in many shapes, sizes, and colors-like our children. Many people have an image of what a diamond-or a blind child- looks like. While there will certainly be examples to fit the stereotype, there are many more which do not. The outside world often places value on diamonds in a manner unrelated to their actual utility and functionality. But despite the external differences highlighted by society, every diamond has a core strength unmatched by any other gemstone. I know that our children, blind or sighted, are the most precious gems we will ever encounter. Like diamonds they are strong and resilient. And, like diamonds, they are often judged on factors that are not related to their actual potential. When shopping for diamonds, buyers are taught to focus upon the "four Cs" of diamond buying: cut, carat, color, and clarity. With our precious diamonds, our blind children, I submit that the four Cs of rearing a successful blind child are: competence, confidence, creativity, and community. Competence Like determining the cut of a diamond, the first step in rearing a successful blind child is ensuring that child's competence. In what areas should a blind child be competent? In all areas! As I have mentioned, my blind daughter Anna Catherine has functional vision. For some tasks her vision is quite functional; for others it is not. In some circumstances ("perfect" ambient lighting, familiarity with an area, etc.) her vision is more functional than it is in other circumstances. Like Anna Catherine, blind children must be skilled in all situations in which they find themselves, and the key to this is blindness skills. For children with visual impairment/blindness, their vision is not their strong suit. Asking a visually impaired/low vision/partially sighted child to rely solely on that impaired/low/partial vision ensures that the child's progress and success will be impaired/low/partial. As a teacher of blind students I am tasked with performing assessments on my students, part of which involves interviewing classroom teachers about my students in their classrooms. Far too often I hear, "She's doing great for a low vision student," or, "He's doing well considering his eye issue." I know these teachers mean well, but I cringe whenever I hear them describe my students with "for a" or "considering." My students need to perform at their optimal levels, not "considering their visual impairment" or "for a blind child," but their individual optimal levels period. And it's my job to teach them the skills that will help them accomplish this- blindness skills. Blindness skills provide our children the tools they need to be defined as individuals, not by their disabilities. Blindness skills include Braille (all forms: literary, math, science, music, etc.); orientation and mobility skills, including use of the long white cane and mobility in all areas-on escalators, crossing streets, buying food at the snack bar by themselves; technology skills, including nonvisual software, refreshable Braille displays, and audio output; and nonvisual skills that help our children maximize their independence-no matter if they are blind, with or without additional disabilities. This week you will hear about and experience a secondhand immersion in many different blindness skills. You will witness efficient, confident mobility with long white canes. You will hear brilliant, well-researched sessions and speeches which were created and will be presented using Braille and accessible technology. You will watch blind adults performing everyday tasks without regard to their visual abilities and living their lives just as you do-and as you want your children to. Most importantly, you and your child will be enriched by learning the importance and secrets of the blindness skills you will experience here this week. Every child deserves to have the skills and tools to achieve all that s/he can achieve. Anna Catherine's success, like that of your child, will be determined by what she can do, not by what she can see. This basic competence is the first "C" necessary for preparing a blind child for lifelong success. And you will find a multitude of opportunities to gain information about and practice blindness skills at the NOPBC conference as well as at the NFB convention for the entire week. Confidence The next vital "C" for all children is confidence. While confidence is important to sighted children, it is probably even more important to blind children. Blindness is a low incidence disability, particularly in children, so blind children may have few same-age peers in their home communities. This can be isolating and can make it difficult for blind children to accurately gauge their levels of accomplishment. For example, many blind children are bombarded with people telling them what they can't do because they are blind. Alternatively, they might hear how amazing they are for performing tasks which are both mundane and come easily to them. Both of these environments can erode the self- confidence of a blind child. In neither case may the blind child experience the opportunity to try, fail, and try again-the very experiences which build learning and self-confidence. A child in the former environment may never be permitted to stretch into new areas, and a child in the latter environment will never feel the need to do so. In both cases these children's wings are clipped: they will never walk to and from school, cook a meal, or gain other skills of independent living, no matter how much they achieve academically. Confidence is not something that can be taught or given. Confidence comes from within. Our children deserve to have the confidence to know that they can do-or figure out how to do-anything they need. Our children deserve to have quality instruction in Braille, long white cane skills, technology, and independent living skills. Will all of this instruction occur in the school building? No. It cannot. As parents we have the right and the duty to support our children in their acquisition of blindness skills. I knew this intuitively ten years ago, but as a sighted adult whose child is the first blind person I'd ever met, how could I do this? Didn't I have to rely on the school-after all, they are the experts. No. You, as a parent, are the expert on your child. Blind adults, who have learned, become proficient in, and used blindness skills every single day are experts. School officials have a great deal to share, and they may be experts, but they are not the experts. Instruction in skills leads to competence; the opportunity to use and master these skills instills confidence. Please do not hesitate to take advantage of the competent, caring blind adults you will encounter everyday here, and connect with Federationists in your own state. A strong network of experts in the home, in the community, and at school and the high level of expectations they will bring will provide your child a fertile field in which confidence may grow every single day. Creativity Diamond buying's third "C" is color, and my third "C" is creativity. Like color, creativity is both unimportant and vitally important. In diamonds, the color is irrelevant to actual industrial utility. However, the color of a diamond can significantly affect its value as a gemstone, and many people have strong opinions about diamond color (hating or loving colored versus clear diamonds). In the lives of blind children, creativity is too often pushed off to the side in favor of academics. So many blind children are pulled from art and music for instructional time. Can you believe it? Art and music? These subjects are vital to the development of a well-rounded person. The lessons learned in the creative arts spark innovative thought processes that will help children overcome both academic and real-life challenges. Another obstacle to creativity is the pursuit of perfection. Too often children, especially blind children, are not allowed to fail. They are not allowed to experiment and find that their ideas didn't work that time. This robs them of the opportunity to problem solve to determine what they might do differently to achieve a different result. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, I encourage you and your children to "Do one thing every day that scares you." Today during our concurrent sessions, ask a question no matter how scary it might seem at first. Tomorrow morning your one thing might be a cane walk under sleepshades with your child. This week, go to the exhibit hall and experiment with some of the multitude of devices, both high-tech and low-tech, even if you don't know what they do. In fact, explore a device with your child, and guess at what it does. Once you encourage imagination and make it okay to be wrong, you may be quite surprised at what ideas your child comes up with. This is the beauty of creativity in action. Creativity cannot be measured on a standardized test, but its value outweighs that of any test. First, your blind child gains competence and confidence in blindness skills. Then you help nurture the creativity that will serve your child for a lifetime. These three "C"s, competence, confidence, and creativity are great. And we're almost there, but not quite. Community The fourth "C" in crafting our diamonds is community. Wonderful blindness skills and terrific academic achievement are of little consequence if a blind adult merely goes to work, goes home, and repeats the cycle day after day after day. An important part of all of our lives is our interaction with others. Many blind children are always on the receiving end and do not have the opportunity to serve others at all. Each of us needs to be needed, and each of us needs to have something to give. No matter your child's age, he or she can give back. Maybe your child will make a "Thinking of You" card for someone in a nursing home or a soldier overseas. Maybe your child can volunteer to read (in Braille, of course) to other children. Maybe your child makes lunch for others at a local soup kitchen. It doesn't matter how your child uses blindness skills to give back to the community; it matters that your child does it. Indeed, this last "C," community, completes the circle. Welcome to the Family Speaking of community, please know that you are a most welcome part of our community. As a member of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children you are a part of an amazing community-actually, a family. Tonight, please come to our family hospitality night and talk to someone you don't know yet. This week, go up to a blind adult and introduce yourself. Here in the National Federation of the Blind, you won't find any strangers-just friends you haven't met yet. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Yudin] Leadership through Education: Raising Expectations, Improving Training, and Innovating Opportunities by Michael Yudin >From the Editor: Michael Yudin is a former chairman of the United States Access Board and at the time of the 2015 National Convention had just been appointed as the assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the United States Department of Education. Here is what he said to the convention on Friday afternoon, July 10: Good afternoon, everyone. How are you? I am truly honored to be here, President Riccobono, with Dr. Maurer, Jim Gashel, and my partner Sachin there whom I have the pleasure of serving as his vice chair at the US Access Board. Congratulations, everyone; congratulations on your seventy- fifth anniversary. It is truly amazing-the work that you all do here-and I am honored-I am honored to address you today. The work that you do around raising expectations, around securing enduring equity, and removing barriers and creating opportunities for blind and low-vision people in this country is so incredibly important. I just want to say to the young people here-and I know there are a bunch of you here today-that your success reflects the fundamental belief in this country that, if you give a child the opportunity to learn, he or she can achieve anything; that, if you aim high, there are no limits; and that your success is our success as a nation. About fifty years ago President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (otherwise known as ESEA), and it ensured that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds had the same kinds of educational opportunities as their more affluent peers. When he signed that law, he said that he believed that no law he had signed or would ever sign would mean more to the future of America. He set full educational opportunity as our first national goal. But we all know that takes work; it takes real work to make that opportunity real. If you truly believe that all of our children deserve that kind of opportunity, then our collective work becomes extraordinarily clear. We know that, when families and educators and community leaders work together, they can unlock the great vaults of opportunity of this nation, to echo the words of Dr. King from the March on Washington. We know that we have to work to make sure that that opportunity is not just a possibility, but that it's a promise. We know that we've made enormous progress in those fifty years since Lyndon Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We have passed the IDEA and the ADA. We know that forty or fifty years ago millions of kids with disabilities were denied access to education. We know we've made an enormous amount of progress. We know that today a majority of kids with disabilities spend about 80 percent of their time in the general classroom. We know that today African-American and Latino nine- year-old students succeed in math at about the same level that their thirteen-year-old peers did in the 1970s. Today dropout rates are down significantly, and high school graduation rates have soared in recent years for all students. Just since 2008 alone, college enrollment by black and Latino students has grown by more than a million. That's a big deal, particularly because many of these young people are first-generation college-goers. But clearly our work is not done. The achievement and opportunity gaps are pernicious, and they are persistent. For too many kids, circumstances of birth remain a barrier to opportunity; the odds are stacked. Opportunity gaps begin early, often at birth, and they compound over time, becoming harder and harder to bridge. Too many kids drop out of school. Too few kids go on to college, too many are underemployed or unemployed, and far too many end up in jail. Our work will not be done until we ensure that that opportunity is again not just a possibility but a promise. You know the president of the United States, President Obama, has said that there is nothing, not a single thing, that is more important to the future of America than whether or not young people all across this country can achieve their dreams [Applause]. And that's why we're all here today. Because, particularly for the young people, particularly because as the president says, "We believe in the idea that no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what your circumstance, if you work hard, if you take responsibility, then America is the place where you can make something of your lives, that we care about you, and that we believe in you." So how are we going to get to these goals? I think that there are three things-and I know that we're running short on time; I could talk all day, I won't-but there are three things: breaking down barriers, ensuring that students and families and educators have the tools they need to be successful, and identifying opportunities and exploiting them so that we ensure kids' success. First barrier: low expectations. We must change the culture of expectations in this country [Applause]. Too many parents-I've heard it, you all know it-too many parents hear from their doctors, from their kids' teachers, "I'm sorry, your kid's not going to/your kid can't/your kid won't." It is not a parent's expectation of their child [Applause]. Their expectation is, "My kid can/my kid will/my kid is able to succeed." We know from research that high expectations and access to the general curriculum actually make a difference. We know that teachers' expectations on a kid actually make a difference in their performance in reading and math. So again we need to change the culture of expectations; that's the first barrier. We also need to begin focusing on results in the education field, particularly in special ed. We have spent so many years focusing on compliance and ensuring procedural safeguards that are critically important in special education, but we haven't focused enough on results. It's really important to focus again on these procedural safeguards and compliance with the law-it is absolutely necessary. But if you look at how kids are doing in reading and math and graduating, students with disabilities have among the lowest performance outcomes out of all subgroups of kids. We need to change that focus and also look at results and outcomes. We also know that there is inadequate access to Braille. We know that from parents and advocates of blind children. We know that numbers of students receiving education and instruction in Braille have decreased significantly over the past several decades despite years of research that has shown that Braille is a very effective reading and writing medium for many students who are blind or visually impaired, including heightened self- esteem and increased likelihood of productive employment. That's why it's important for us at the Department of Education to issue guidance to remind states and local school districts of the importance of Braille instruction as a literacy tool for blind and visually impaired students and to clarify the circumstances in which Braille instruction should be provided. I'm going to quote the law. The law says that "In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, the IEP team must provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP team determines, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing skills, their needs, and appropriate reading and writing media, including an evaluation of the child's future needs for instruction in or use of Braille, that instruction or use is not appropriate for the child." This requirement of course applies to kids as they enter kindergarten, as well as children who will benefit from Braille later on because they face the prospect of future vision loss later on in their careers. Accessibility-the attorney general [Maura Healy of Massachusetts] talked about accessibility. We know that access to information and technology is so critical. Our Department of Justice, our Office of Civil Rights has issued a series of guidances, has taken some very active roles in ensuring that colleges and universities ensure that emerging technology is accessible to individuals with disabilities, including those with visual impairments and other impairments that make it difficult to access printed materials. They must ensure that the technology is implemented in a way that affords individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate and benefit from the technology. We explained that under the federal civil rights laws blind students must be afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students with substantially equivalent ease of use. Relying on these principles, our Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Justice-resolved complaints filed by the National Federation of the Blind regarding universities that were asking or requiring students to use the Kindle DX. Those universities agreed not to use ebook readers that are not fully accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision unless the universities provide reasonable accommodations so that a student can acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students with substantially equivalent ease of use. We've actually also taken this guidance and made sure that everybody understands that applies to elementary and secondary schools as well. We have engaged in a number of enforcement actions requiring equal access to school websites and online resources: University of Cincinnati, Youngstown State University, and the University of Montana at Missoula. These all say that technologies, including websites, online course registration, library database materials, video classroom clickers, discussion boards, and electronic textbooks must be accessible. Just last month our department and the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in litigation the National Association of the Deaf filed against MIT and Harvard, reiterating that Section 504 and the ADA apply to your online content. Effective communications-we issued guidance just a year or so ago regarding insuring that educational agencies understand their requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as IDEA, to reinforce that effective communication requires schools to ensure that students with disabilities receive communication that is as effective as communication with others through the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services. I'm going to run out of time, but I want to talk about tools and Bookshare. You all know about Bookshare, right? [Cheers] It converts instructional materials into accessible formats. We have over twenty-eight personnel development prep programs that are providing supports to train teachers on the way to provide instruction to kids in Braille. Technology- creating and disseminating a mobile app-the Braille Challenge mobile app- incorporating evidence-based strategies. Media services: video on demand TV programming is now accessible for thousands of students with visual or hearing disabilities. The Accessible Television Portal Project opens access to free video on demand children's television program for thousands of students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing. And finally, just one more quick thing-Mister President, I promise you I will leave-two things I want to say: Randolph-Sheppard-Randolph-Sheppard is doing incredible work. That program in 2013 generated in excess of $708 million in gross sales, had a nationwide average annual income of $56,000, and employed over 14,600 individuals. Randolph-Sheppard programs around the country are doing incredibly innovative work. They're working with private industries-the state of Illinois actually is contracted with the Randolph-Sheppard program to operate the cottages at Carlyle Lake. It is the largest campground in the state of Illinois, offering services that include lodging, a swimming pool that will accommodate two hundred people, a camp store, a laundromat, and vending machines. The state of Georgia's state licensing agency is looking at having blind vendors work food trucks. There is so much innovation that is going on in the Randolph-Sheppard program, and I urge you to work with our young people, mentor them, and show them how they can take advantage of these opportunities. Finally, the last thing I want to say and before I get the hook is about the WIOA, the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. It provides so much opportunity to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the supports and the services and the skills and the training they need to engage in high-quality, competitive, integrated employment. There are so many really important issues to talk about focusing on transition and services to youth: limitations on sub-minimum wage, working with employers, making sure that VR counselors understand the skills that are necessary to meet the demands of the economy, and creating a seamless, accessible workforce delivery system that is physically and programatically accessible to all. I'm going to wrap up and just say that breaking down barriers, creating opportunities, and making sure that folks have the tools that they need is critical. The fundamental belief that, if you give a child a meaningful opportunity to learn, they will succeed is all-important. Equity in education is a core American value; kids must have the chance to learn and achieve; education must provide a path to a thriving middle class for all who are willing to work hard. Our national identity and our economic strength depend on it. Thank you so much; I'm honored to be here. ---------- Important Changes 2016 Washington Seminar Logistics by Diane McGeorge >From the Editor: For many years now Diane McGeorge has been the coordinator who works with the hotel to see that we get room reservations and meeting rooms for our annual Washington Seminar. With renovations and staff changes that have occurred at the Holiday Inn Capital, Diane writes to inform readers of the Braille Monitor about how we will now handle making room reservations and other important matters. Here is what she has to say: This message is to advise you that Washington Seminar will be held January 24-28, 2016, with the Great Gathering In taking place on Monday, January 25. Additionally, I wanted to inform you that I will no longer be managing reservations for this event. With the Holiday Inn Capitol's progressive policy changes and renovations having been completed, it seemed like a natural progression that we turn the reservations over to the hotel. We no longer need to document special requests such as smoking or non- smoking rooms, or the need for refrigerators in rooms. We may no longer request rollaway beds since the rooms now have queen beds and can no longer accommodate rollaways. The reservation process has become very standard, requiring check-in and check-out dates only, just as you experience with national conventions. This process will allow you to have full control of your reservations and any changes you need to make. You can now reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Capitol (550 C Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024) for Washington Seminar for check-in beginning Saturday, January 23, 2016, check-out Friday, January 29, 2016. The rate is $184.00 per night. This rate does not include DC sales tax, currently 14.5 percent. You may begin booking reservations directly online at: . You may also make reservations by calling (877) 572- 6951 and referencing booking code N9B. Credit card information is needed at time of reservation. Individual cancellation policy is that you must cancel seventy-two hours prior to date of arrival to avoid one night's room plus tax cancellation charge on the credit card provided. Please call (877) 572- 6951 and reference your confirmation number. Please obtain a cancellation number when cancelling a reservation. The firm deadline date to make a reservation is Monday, December 21, 2015. Reservation requests received after the deadline date will be subject to availability and the hotel's prevailing rate. If you wish to hold a special meeting during the Washington Seminar, please email Lisa Bonderson at just as you have done in past years. She and I will work with the hotel on the assignment of those meeting rooms. To ensure that you get the space you need, please let us know about your meeting needs by December 10, 2015. Lisa and I will always be available to help you with any problems you might experience with this new system of booking your hotel reservations, but we have worked closely with the hotel staff, and they are looking forward to working with each affiliate or group wishing to make reservations. See you in Washington! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeannie Massay] The Foundation of Our Federation by Jeannie Massay From the Editor: Jeannie Massay is a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors, the state president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma, and she works as a Licensed Professional Counselor in her newly established private practice, addressing mental health and behavioral concerns. In this article she writes in her capacity as the chairman of the National Federation of the Blind Membership Committee, and here is what she says: What did you think of when you read the title of this article? Perhaps you thought of one or more of our leaders in the organized blind movement who have been visibly active over the years. I too think of President Riccobono, Dr. Maurer, Dr. Jernigan, Barbara Pierce, Joanne Wilson, Dianne McGeorge, and countless others. They are all leaders in our movement and have all played and continue to play vital roles in the Federation today. I believe that the most important decision that they all made as blind people was to join and become active members in the National Federation of the Blind. Without that pivotal decision they would not be the people they have become, nor would our beloved organization, which many of us call family, be the leading force in blindness that it is today. You may have heard me or others say that the National Federation of the Blind is a membership-driven organization. What exactly does that mean? In simple terms it means that without our members, without you and without me, the National Federation of the Blind would not have the collective voice to drive change in seeking equality in education and employment, the collective action to facilitate changes in legislation that bring about civil rights equality, the power to make sure that blind parents don't have their children removed solely on the basis of their being blind-I could go on. Without members there would be no Federation. Now let me go back to the title of this article-The Foundation of the Federation. When President Riccobono asked me to chair the membership committee, I accepted the challenge and then began thinking back over the years that I have been a part of the Federation. It occurred to me that no one ever really asked me to join. I paid my dues, and that was that. I then began to think about the many individuals I have invited to local chapter meetings or to our affiliate and national conventions. I had an interesting epiphany: I never really asked any of them to join. It has become clear to me that, while we are very passionate about what we do, we are not always focused on finding blind people wherever they may be and then bringing them into the family by actively asking them, "Please join us; we need your help." I know of many blind people in Oklahoma and across the nation who do not yet understand what the Federation can bring to their lives, so we need to help them discover what being a member of the organization can do for them. We are living the lives that we want, and this is why we boldly affirm and must share what we have learned: that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us and that together we must address those obstacles that stand between us and living the lives we want. The Federation found me where I was and took me to where I could believe in myself again. I fervently want this for every blind person. Don't you? At our national convention held in July of this year, the membership committee held a meeting that was exciting! The room was packed. The meeting was dynamic, interesting, and participants left with real examples of how to bring in new members. Six speakers made presentations about what they have done and are doing to bring the positive message of the Federation to blind people and their families and friends. Beyond bringing the message, they explained how they are working on bringing these men and women into the Federation family. The speakers (listed here in no particular order) were Amy Porterfield from Arizona, Lisamaria Martinez from California, Shawn Callaway from the District of Columbia, Jimmy Boehm from Tennessee, Mary Jo Hartle from Maryland, and Jedi Moerke from Oklahoma. Each speaker enthusiastically came to share his or her secrets about how they are growing our Federation family. Lisamaria told us about an event called "Discover You" where NFB of California members spoke about and demonstrated technology, discussed employment, promoted sports and recreation, and shared tips and tricks about being blind parents. The event brought in more than one hundred attendees from all over the Bay area. Members from several chapters came together to telephone every name on any list they could get and to visit agencies who regularly work with blind people. This really paid off. She said, "We partnered with the Lighthouse to use their facility. They also helped out by adding to our list of presenters and by chipping in for the meals." Another comment was that the California affiliate board's decision to help members get to the state convention was a tremendous benefit in bringing them to the transformative experience a convention can represent. The NFBCA Board voted to charter buses from different parts of the state to encourage and make financially feasible the opportunity to attend. The newly found members were encouraged to attend a national convention. We all know how important this gathering can be in showing new people the big picture through highlighting all we do, but what is sometimes overlooked is how much stronger we become by spending time together. The idea of getting new members to attend state affiliate and national conventions seems to be a solid strategy that is shared by many affiliates and for good reason. Amy Porterfield from Arizona spoke about the Membership Recruitment and Engagement Committee for the affiliate. Amy said, "We aim to bring in new members and help find a lasting role for them in an area where they both bring and feel value. We have a very diverse spectrum of members on our committee, including members from each chapter and division. We also include members with a range of experience in the Federation and with a wide range of interests." In order to bring this concept to all chapters in the affiliate the NFBA Membership Recruitment and Engagement committee developed a traveling road show that visited all local chapters in Arizona. Every meeting included a philosophy/membership training session that allowed new members to learn about us, while encouraging our more established membership to welcome and mentor new members. Amy's final remark about membership recruitment and engagement was this, "The NFBA affiliate relies heavily on all the branding and messaging that is provided by our national office and board. We find that the one- minute message is a vital element in educating others as well as our other tools. The value statement is foundational and reminds us about why we are spreading the Federation philosophy." Shawn Callaway, president of the National Federation of the Blind of the District of Columbia delivered a similar message. He stressed how important it is that we create opportunities to meet blind people who can use the information we possess about the adjustment to blindness and who have not had the opportunity to meet us and hear our message of hope. The DC Affiliate planned an event in cooperation with the DC Independent Living Council. This event, as did ones mentioned earlier, brought in many new faces. Shawn proudly announced that the DC chapter would soon surpass one hundred dues-paying members. Jimmy Boehm, membership chair in the Tennessee affiliate, also spoke passionately on the necessity of finding blind people where they are and bringing the message of the Federation to them. Jimmy and others in the Tennessee affiliate have begun efforts at finding blind college students by organizing a chapter on campus and having official chapter meetings by applying to be a campus-recognized organization. By doing so, the chapter was able to secure funding for members to attend the Tennessee affiliate convention and funding to assist members in attending the national convention this year. "Growing our movement requires that we not only meet people where they are, but that we provide them needed information enabling them to move forward on their journeys toward living the lives they want," said Jedi Moerke, president of the T-Town Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Oklahoma. She went on to describe an event planned and executed by the chapter. "Last October our chapter held a seminar for local vocational rehabilitation consumers. The half-day seminar covered a variety of important topics including the value of blindness training featuring high expectations and an empowering curriculum; a variety of everyday jobs blind people do; the steps to the rehabilitation process; advocacy in the rehabilitation process; and an opportunity to hear from executive agency leadership regarding available services and the direction in which our agency is headed. They heard from real blind people who went to training, got jobs, and are leading fulfilling lives. We expected at least twenty- five participants. We had double that number in our audience! Some participants joined our chapter, and others continue to remain in contact with us. Many attended our most recent state convention." No report of our convention meeting would be complete without mentioning the comments of Mary Jo Hartle during her presentation. She is the president of the newly formed chapter in the Greater Baltimore area. Mary Jo said, "Our chapter meets on a weekday evening closer to the area that we live in. We were coming to the National Center for the Blind for the chapter meetings on Saturdays, but it took us over an hour one way to get to the meeting and another to get back home. With kids it just wasn't making sense for us. We decided to organize a second chapter so that members would have a choice of meeting days, times, and locations. Things have worked out really well. Our chapter is growing, and our original chapter in Baltimore has not diminished in size. This presents a growth opportunity that we need to look into wherever we have chapters in large cities. We can find many more people in this manner." In all of the presentations summarized above, you will note a shared theme: that we must find people where they are. We then love them into the Federation family by educating and helping them to discover that blindness is not what holds them back. They can live the lives they want and we, the members of their new family, are standing beside them every step of the way. We continue the forward momentum of the Federation by finding blind people and asking them to join our family. To help perspective members learn more about us, tell them about our new member homepage at , but always remember that no webpage or piece of literature can substitute for the personal contact of a friend, mentor, and Federation family member. Wherever we find new members to grow the Federation, we must begin and keep the momentum going. Let's go build the Federation! ---------- Consider a Charitable Gift Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time, talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the Blind . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB? . Am I giving the most appropriate asset? . Have I selected the best way to make my gift? . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift? . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor? . Have I talked to the NFB about my gift? Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated gifts . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other beneficiaries . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement cost Your Gift Will Help Us . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will educate blind people . Advance technology helpful to the blind . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind . Provide critical information to parents of blind children . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Robert Gardner] iBRAL IS Back! by Robert Gardner >From the Editor: Robert Gardner is a man of tremendous accomplishment. He was trained and worked as a mechanical engineer, and when he lost his vision, he simply figured out on his own the alternative techniques he would need to do his job. On retirement he decided that he had the time to really learn blindness skills, so off to BLIND, Incorporated he went. He learned Braille but soon realized that he could use the discipline of other people to help him maintain and increase his speed. Readers may remember an article he wrote that appeared in the October 2010 issue of this magazine entitled "We Are Able." Here is what Bob has to say about a reading contest for young people: iBral? No, we're not talking about iPad or iTunes, we're talking about iBRAL. Say hello to the Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders, or iBRAL, contest for kids. For the second year the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois (NFBI) has run its own Braille reading contest for kids within the state. And once again the response to our contest to promote the reading of Braille by school children was fantastic. Last year (2013-14), we had twenty-six applicants, and this year (2014-15), we had thirty-two. These ranged from a first grader all the way to students in the twelfth grade. We have been happy with the enthusiastic response to our contest, reflecting the interest in Braille by blind and visually impaired children in Illinois. It also shows how throwing in a little competition can increase that interest. For example, one mother wrote on a registration form, "Thank you so much for organizing this event in Illinois. The iBRAL contest was the single biggest motivator for my son to really work on his Braille skills." Another typical comment on a registration form was received from a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI). She wrote, "This is my first student to take the Braille Challenge, and we are both super excited!" Another TVI wrote at the end of iBRAL: "I have attached my students' reading logs. They enjoyed participating in the competition, and it definitely gave them more incentive to keep reading." The iBRAL contest was first organized in the fall of 2013. Patterning our contest after the former Braille Readers Are Leaders contest run by our national center, the NFBI put together rules and forms, which are accessible and can be found on our state's website. This last year, the reading period for the contest ran for seven weeks, including the Christmas school break, to allow even more time for the kids to work on their Braille. As always the object of the competition was to read as many pages as possible during the contest. Deborah Kent Stein of the NFBI Chicago Chapter and editor of Future Reflections volunteered to be the contest coordinator. She created an email account for iBRAL, allowing electronic submission of registration forms at the beginning of the contest and reading logs at the end. The email account also allowed easy communication between Deborah and parents and/or TVI's, the people who acted as certifying officials for the kids. Sometimes the feedback was amazing. One parent wrote of her son, "He wanted to make sure he would do well. He just brought me his last book to log and told me his fingers hurt. No wonder. He read five hundred pages today alone!" Sometimes the feedback was touching. For example, a TVI wrote about one of her students, "We had a great time reading! Pierre has just started reading Braille the last few years and is finally reading with some fluency and reading for fun! He is seventeen years old and has autism along with his blindness and cognitive delays. He was diligent daily about telling people he had to read for the Braille challenge. Hope to do it again next year! Thanks!" Cash prizes are awarded to first, second, and third place winners in each of the five grade levels. When Joanne Sullivan of the National Braille Press was contacted about us purchasing gift certificates to use as additional prizes, she subsequently told us we wouldn't have to buy them. The NBP, a great supporter of Braille, would donate gift certificates to be given to all entrants. In addition, the NFB national center has donated slates and styluses and Braille calendars to be given to all contestants. When the contest is over, each child receives a generous goodie package from iBRAL, regardless of their placing in the contest. The Braille Literacy Committee in Illinois, along with the entire state affiliate, is proud of their accomplishments: they took the dream of having a statewide Braille reading contest for children and made it a reality. More information about the Illinois Braille Readers Are Leaders contest for kids can be obtained by contacting our affiliate president, Denise Avant, at . We are committed to running the iBRAL contest for kids and hoping to make it even bigger in the future. Go Braille! Go iBRAL! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Participants in the program cross railroad tracks under sleepshades using a long white cane.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Trainee under sleepshades reads Braille in an elevator.] Transforming the Training of Professionals in Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind by Edward Bell >From the Editor: Eddie Bell is the head of the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness, a solid academic, and a man who is well- steeped in the philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind. Here's what he has to say about a program pioneering new and innovative work for the blind: Louisiana Tech remains the foremost leader in preparing professionals who hold a positive and empowering philosophy of blindness consistent with the National Federation of the Blind. We at the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness strive to provide our students with the most cutting-edge, thorough, professional training programs to ensure that our students succeed in the field and have high expectations for future blind students. We continue to adjust and add to our curriculum without compromising the characteristics that set our programs apart. There have been several updates which prospective students and employers should know about related to our Teaching Blind Students (TBS) program, changes in the Orientation and Mobility program, and the recent addition of our Rehabilitation Teaching for the Blind program. Teacher of Blind Students Program President Mark Riccobono addressed us at the fourteenth annual rehabilitation conference in Orlando about the need to change our nation's education system in the same way that the nature of rehabilitation has changed, and I couldn't agree with him more! As he mentioned, blind people often say how they wish that they had found the Federation's positive philosophy sooner, and how they wish they had received quality blindness skills training earlier. The only way that will happen is if we get our philosophy into the education system through Federationists teaching blind students. Teachers of Blind Students teach children in school settings or adults in rehabilitation centers the skills of Braille, assistive technology, and problem-solving, which we know to be crucial for their success. We, of course, think some of the best teachers for blind kids are blind adults. We've made it a point from the ground up that our programs are inclusive and built to be appropriate for blind or sighted teachers. Keep that in mind as you think about your clients, people you work with, or you yourself. We're taking applications, and we'd love to have you. There are three ways to enroll in our TBS Program. If you do not have an education background and you are not a certified teacher, you would enroll in our Master of Arts in Teaching program, which is an alternative certification program. We also have two programs for those who already hold a teaching degree: we have a Master of Education program and, if you want to only take the classes needed to add on certification to teach blind students, we have the graduate certificate program. All three of the programs have the same seven core courses specific to blindness. If, for example, you're just doing the graduate certification to add to your education degree, you take the seven core classes, complete a student teaching internship for one quarter, and you're ready to take the professional exams that your state requires. I am often asked, "Can I take the classes without being admitted into Louisiana Tech University?" For example, a student at another university may want to take one or two classes without getting the certification. You can take individual courses without seeking a degree or certification, but you still must be admitted to Louisiana Tech. One option is to be admitted as a lifelong learner, meaning you don't have to take the Graduate Records Examination as you do with our degree tracks. At the institute we are happy to help you find the best education plan for you. Another frequent question is about our online coursework. Our Master of Arts in Teaching and the graduate certificate program are almost entirely online. This is something that we really thought hard about, and there are a few reasons we decided to push forward with the online platform. Primarily, we must train more teachers. There are so many people already working or with families who can't pick up and move to Ruston for a couple years. We need to serve those people as well. The unique elements of our program, however, used to be in-person opportunities working with blind people at the Louisiana Center or in the community. We have a number of classes-like our Braille 1, Braille 2, and assistive technology classes- conducted weekly using a video conferencing platform so that instructors can give students real-time feedback. We also schedule times for hands-on, long-weekend training sessions in Ruston for assistive technology and advanced Braille training. In the summer quarter there's a week in Ruston focused on teaching orientation and mobility to teachers of blind students, in which students receive cane travel instruction under sleepshades from successful blind role models. Orientation and Mobility Program Our Orientation and Mobility cognate is now housed within the Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance degree track at Louisiana Tech University. We feel that this degree track better prepares our students for working in the field. Instructors, after all, don't teach only travel skills, they build confidence and help people accept their blindness. This new program touches on some of the strategies and techniques that allow us to guide students toward this way of thinking. Scholarships are available for incoming students in the orientation and mobility track thanks to a long-term training grant from the US Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration. This allows us to provide financial assistance to our students on a first-come, first-served basis. We hope that this will help encourage you to consider joining us. One thing that definitely hasn't changed is the need in our field for more quality orientation and mobility instructors. We need blind and sighted mobility instructors who really believe in blind people and possess nonvisual skills. Louisiana Tech University is still the only orientation and mobility university program that has the Federation philosophy and specifically teaches the Structured-Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) method. All of our orientation and mobility students go through blindness immersion at the Louisiana Center for the Blind for a full quarter. In immersion, students take all of their classes-cane travel, Braille, computers, wood shop, and home management-under sleepshades. After their immersion experience, students take six additional months of cane travel classes under sleepshades to improve their mobility skills. They also participate in several trips with the Louisiana Center for the Blind and on their own to further hone their skills in environments from subways to nature trails, Capitol Hill to the mountains of Arkansas, and Mardi Gras to New Jersey. We conduct the majority of these trips with Louisiana Center students so our students can watch others progress in their skills and adjustment to blindness. The ten-week summer internship is a great opportunity for our students to teach others and gain feedback from the highly-qualified travel instructors at the Louisiana Center. As you all know, the Louisiana Center for the Blind has a great reputation as one of the best rehab agencies in the country. Our students get to spend the entire summer working with Roland Allen, Marco Carranza, and Darick Williamson. They also get to work with kids in our summer programs, including the Louisiana NFB BELL, Buddy, and STEP programs. People often ask if they have to have excellent travel skills before coming to our programs, and my response is always the same: it doesn't hurt, but we've accepted many students whose skills aren't up to par yet. They come in, do immersion at the center to get the skills they need, then they continue to work on nonvisual travel for two hours a day, five days a week for about six months. That will get your skills where they need to be. Your background or bachelor's degree is irrelevant; we've had people with majors from art to education. You don't need to be a blindness expert when you come into the program, either. We need more good orientation and mobility instructors out there in our schools, state-run agencies, and veterans' programs. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming an orientation and mobility instructor, I urge you to give us a call at the Institute on Blindness. Rehabilitation Teaching Program In addition to these two core programs, we now offer a Master of Arts in Counseling Guidance with a concentration in Rehabilitation Teaching for the Blind. There are a lot of different jobs out there for which this degree applies, but, in a nutshell, rehabilitation teachers are cross- trained individuals who are skilled in all aspects of blindness techniques. The folks going through the rehabilitation teaching degree program will go through immersion training at the Louisiana Center and the first orientation and mobility class, which will give them a solid introduction to teaching independent travel. They also take the first Braille class to demonstrate competency in Braille and assistive technology. The rehabilitation teaching degree program came into existence thanks to a grant from the Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration, a grant which also allowed us to strengthen our orientation and mobility program. The scholarships that we are able to issue cover tuition, fees, and a living stipend. To qualify for funding, you need an undergraduate degree and must be admitted to our program. Every day, job opportunities cross my desk for instructors in Braille, cane travel, and home management, many of which come from training centers who are looking for people to hire in all these fields. We train professionals who will be ready and equipped to go to those centers and be able to fill almost any of those positions. The person who gets certified as a rehabilitation teacher can choose to stay at Louisiana Tech for an extra semester to earn the designation of NOMC (National Orientation and Mobility Certification). With a little bit of extra effort, a student who goes through the rehabilitation teaching degree program can be certified in all three areas: rehabilitation teaching, orientation and mobility, and Braille. After all, we want to see more cross-trained individuals in the field. Immersion is a requirement for either of these degree tracks. Blindness immersion can occur at any of the NBPCB (National Blindness Professional Certification Board)-approved centers that use the structured discovery method. While the vast majority of students' internships will take place at the Louisiana Center, I would love to see our students working as interns in Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Hawaii. I need staff at all structured-discovery centers to send us people to train, including your graduates; then, I want to turn around and send them back to you, so you can finish polishing them and hire them yourselves. Through these programs, we can do what Mark Riccobono charged us to do: do with the education system what we've already done in the rehabilitation field. I'm excited to work toward this goal. With your help, dedication, and recruitment efforts, we can collectively build the next generation of highly trained and qualified teachers for our blind children and adults. Come and visit us at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana, or online at . We look forward to developing a better world together. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Everett Elam] The Joy of Getting a Summer Job by Everett Elam >From the Editor: Everett Elam is a college senior majoring in music. Needing money and some work experience, he applied for a job and was hired by the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind. Here is what he has written about the joy of being hired, the challenges in his training, and the benefits of bringing home a paycheck: It is difficult to describe the elation I felt from seven words: "Are you ready to come to work?" Since these words came to me through the phone, I didn't have to worry about the lady on the other end seeing my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. But there's another reason I didn't need to worry about her seeing me: she was the recruiting receptionist at the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind and was herself blind. Founded by a blind Methodist reverend in 1940, the Lighthouse is a nonprofit organization which employs individuals who are blind and visually impaired. The Lighthouse manufactures belts and t-shirts for the military and also mass produces spiral bound notebooks and paper products. During the summer of 2015 I would be a sewing machine operator, sewing the shoulders onto t-shirts for use by the military. I would be making a difference in thousands of lives, just as the Lighthouse was making a difference in my own. I'd first learned about the Lighthouse at a conference in early April. My roommate and I were asked to speak about the importance of fitness in the blind community. The lady who spoke prior to us gave a brief overview of how she'd come to work at the Lighthouse. It was very inspiring. Both my roommate and I applied and were hired within weeks. According to National Industries for the Blind, seven out of ten working- age individuals who are blind are unemployed. The Lighthouse provides a beacon of hope to those who wish to enjoy the same prospects as their sighted counterparts. Employees begin working promptly at 6:30 a.m. The workday is a standard eight hours, with three breaks throughout the day for lunch and for workers to stretch their legs. While working, employees are allowed to listen to reading material or music if they wish, and the atmosphere is one of high energy and motivation. A forklift passes by periodically to deliver fresh material and supplies, beeping its horn intermittently to alert those who can't see it. My machine was a surger, or over lock machine. At full RPM, the surger was capable of sewing a stunning sixty-five hundred stitches a minute; it was the Gatling gun of sewing. My job was to sew the shoulder seams onto t-shirts. To do this, I had to become familiar with the shape of the t-shirts and the different materials from which they were made. I also had to be extremely precise. If I put the shirt into the machine incorrectly, the shoulders would turn out lopsided, and I'd have to send the poor piece to a fellow worker for a repair. A straight line of raised tape was set as a guide for me to sew against. As long as I kept the two corners of cloth together and against the guide, the seam stayed straight. My trainer also gave me stacks of dummy test shirts which were made of lower quality cloth that I could use to practice. "Remember, the machine's going to do what you do," my trainer Janice said, smiling after the umpteenth time I'd mangled a t-shirt beyond repair. "If you pull on the shirt, it's going to pull back. Talk to it if you need to." Janice was from a small town and had worked with her aunt in a factory sewing the inseams of blue jeans. Her aunt was visually impaired. I was pretty slow at first. Janice told me, "I didn't understand how my aunt could use the machine so well even though she didn't have sight. I decided to try sewing the way my aunt did, by touch. It was actually easier that way." During my training I learned how to sew in a quiet office, isolated from the manufacturing floor. This allowed me to concentrate and move at my own pace. At the end of the day Janice would tell me how many shirts I'd sewn correctly. If I'd made mistakes, she'd show me by touch how I could fix them. My third week was exciting because I got to leave the training room and work on the floor for the first time. The machine I worked with was much faster than the training machine. I couldn't get the hang of it, but within hours the operations manager, Curtis, arrived to fix the issue. Curtis had been training blind people in the use of sewing machines for over a decade. Before that he'd served four years in the air force. He'd learned his trade through hard knocks and had never been formally trained. Like Janice, he'd pulled himself through life's challenges by sheer determination. "My grandma always told me to keep myself humble, because there is always going to be someone out there who knows a little more than you, and then there may be times where you know more than the next guy. That's what makes us all unique." Curtis fixed my machine and gave me tips on how to keep the shirts against the guide, and within a week I'd more than doubled my numbers and was sewing eighty to one hundred shirts a day. Occasionally schools and perspective clients would take tours of the facility. Blindfolded, Janice would demonstrate how a blind person could use a sewing machine by touch. It was inspiring to know that my trainer could use the machine without sight, and I respected her for putting herself on an equal playing field with me by learning to operate the machine without using vision. Though I only worked at the Lighthouse for a summer, the experience I gained and the friends I made will remain with me for the rest of my life. I have now entered my final year of college as a music major, and the money I earned from my summer job has allowed me to pay the remaining amount for my violin. The Lighthouse is still searching for prospective employees. If you are interested, contact Toni Fraser by email at , or contact the Lighthouse by phone at (501) 562-2222. ---------- A Therapeutic Research Collaboration by Anil Lewis >From the Editor: Anil Lewis is the executive director of the Jernigan Institute, and one of his goals is to partner with others involved in research. The collaboration with the Therapeutic Research Foundation is one of many partnerships in which the NFB Jernigan Institute will be involved. Here is what Anil has to say: The National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute leads the quest to understand the real problems of blindness and to develop innovative education, technologies, products, and services that help the world's blind to achieve independence and live the lives they want. We capitalize on the collective life experiences of the blind in order to analyze, design, develop, and evaluate products, services, and systems that affect the lives of blind people. We seek to establish productive and mutually beneficial relationships with other researchers to leverage their expertise with our own. In one of our most recent collaborations, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has engaged in a partnership with the Therapeutic Research Foundation (TRF) to seek innovative and technologically driven solutions to improve the healthcare and mobility of the blind and visually impaired. TRF is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded to facilitate the research and development of cost-effective and innovative pharmaceutics, biotech devices, medical aids, and treatment options. Because of our shared interest in developing mobility and healthcare solutions for the blind and visually impaired, we helped TRF develop and launch an online survey of members of the blind and visually impaired community. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals (BI), a research-driven group of companies dedicated to the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of innovative healthcare products generously made a ten thousand dollar donation to support this effort. We received feedback from 377 participants. The survey focused on mobility and healthcare needs, with an emphasis on adoption and usage of current technology such as internet and mobile phones. TRF will be publishing their findings in an upcoming white paper, and we will provide a link once it is available. The following is a sample of some of the survey findings: Survey data related to access technology usage demonstrated that the most frequently used access software programs were JAWS, VoiceOver, Window- Eyes, and Kurzweil 1000. Even with knowledge of and use of access technology, 57 percent of those completing the survey expressed an inability to use important websites due to lack of accessibility. In addition, 52 percent expressed experiencing mobile phone apps not working as expected, which could be an expression of usability and/or accessibility issues. Of those individuals surveyed, 88 percent expressed having difficulty reading the medication label, with 84 percent of them using a magnifier and 51 percent using additional visual aids. Thirty-six percent of those surveyed indicated transportation is a significant barrier to receiving healthcare services. In addition, an inability to independently complete required paperwork and lack of empathy from professional medical staff was identified as major challenges they experienced when visiting a doctor's office. Along with the focus on medical concerns, the survey covered some basic issues of mobility, with these findings: long white cane, 93 percent; sighted guide, 78 percent; electronic device, 33 percent; and guide dog, 31 percent. After a preliminary analysis of the online survey findings, we helped TRF coordinate three separate telephone conference focus groups to probe deeper into the responses and to better help understand the unmet needs of the blind and visually impaired community. The conference calls, consisting of fifteen NFB members, were held on March 30, 2015. As a result of the focus groups, several innovative ideas emerged including a desire for certain accessible medical devices. We plan to work with TRF to refine the best ideas using our membership and specifically our Diabetes Action Network as a resource. Moreover, we will seek to build prototypes that result in advances in healthcare tools and mobility aids for blind and visually impaired consumers in the marketplace. The TRF bridges the gap between academia and industry, and with our continued collaboration the TRF hopes to forge an unprecedented effort to design, develop, and implement solutions to the unmet navigation and healthcare needs of the blind and visually impaired. For additional information about the Therapeutic Research Foundation and to donate to this cause, please go to . ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: John Jendrezak] Increasing the Investment in Accessibility: Nonvisual Access in Microsoft Products and Services by John Jendrezak >From the Editor: John Jendrezak is Partner Director of Program Management at Microsoft. Since the accessibility of products that run on the Windows Platform is crucial, we have worked extensively with Microsoft to press for measureable improvements, and this is the report Mr. Jendrezak provided to the convention: Thank you, Mark, for the intro; hopefully I can live up to the expectations of the group here. First of all, as many other people have done today, I really want to congratulate everybody on the seventy-fifth anniversary for the NFB. Your years of advocating are great, and we really appreciate everything that you do. On behalf of Microsoft employees who are here throughout the week, we are honored to have the opportunity to partner with you. We've had more employees at this convention than we've ever had before, so hopefully you've really felt our presence. We've appreciated the opportunity to listen, to connect, and to share ideas with you throughout the week. We're looking forward to taking your feedback back to our teams in Redmond. At Microsoft I'm an engineering manager on the Office development team. I'm here specifically to talk to you today about Office and the work we're doing to improve accessibility. I've worked on the Office team for over twenty years, but my personal involvement in accessibility began two years ago with the implementation of CVAA [Communications and Video Accessibility Act]. The work that you all have done to have CVAA passed has been great, and that involvement that I've had personally has really whet my appetite for accessibility, and my passion and involvement has been growing ever since. So thank you. We believe that the Office products are essential for you to be successful in your work and your personal lives. Communicating and collaborating with people, whether they're your coworkers, your friends, businesses or other institutions is part of what we all do on a regular basis. When we release products that aren't accessible, we make it difficult for you to succeed professionally and personally, and that's not acceptable. [Applause] I was recently reminded of this in a poignant way when I spoke with a woman at our ability conference this spring. She's blind, and she shared with me her personal story about how she had to drop a college course because she had to use Microsoft Project, and it wasn't accessible with her screenreader. That's just not acceptable. We do not think that our software should prohibit people from going to college [Applause]. So by getting involved and leaning in, I think we can make a big difference and a big change for the better. This is my first opportunity to attend the conference, and I'm very excited about it, but I can definitely say we've appreciated working with the NFB over the years. You've always provided us with very candid feedback, which is great-grateful for that. It's really really helped us out. So I wanted to spend a couple minutes and really share some of what we're doing today to improve accessibility of Office. On the desktop, our apps have had a long history of accessibility through the partnerships we've developed with the AT [assistive technology] community. The apps continue to lead the industry in terms of functionality and availability to our customers who are disabled, but, with that said, we have to continue to improve the experience. We've made some progress over the year; I'd like to share a little bit of that with everybody. Our core mission, really, is to deliver the best productivity experience to all of you across all of our products, across all of the devices that you use them on. We're clearly unique in that we bring productivity to you on any device you own, whether it's a Windows, a Mac, an Android, or an iOS device. We really want to respect your choice and deliver the best experience to you. We've been busy over the last two years building versions of Office that span multiple platforms with the goal of providing this productivity experience across all of our devices. We've made Office accessible for iOS by adding VoiceOver support across our core iPhone and iPad devices. The early feedback for that has been super positive. We want to keep hearing feedback for those applications so that we can drive further improvements to them. I'm sure many of you use iPads and iPhones, so hopefully you're able to use our products with them. We've also made Mac Office accessible for the first time. [Cheers] We released just yesterday Mac Office 2016, so if you have a Mac, I highly suggest you go download it, try it out, and give us feedback. Again, there's no doubt that the NFB gives us good feedback. I'll probably say that over and over and over again. It's awesome that we have such an active and passionate partner; you definitely keep us on our toes. One specific piece of feedback for the Office team over the last year is that we need to improve our keyboarding workflows in Office. Based on that, we've made improvements to our overall workflow so that our keyboard shortcuts are consistent across our desktop and our Office online products. We've taken it a step further; we've found ways to improve and speed up the overall keyboard interaction by simplifying the steps needed to get things done. We'll continue to work in this space over the coming year, so watch for more improvements. This year we also launched a third-party AT partnership program for desktop users and have since expanded it to all of our Office365 subscribers. AT providers provide an important part of the Office accessibility experience, and in 2013 we approached all of our partners to find ways to provide this experience in a more affordable way. After reaching out to our core partners in the screenreader market, we're proud to have partnered with GW Micro (now Ai Squared) to make Window-Eyes available to all of our customers free. [applause] Finally I want to highlight a new feature that we're shipping called Tell Me. Tell Me is a feature that helps our customers find and use Office features. It's a feature that's a great example of how we can design for accessibility and how we want to evolve our engineering culture to really weave accessibility into the fabric of our team. I'm sure you've all been in the situation where you're using a product, maybe Excel as an example, and in the back of your mind you're trying to remember how to do something, and you can't quite figure it out, and you don't know where that feature or that functionality is in the product. It's a problem for any user using our product: search through the ribbon, and the tabs, and figure out what's going on-and I can imagine that with a screenreader it's even a little bit more challenging. Tell Me helps avoid that frustration by allowing you to type what you want to do using your own words and phrasing into a simple search box. We then expose the best matches for what you're trying to do, and you can execute the features right there from that search in the product. [Applause] It's a great example, we think, of combining natural language input with machine learning to help really build the best experience for our customers to access the functionality of Office. Now, coincidentally, while managing that team that built that functionality, I was also responsible for the accessibility work that we were doing. We were going through our CVAA implementation at the time, and I was involved in an early demo of that Tell Me feature. Because of my newly-heightened awareness of accessibility, I just asked simple questions like: Can you hotkey into that feature? Is there anything we can do here to help people with disabilities? What happens if you turn a screenreader on when you're using the feature? And just from that kind of serendipitous involvement that I had with these two teams, it really helped us build a feature that we think is a great way to help our customers with blindness accomplish the tasks with less effort, while also keeping all of our users able to discover commands more readily. This is the type of universal design we really strive to deliver: functionality that helps everybody. This was also a great career-level lesson for me-it really was. The thing that I took away was that, in order to make material improvements, to find those serendipitous moments, to build Office for everyone, we really need to have local awareness of disability. This is similar to what Kannan talked about, I think, with Google as well. We at Microsoft need to increase the diversity within our engineering organization. This "Tell Me moment," as I call it, not only created a new capability for our customers, but really set our organization down a path to materially change the culture and composition of our team. Our CEO Satya Nadella has said, "The world is diverse. We will better serve everyone on the planet by representing everyone on the planet. We will be open to learning our own biases and changing our behaviors so we can tap into the collective power of everyone at Microsoft. We don't just value differences, we seek them out, we invite them in. And as a result, our ideas are better, our products are better, and our customers are better served." [Applause] It's really important that we encourage a culture that sees accessibility as an ongoing investment that results in better designs for all of our users right up- front, as opposed to relegating it to a task that we complete afterwards at the end of design and development. We've operated that way in the past, and it really is our goal to change that: to establish an engineering culture that's inquisitive about accessibility early on, and on-point to carry that through the end of development. So now with implementation of Tell Me, first in the Office online apps, and soon to be delivered in our Office 2016 applications, you can hotkey right into Tell Me, find what you want, and get your task done quickly. [Applause] I want to spend a minute talking about the things we want to do to change our culture. Again, it's eerily similar to what Kannan talked about, but one of the things we really want to do is change the culture in the Office organization because until you change the culture, you're not going to change the way they behave. I really believe that if we want to move the culture of our organization in a direction that thinks first about inclusive design, you have to start with the makeup of the engineers on your team. To that end, we're making intentional changes in our hiring practices. We're partnering with our corporate accessibility and human resources team to develop recruiting pipelines specifically for engineers with disabilities. [Applause] Our goal, and we have a number of active open positions today, is to hire a number of engineers with blindness, deafness, and learning disabilities into our engineering teams to help the culture that we strive for. Over the coming months we'll be hiring fully qualified engineers to come work on products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote-and I can say from my personal experience that when someone on your team has a disability, it really makes a big difference in how you think about your product and the features in your product overall. A few years ago we hired a program manager in our user experience team who has a severe hearing disability. After she was hired we watched her quickly become one of our rising stars, and we noticed direct influences on our team culture as communication improved significantly. She's able to provide a different perspective, and often provides insights and makes connections that other people on the team don't because of her personal experience. She has a great perspective on how to make our products more accessible, and we want more people like her in our organization. [Applause] On a related note, while she's not on the Office team specifically, and apparently she's on loan, we're excited to have one of your own, Anne Taylor, at Microsoft-I'm really looking forward to working with her. In addition to changing our perspective on how we're hiring engineers, we're also changing the way we think about our engineering process. When we began our efforts to build versions of Office for iOS, Android, and Windows 10, we quickly realized the software code written for apps was specific for each platform; our code wasn't able to run across platforms. Over the last couple of years we've worked hard to bring that together so that we can simultaneously release our products across multiple platforms. There's a bunch of engineers back in Washington that are patting themselves on the back for their increased efficiency, but that's not the important part here. The important thing for everyone here is that, by doing this work so that our features are built to be cross-platform for all devices roughly at the same time, it's now possible for us to make faster advances in our accessibility improvements. Because, as we make those changes to our common code base, they will accrue to all of our endpoints and will be able to release accessibility improvements at a much more rapid pace. We're also changing the cadence we work at Microsoft. We used to build Office on a three-year-long lifecycle, and if we delivered a product to market that didn't have the accessibility features you were looking for, it took three years for another one to come out. We're changing that, and we're releasing our product every month, so we'll be able to work regularly on accessibility. [Applause] And finally we're raising the visibility of accessibility at Microsoft. Within Office, we've made accessibility one of our core investments for the next wave of development. I personally oversee the effort, and I'll be working with our organizational leaders to improve the accessibility of our products and reinforce the culture of inclusive design that we strive for. To conclude, let me talk a little bit about what we have planned for the next year. Specifically, we're going to continue to provide Tell Me support for all Office applications across all platforms and all devices, making it easier than ever for everyone to harness the power of Office. We're going to make our Android and Windows 10 applications accessible. We'll continue to improve the accessibility of our desktop applications, insuring that with our partners we're delivering best-in-class accessibility. We'll monitor the feedback we're getting from iOS and Mac releases and continue to improve those products. We're going to further improve Office online reading and editing scenarios so that our web applications more closely match the desktop applications. We're going to continue to move to shared code so that we have more rapid and consistent accessibility features. Finally, we're going to be more engaged with this community. That increased involvement started here this week, and we want to continue it throughout the year. With that, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. ---------- Food for Thought about the BEPLT by Sheryl Bass, The Hadley School for the Blind >From the Editor: Nicky Gacos is the president of the National Association of Blind Merchants, and one of his goals is to create more opportunity for blind entrepreneurs through partnering. One partnership he has helped to establish is with The Hadley School for the Blind, and the result is a quality training program that will help to bring national training standards for blind merchants and assist those states that do not carry on active training programs. Here is what The Hadley School for the Blind has to say about this joint partnership: For those not in the know, the acronym sounds like a popular sandwich. However, for Louisville, Kentucky, resident George Bouquet, The Hadley School for the Blind's and the National Association of Blind Merchants' joint BEPLT program (Business Enterprise Program Licensee Training) is more like a dream come true. Hadley is the largest provider of distance education for people who are blind and visually impaired worldwide, and the BEPLT program is part of the school's Forsythe Center for Employment (FCE) and Entrepreneurship. Under the Randolph-Sheppard Act, legally blind adults are given first right of refusal on operating state and federal government vending facilities including cafeterias, snack bars, convenience stores, micro markets, and vending machines and rest stop vending areas nationwide. In February 2014 Hadley's FCE partnered with the National Association of Blind Merchants (NABM) and the National Federation of the Blind Entrepreneurs' Initiative (NFBEI) to bring the academic portion of training to would-be blind vendors. Individual state Business Enterprise Programs provide the hands-on component of the blind vendor training. Bouquet is Hadley's first graduate from the school's new BEPLT program. Born with both Pierre Robin Syndrome, which often results in a smaller-than-normal lower jaw, a cleft palate, a tongue that falls back in the throat, and difficulty breathing, as well as Stickler Syndrome, which causes hearing loss, eye abnormalities and joint problems, Bouquet has struggled with health issues throughout his fifty-four years. Although he was born without eye lenses, he was not born blind. Rather, his vision worsened over time. Bouquet had worked in several food service positions since high school and wanted to become a Randolph-Sheppard vendor even before he would have qualified as legally blind! There are only so many blind vendor licensee training slots available, and many more people compete for them than such programs can accommodate. The first time Bouquet applied to receive the training was in February 2014. Unfortunately he was not accepted into a program. However, he was fortunate to gain some blind vendor experience by working under friends who already held the license. In early 2015 Bouquet's counselor told him about another opportunity to apply for vendor training. This time he was accepted, and Bouquet began Hadley's BEPLT program in April 2015. Bouquet was so motivated to graduate from the program that he completed approximately two modules (one-lesson online courses) per week. Hadley's BEPLT students complete a ten-module program and then take their state's physical training component. After passing both elements, graduates are eligible to bid for the opportunity to become a blind vendor in their community. "The Hadley BEPLT program offers a lot of useful information. It will really help anyone wanting to undertake vending," he said. Bouquet then acknowledged that the material about food-borne illnesses helped him to realize the tremendous responsibility he would be accepting by running a government food service area. "As a manager you need to decide what you are willing to delegate to other people," he added. For Bouquet, becoming a blind vendor allows him to hire and train his twenty-five-year-old unemployed son, who inherited most of his visual and hearing problems. This training is Bouquet's first step toward creating a legacy of financial independence. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Alan Wizemann] Innovation and Accessibility: Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences at Target by Alan Wizemann >From the Editor: With players such as Google and Microsoft at the seventy- fifth convention, one would expect to hear exciting news about technology, but one of the most exciting presentations focusing on accessibility and technology came from a retailer. At one time we found it necessary to engage Target in the courts to get them to address accessibility, but today their efforts represent some of the most innovative and forward-looking efforts to be found in the country. Target has embraced accessibility as a critical customer service, and this is clear by their actions in hiring a quality team and the way that team is embraced by the corporate culture of Target. Here is what Alan Wizemann said to the convention on Friday, July 10: Thanks very much. That's great applause, and you don't even know what I'm going to talk about yet. I appreciate that. I have to say that I'm pretty honored to be up here: not only to be part of what we're trying to do at Target for accessibility, but to also be part of this panel and the speakers that are here today-I'm a technologist who works with a retailer, and to be on the same stage with Ray Kurzweil and politicians is pretty humbling, so thank you for the opportunity. But more than that, to see an organization like this that can crush world records and take down problems of companies the size of Apple is pretty impressive. Today, I'm really here to talk about how Target treats innovation and accessibility, and we're really about creating outstanding customer experiences. We refer to our users or anybody who interacts with our company as guests. You'll hear me use that phrase a lot in this. First, let me give you a sense of the size of Target: we're a $70 billion company, with 350,000 employees, powering 1,800 stores that service 30 million guests a week, just in the United States. Digitally, with Target.com and our mobile apps, we serve and handle over 2 billion user sessions a year. We have stores within three miles of 95 percent of the US population, and our brand promise, which hopefully you've heard before, is "Expect more. Pay less." Now when I found out that the slogan of the NFB was "Live the life you want," I immediately thought of our brand promise, "Expect more. Pay less." Especially the "expect more" part. It's my job to empower my teams to deliver on that promise and to make sure that we're building experiences that fulfill the needs and fuel the potential of our guests. That is our internal, foundational mission statement as a company. When I started doing research into this presentation, something really funny happened. When we build presentations internally, we actually deal with several different parts of our company. They asked to see a visual slide presentation-which told me that we have a lot to learn internally as a company about how to treat accessibility. What I also learned, though, is how many people can be affected. According to the research that I've done, and confirmed by the National Center for Health Statistics, 20.6 million adults in the United States have experienced vision loss or impairment. When we couple that with an aging population of baby boomers, there's actually a significant total addressable new market for us to lead in. It's a large opportunity for not only growth and revenue, but it's also just the right thing to do. Target prides itself on being an inclusive and diverse culture, and for us not to support an entire segment of the population just doesn't fit with our mission as a company. [Applause] But more importantly, we want to lead. We want to set the standard of what it truly means to be accessible. We don't feel it's right to change experiences or remove features for any guest, regardless of their abilities. Everyone should be able to experience Target the way we want them to be able to experience it: all the same. And to do that, we needed to hire accordingly. We've built a world-class accessibility team that deals with issues and opportunities of the population that we want as guests. Many of our accessibility team members are blind and use assistive technology on a day- to-day basis in their work. Some of the team are actually here today, and I'm not only proud of what they've helped us accomplish; I'm proud of their continued efforts to drive this exciting work across our company. I'm actually hoping-if you don't mind-that we can give them a round of applause. [Applause] They definitely deserve that and more. At Target one thing I've realized in the eighteen months I've been there is that we had to change the rules. When I started, accessibility was really viewed as compliant; it was a checkbox before we released something to our guests. Our engineers did not like handling it. It became a hurdle. What we needed was something that would be treated differently-a positive change. What we've done is just made it part of what we do. We've empowered teams to think of new ways to design, test, and build our products for all of our guests, rewarding teams that help us lead in this important guest segment. It has also become a really proactive use of resources within our company. Engineers are now actively building for accessibility and understanding its true value and that it is core to our guests' mission. The great news is that it's working. We're seeing significant accessibility work across all of our experiences. Recently our teams demonstrated some really neat changes to some of our Target.com activities properties such as selecting a store. What we didn't realize until we saw that through actual assistive technologies was that it was incredibly difficult. So they took it on their own to build new experiences with our accessibility team to make that easy. In the past three years we have decreased our accessibility issues by 400 percent. We are aiming for zero issues across all of our platforms. [Applause] To show a small example of this, I looked at the last test run that we did of our homepage. We compare these tests to several of our closest competitors. Target had six minor issues. Although we were going to address them, I wanted to see what our competitors had. Our closest one had 170. Now these results are from automated testing, and we use that as an indicator of our own success, but it's not the only indicator. We do heavy manual testing to represent what our guests' actual experiences are, and we train our internal and external partners to test with assistive technology across all of our guest experiences. Now our team has made this a priority, to not only inform, but instruct and maintain some of the highest standards of the industry. But we're also teaching these practices as we go. We think there is massive room for improvement, and we're constantly conducting user research and usability testing to incorporate the widest range of Target guests, including users of assistive technologies. Here's where we need your help. If anyone here is interested in performing usability research for Target or would like to give our accessibility team some feedback, feel free to reach us anytime at , or catch our team members here at the convention. You can help us reach our goal and show the industry why others should treat accessibility as a priority. Because as we compare ourselves with our competition, part of leading the industry, an important part, is to help others understand the unique challenges we faced, tools we used, and practices we have established to help the accessible community. We have already supported companies across several industries and even a few of our own competitors. With this work and the work across all of our teams, we're bringing accessibility to a national conversation. Every developer that works with us, every contractor we hire, learns about accessibility and our commitment. They take that knowledge with them, which means over time we will actually help shape an industry far beyond our own walls. [Applause] Our teams of engineers are excited. We're exploring the development of our own tools that we can opensource and release to the communities. But there's one very big number that I want you to take away from our presentation here, and that's 100 percent. Our goal at Target is for all our guests' experiences to be 100 percent accessible, regardless of device. That is the mandate I gave our teams and what we strive for every day. I'm also hopeful that this mission will start to spread, not only across our company, but into our stores to create exciting experiences for all our guests and jobs for the community. So here's what we're doing to make that happen: we've been developing an accessible, adaptive web platform. Currently if you're using Target.com on any device, you're actually using three different codebases. It makes changing our experiences incredibly difficult. It also makes testing, tracking, and fixing accessibility issues harder work than it needs to be. Later this year and early next year we'll be transferring all of our platforms that power our mobile, tablet, and desktop experiences to this new, single platform that adapts to the device you are using, making it easier to attain our accessibility goals [Applause]. We're not just stopping with the web. Our mobile applications are some of the most accessible in the industry, but we also want to do more. We want to make sure that we can leverage every tool at our disposal to bring our experiences to life, whether they're used outside-or more importantly-inside our stores. By combining different types of navigation using beacons, voice, and more, we are slowly unlocking more ways to experience Target. We just announced a new product called Target Run, which is available in fifty of our stores as a test, using location beacons and different navigation to guide someone through a store based on items in their shopping list and tell them where they are when they're there. [Applause] We also know we can't do it all, so we're partnering with new and innovative technologies that we find. We've recently partnered with a company called Conversant Labs, that's actually here today, on the launch of their new mobile application, Say Shopping, to leverage their capability with Target to deliver our entire assortment in a new and exciting way- through speech. This new conversational shopping technology will provide a quality accessible experience and also help identify new shopping capabilities to satisfy the needs of all our guests. And I am proud that they announced the launch of this application for this convention, and it's available right now on the app stores. [Applause] One of the most exciting things, however, about dealing with innovation and technology is the future of wearable devices. I personally think that wearable devices have the potential to be world-changing technologies for accessibility. If one of the most important parts about blindness is access to information, this has the potential to be one of the biggest advancements we've seen in a generation by giving us never-before- experienced levels of that information. We are currently testing multiple wearable platforms like the Apple Watch to see if we can unlock new features and capabilities across our digital portfolio that will allow our disabled guests to build lists, find products, and navigate our stores without any assistance. [Applause, cheers] Although widespread adoption of these technologies is probably a couple years away from being mainstream, we're investing the time now to make sure we're at the forefront of these potential use cases. If you've seen the news this week, we just launched our Open House, a place in San Francisco where people can actually experience what we call the connected home, which uses many different assistive devices across new and exciting innovation companies showing how you can use different technologies for sale at Target within your house. But being a retailer, our mission is just to get our guests what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. It's a remarkably easy statement, but an unbelievably complex set of processes, technologies, and partners are here to make that happen. We're experimenting with multiple fulfillment options to allow us to deliver on that promise, and accessibility is part of the decision criteria that we use to introduce, test, and ultimately deploy these to our guests. From curbside delivery, we are rapidly expanding to deliver on that promise. That brings me to my final point and the reason I'm here today, which is all about innovation. Innovation is key to driving change across our digital properties, our stores, and our company. We feel that there is a place for an innovative accessibility team to help identify, prototype, and deliver innovative ideas to help unlock this large and growing guest segment. From augmented reality through audio and touch technologies, to partnering on driverless cars and digital guides, we want to always be on the cutting edge to make sure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can experience Target. So expect more, a lot more. Thank you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Christopher Lu] Raising Expectations: A Commitment to Full Participation in the Twenty- First Century Workforce by Christopher Lu >From the Editor: Christopher Lu serves as the deputy secretary for the United States Department of Labor. He appeared on the 2015 convention agenda on Friday morning immediately following a presentation by a newly graduated high school senior, Angel Ayala which appeared in the October 2015 issue. Secretary Lu obviously was moved by those remarks and President Riccobono's pledge to Angel. Here is what the secretary said: Thank you so much, Mark, for that kind introduction. Mark, I want to thank you and this wonderful organization for your seventy-five years of advocacy. I was moved by your words about your having Angel's back, and let me say that we have the backs of everyone in this room, and we are proud of our partnership with the NFB. In the 2014 State of the Union, President Obama said, "The best measure of opportunity is access to a good job." The folks in this room know better than most people that people with disabilities want to work, can work, and deserve to work. They want the same things we all want: the feeling of pride and purpose that comes with waking up every morning, performing a job, earning a paycheck; the ability to make choices about the course of their lives, what they do, where they live; the ability to support families, raise children; the ability to enter the economic mainstream, and at bottom the ability to earn a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Now I use the word they, but it's really we; it's really us. People with disabilities are our friends, our colleagues, sisters and brothers. They are members of every part of our community, and, most importantly, they are young people like Angel: people that we work for every single day at the Department of Labor to ensure that they have a fair shot at opportunity in their future. So our goal in the Obama administration is really quite simple: we want to level the playing field and provide equal access to good, integrated, and competitive jobs for all people with disabilities. To do that we need to create inclusive and supportive workplaces where, as we say at DOL, people can bring their whole selves to work. This month marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I can't think of a better place to celebrate the anniversary than right here with all of you to celebrate your seventy-fifth anniversary. Like other civil rights legislation that came before it, the ADA renewed and advanced our nation's founding ideal of equality for all by prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all aspects of community life, including most especially, employment. The passage of the ADA and the progress that we have made over the past quarter-century would not have been possible without the vigorous advocacy of organizations like NFB. Yet in many ways employment is the unfinished business of the ADA. Simply put, the employment gap between Americans with and without a disability is unacceptable. Last week we released the job numbers for the month of June, and the unemployment rate among people with disabilities was 9.3 percent, which is down from 12.9 percent a year ago. Now before you start clapping, let me say that while the downward trend is positive, it's less positive when you compare it to the unemployment rate of 5.3 percent for people without a disability. More concerning is the labor force participation rate among people with a disability. It's only 20 percent, and compare that to the almost 70 percent labor force participation of people without a disability. We know at the Department of Labor that the groundwork that the ADA laid is not finished, that there remains more work to be done in order to create a more perfect society. That is why my boss, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez, and I often refer to the Department of Labor as the Department of Opportunity. We work hard to provide opportunities to Americans to contribute fully to our nation's workforce because we believe that America does best when we field a full team, and we can't afford to leave anyone on the sidelines. Especially in 2015, when we have such an array of fantastic technological advancements, we can no longer say that someone can't do what they need to do in the workplace. As an example, I know of a young woman named Helen Chang. Helen is a web developer with a multinational technology services corporation, and she spends the majority of her time writing code for computer applications. Her employer is a federal contractor, and she works with the company's defense division, which services the US Department of Defense-pretty important stuff. It doesn't matter that Helen is blind because she can do this important work thanks to cutting-edge accessible technology, which is one of the great equalizers in today's world of employment. When other young people with visual impairments ask Helen for advice on pursuing a high-tech career, she tells them to be open to learning new technologies and software-anything that will be helpful to you in order to be successful in your job. So our mission at the Department of Labor is to help people like Helen bring their whole selves to work. Let me spend a few minutes telling you how we're doing that. First, we are working hard on the implementation of the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or WIOA. This landmark bipartisan legislation is the first update to the nation's workforce development system in over fifteen years, and it amends and reauthorizes crucial programs to help jobseekers access the services they need in employment and match employers with skilled workers. In addition to prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in services and programs, WIOA includes a specific focus on increasing competitive, integrated employment opportunity for people with disabilities, including the most significant disabilities. To that end WIOA established a committee to make recommendations to the secretary of labor and Congress on how best to accomplish this goal. This advisory committee is already hard at work, having met three times since January, and we look forward to receiving the recommendations of this advisory committee about how to move forward. Just this week we also released a guide for all 2,500 American Job Centers around the country on how to better support persons with disabilities in helping them prepare for and find work. If any of you are looking for a job or know someone who is looking for a job, I hope you will consider our American Job Network first. We are in almost every community in the country, and the people who staff these centers are experts. In the Department of Labor we also have a civil rights agency called the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, or OFCCP, that is tasked with protecting workers, promoting diversity, and enforcing laws to prohibit discrimination and take affirmative action. Last year we demonstrated that commitment to increasing access when we implemented long-overdue updates to regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. As you may know, Section 503 establishes an aspirational 7 percent utilization goal for the employment of qualified individuals with disabilities. This law encourages federal contractors to proactively recruit and retain qualified people with disabilities. The basis for 503 is quite simple: contracting with the federal government is not a right; it is a privilege, and that privilege should only be extended to companies who try to make the workforce reflect the diversity of our country, and that includes hiring and retaining people with disabilities. While the ADA leveled the playing field for people with disabilities in many ways, we all know that there is much work that remains. One of those areas is accessible technology. I know this particular issue is near and dear to people in this room, and I certainly don't need to tell you of the barriers that inaccessible technology poses to people in the workplace. That's why yesterday-just yesterday-I visited a company in the suburban Virginia area just outside Washington, DC. The company is called SSB BART, and I had the opportunity to spend an hour with an extraordinary technology expert named Sam Joel. Sam is blind, yet he provides critical assistance to government agencies and major corporations around the country about how they can make their websites more accessible to the visually impaired. Sam did this wonderful demonstration-and I've got to tell you, I'm not a tech person-I was completely blown away by what Sam showed me. He took a website- and I'll be honest; he had a website already ready, but I said to him, "Take the United States Department of Labor website. I want you to scan our website and see how we're doing." So he scans the digital content of any website-it happens in like twenty or thirty seconds-and he can instantly look at where the flaws are in the website. He and his company make recommendations to the clients about what ought to be adjusted, and they make those adjustments. In just that one hour I spent with Sam, I was inspired by the tenacity and dedication that he brought to his job. The work that he is doing is cutting- edge-it's cutting-edge in any industry, and the fact that he is visually impaired is immaterial. The work that he is doing is transformative for all people. We at the department want to do more to support what Sam and his colleagues at SSB BART are doing. That's why we've created a new effort called the Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology. We call it PEAT. This is a multifaceted initiative to advance the employment, retention, and career advancement of people with disabilities through accessible technology. I want everyone in this room to consider yourself in the PEAT effort, because at the core of PEAT is a commitment to dialogue, collaboration, and action. You can access PEAT online at , and we've created a user-friendly web portal that will make it easy for you to learn about and actively engage in issues related to accessible technology in employment. There are educational articles, webinars, interactive online tools-resources that are intended to provide incentives to businesses to create more inclusive IT practices. We at the Department of Labor are your partners. We want to be close partners with all of you because, while we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ADA, we know that there is much more work to be done. We know that the promise of the ADA has yet to be fulfilled, and we believe at its core what this is about is increasing opportunity for all people. This really is about the American dream. I am the child of immigrants; my parents came to this country seeking a better life. They came to this country because of the enduring value of the American dream: the very simple idea that, if you are willing to work hard, you can get ahead. Unfortunately our neighbors, our friends, our family members with disabilities want to work hard and aren't given the chance to do so. That's why I am motivated; that's why my boss, Secretary Tom Perez, is motivated each morning to get up and work for people like you in this room. Twenty-five years ago when President Bush signed the ADA on the South Lawn of the White House, he did so a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and he said this at the signing ceremony: "And now I sign legislation which takes a sledgehammer to another wall, one which has for too many generations separated Americans with disabilities from the freedom they could glimpse but not grasp. Once again, we rejoice as this barrier falls for claiming together we will not accept, we will not excuse, we will not tolerate discrimination in America." Thank you to all of you at NFB for being our partners to create a more perfect union. It is truly an honor to be here with you today. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes come from the members of the NFB of Washington. Oven Baked Fajita by Debby Phillips Debby is the state affiliate's secretary, is an active leader in her church, and sings in the church choir. Ingredients: 1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into strips 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Ro*Tel) 1 medium onion, sliced 1/2 green bell pepper cut into strips 1/2 medium red bell pepper cut into strips Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13- by-9-inch baking dish. In a small bowl combine oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt. Drizzle spice mixture over chicken and stir to coat. Next add tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine. Bake uncovered twenty to twenty-five minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. ---------- Blue Cheese Dressing by the Mackenstadt Family Gary and Denise are longtime Federationists and strong leaders both in the state of Washington and nationally. Ingredients: 1 serving spoonful plain Greek yogurt 2 1/2 serving spoon scoops real mayonnaise 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 6 ounces blue cheese crumbles 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon ground mustard Coarse ground pepper to taste 1 teaspoon garlic powder Pinch of sugar Method: Mash blue cheese crumbles. Mix with yogurt to consistency of cottage cheese. Mix all wet ingredients, blend well. Add dry ingredients, stir, and add pepper to taste. Refrigerate in a jar or similar container. Let sit overnight before using. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Denise Mackenstadt] Meat Roll by Denise Mackenstadt Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs 2 teaspoons barbecue sauce 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt Filling: 1 cup shredded sharp cheese 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup chopped green pepper 2 tablespoons water 1 small onion finely chopped Method: Combine beef, bread crumbs, barbecue sauce, egg, and salt, mix well. Line 9-by-13-inch pan with heavy foil. Put meat mixture in pan, spread evenly and pat down firmly. Combine filling ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle over meat mixture. Pat down firmly, keeping about one inch from edge of meat. Roll as jelly roll. Chill overnight. Cut into six even pieces. Place in shallow pan cut side down. Bake about thirty-five minutes at 350 degrees. This recipe freezes well. ---------- Cowgirl Cookies Gift In a Jar by Amanda Mackenstadt Amanda is the daughter of Gary and Denise Mackenstadt. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup cooking oats 3/4 cup M&M's 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup chopped pecans Method: Start with a one-quart smooth ball jar. (I found these at Hobby Lobby craft store.) Layer ingredients in like this: first layer-flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; second layer-oats; third layer-M&M's; fourth layer-chocolate chips; fifth layer-brown sugar; sixth layer-white sugar; seventh layer-chopped pecans. Pack each level down really tightly. I mean it. Pack it in or it won't all fit. Also, I add the chopped pecans last because if the ingredients were too much or not enough then I could add more or less pecans to adjust. I would rather sacrifice nuts than chocolate, you know. The ingredients should be flush to the top of the lid when you seal it up. Attach tag with directions for preparing cookies, and you have a lovely gift. Tag Directions: Ingredients: 1 egg, slightly beaten 1/2 cup butter, melted slightly in microwave 1 teaspoon vanilla Method: Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated. Roll the cookie dough into 1-1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Bake about ten minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about twenty-six to twenty-eight cookies out of these. ---------- Caramel Apple Salad by Betty Watson Betty Watson is the Clark County Chapter president and a member of the state board. She has lived in several states over the years and attended her first national convention in 1965. Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese 8 ounces sour cream 16 ounces whipped topping 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 8 to 12 apples 2 to 3 cups seedless grapes Lemon juice Raisins and pecans optional Method: Combine sour cream and cream cheese. Dice apples to desired size and sprinkle with a little lemon juice. Cut grapes in half. Mix brown sugar with cream cheese and sour cream. Add apples, grapes and optional ingredients to mixture. Finally fold whipped topping into apple mixture. Chill and serve. ---------- Easy Crockpot Cream of Crab Soup by Betty Watson Ingredients: 3 cans condensed cream of potato soup 2 cans condensed cream of celery soup 4 large cans evaporated milk 1 stick butter 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed 1 pound crab meat with shell bits removed, or 2 8-ounce cans crabmeat Old Bay Seasoning to taste Method: Combine all ingredients except Velveeta, crabmeat, and Old Bay Seasoning in crockpot, heat on low until hot (about one hour). Add cubed Velveeta, crabmeat, and Old Bay seasoning to taste. Heat on low until Velveeta has melted (about one half hour). Serve and enjoy. ---------- Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle by Betty Watson Ingredients: 1 package yellow cake mix 6 cups cold milk 2 packages instant vanilla pudding 1 teaspoon apple pie spice 1 12.25-ounce jar caramel ice cream topping 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted 2 21-ounce cans apple pie filling 2 16-ounce containers frozen whipped topping, thawed Method: Prepare and bake cake according to package directions using two greased round nine-inch baking pans. Cool ten minutes before removing from pans, and then cool cakes completely on wire rack. In large bowl whisk milk, pudding mixes, and apple pie spice two minutes. Let stand two minutes or until soft set. Cut cake layers if necessary to fit evenly in an eight- quart punch bowl. Place one layer in punch bowl and poke holes in cake with a long wooden skewer. Gradually pour one-third of the caramel topping over cake. Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans and spread with half of pudding mixture. Spoon one can pie filling over pudding. Spread with one container of whipped topping. Top with remaining cake layer and repeat caramel, pecans, pudding, pie filling, and whipped topping layers. Drizzle with remaining caramel topping and sprinkle with remaining pecans. Chill to set. Store in refrigerator. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Travel & Tourism Division Annual Trip Fundraiser: New York State Experience: The National Federation of the Blind Travel & Tourism Division is organizing a fundraiser trip called "The New York State Experience." This trip is open not only to Federation members, but also to the general public to try and make this the biggest and best trip it can be. The trip will take place September 21 to 26, 2016. On this trip we'll visit the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and New York City. There will be a number of tours of the city and options for those who are interested in seeing a Broadway show or other extra experiences. We will also be visiting other parts of New York State, as well. Hyde Park, New York, is the home of the Roosevelt Museum, Eleanor Roosevelt's Cottage, and the Culinary Institute of America. We will have a dinner at the Culinary Institute as a part of the tour package, and the dinner is included in the price of the trip. From there we will head over to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and Wax Museum, because who doesn't like baseball? There will also be a brief side trip to one of the best apple cider mills in the area to have lunch. After that, it's back to New York City for more touring, especially optional activities you might have decided to try, as well as a good-bye dinner. Pricing is based on double occupancy at $1,290 per person. A deposit of $300 per person is due no later than December 15, 2015. For full details of the trip, check out our website at . In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. [PHOTO CAPTION: EZ2 See Weekly Planner] Announcing a New Low Vision Weekly Planner: If you are seeking a print calendar designed for people with low vision, you should know about this new product. The EZ2 See Weekly Planner has just entered the market. The 8-1/2-by-11-inch spiral bound product was brought to the market by NFB-member Edward Cohen. You may have met him at convention when he was an active member and lived in Indianapolis. He designed this calendar when he could not find a weekly planner that met his late-stage RP vision needs. His calendar is nothing like you've ever seen. The all black and white calendar features a clean and open design with maximum spaces for each day's schedule. Calendar fonts range from forty to fifty-five point. The monthly pages include large-print holidays with room for your own reminders. Tired of writing off the edge of the page? Well it will be hard to do with the EZ2 See calendar. Each weekly page has a dark border or as Edward calls them, "pen bumpers." Check it out at the NFB Independence Market: . ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Thu Dec 31 14:42:19 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:42:19 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, December 2015 Message-ID: <201512312242.tBVMgJbx010500@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 58, No. 11 December 2015 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2015 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. Vol. 58, No. 11 December 2015 Contents Illustration: Opening Museums to the Blind Convention Bulletin 2016 Building from the Outside In by Barbara Pierce A Cry for Unity in Creating Textbooks for the Blind by Carlton Anne Cook Walker Protecting the Bonds of Love: Progress in Defending Our Right to Parent by Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act by Gabe Cazares The Rights of Guide Dog Owners in British Columbia under Attack by Mary Ellen Gabias Longtime NFB Member Gives Leadership Service in Her Religious Congregation by Gary Wunder And the Winner is . . . ? by Andrea Jenkins On Structured Discovery by Jeffrey T. Altman Bringing Hope to Hope by Rick Reed Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Facts for 2016 by Parnell Diggs The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards by James Gashel My Adventurous Commute to Work by Syed Yousufuddin The 2016 Blind Educator of the Year Award by Edward Bell Ladder Desk-A Creation Story by Joe Schissler The 2016 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award by Carla McQuillan Recipes .............................................................................. ............................. Monitor Miniatures .............................................................................. ............... [PHOTO CAPTION: Jamison Hunter balances a small plush panda on tower of eight notecards as Kristie Hong watches in fear of tower collapse.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Kaylee Nielson, Kay Mayle, and Adia Berry perform a skit about leadership.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Julia Gebert examines a 3-D model of a cell molecule.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Salvador Villa and Ashley Lowman examine a click-ruler] Opening Museums to the Blind The National Federation of the Blind, in partnership with museums and science centers, continues to facilitate regional science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. NFB STEM2U is an extension of the NFB's National Center for Blind Youth in Science initiative in local communities. This program expands on the exciting and innovative work conducted by the National Federation of the Blind in the area of informal STEM education through previous National Center for Blind Youth in Science programs such as the NFB Youth Slam, NFB Project Innovation, and NFB STEM- X. NFB STEM2U participants will have the opportunity to engage in accessible STEM learning at some of the country's largest museums and science centers. Students will also have the opportunity to provide feedback to staff and educators about how the museum could better meet their nonvisual learning needs. In this way, participants will act as both learners and teachers. In the NFB STEM2U learning community, there is an understanding that no one person has all of the answers, but together we can overcome any barrier that we may encounter. [PHOTO CAPTION: Rosen Shingle Creek Resort] Convention Bulletin 2016 Rosen Shingle Creek Resort It is time to begin planning for the 2016 convention of the National Federation of the Blind. We will again meet in Orlando, this year returning to the beautiful Rosen Shingle Creek Resort where our national convention was held in 2011. The dates for the 2016 convention are June 30 through July 5. Our hotel rates are enviably competitive for a resort hotel such as Shingle Creek. For the 2016 convention they are singles and doubles, $83; and for triples and quads, $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 12.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. Please note that the hotel is a no-smoking facility. For 2016 convention room reservations you can call the hotel at (866) 996-6338 after January 1. You may also write directly to the Rosen Shingle Creek, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819-9357. The hotel will want a deposit of $95 for each room and will want a credit card number or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately, just as would be the case with a $95 check. If a reservation is cancelled before Friday, May 27, 2016, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made. All Rosen Shingle Creek guestrooms feature amenities that include plush Creek Sleeper beds, 40" flat screen TVs, complimentary high-speed internet capabilities, in-room safes, coffee makers, mini-fridges, and hair dryers. Guests can enjoy four outdoor swimming pools, a full-service spa, and fifteen dining/lounging options from fine-dining and elaborate buffets to casual dining both indoors and poolside. The 2016 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be a truly exciting and memorable event, with an unparalleled program and rededication to the goals and work of our movement. Make plans now to be a part of it. Preconvention seminars for parents of blind children and other groups and set-up of the exhibit hall will take place on Thursday, June 30, and adjournment will be Tuesday, July 5, following the banquet. Convention registration and registration packet pick-up for those who preregistered will begin on Friday, July 1, and both Friday and Saturday will be filled with meetings of divisions and committees, including the Saturday morning annual meeting, open to all, of the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind. General convention sessions will begin on Sunday, July 3, and continue through the banquet on Tuesday, July 5. To assure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, you must make reservations early. The hotel will be ready to take your call or deal with your written request by January 1. Remember that as usual we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals. Once again prizes should be small in size but large in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. As a general rule we ask that prizes of all kinds have a value of at least $25 and not include alcohol. Drawings will occur steadily throughout the convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet. You may bring door prizes with you or send them ahead of time (identifying the item and donor and listing the value in print and Braille) to Sherri Brun, 1719 Baldwin Drive, Orlando, Florida 32806; phone (407) 898-6024. The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology; meetings of our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; the most stimulating and provocative program items of any meeting of the blind in the world; the chance to renew friendships in our Federation family; and the unparalleled opportunity to be where the real action is and where decisions are being made-all of these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2016 national convention. We'll see you in Orlando in July. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Barbara Pierce] Building from the Outside In by Barbara Pierce From the Editor: Barbara Pierce is a person who needs no introduction to readers of the Braille Monitor. Even so, I owe her so much for teaching me some of the rules of grammar I understand that I dare not short her an introduction. Barbara is the mother of three, who lives with her husband Bob in Oberlin, Ohio. She is an accomplished woman who worked for Oberlin College and later as the longest-serving editor of the Braille Monitor, the flagship publication of the National Federation of the Blind and the largest circulation magazine in the field of blindness. Barbara did not begin with good techniques or role models who could help her learn about blindness, but she took good advice where she found it, learned to work hard and make the most of what she had, and was receptive enough to take in outside information that would eventually lead to the confident, committed, and philosophically sound woman who has guided many blind people to lives of progress and independence. Here is her story: I was twenty-nine before I learned anything about the National Federation of the Blind. But when I began reading Kenneth Jernigan's speeches, I felt that I had come home. I knew immediately that I was where I belonged, fighting for the rights of my brothers and sisters and reconsidering the limitations that I had set for myself. I had been legally blind all of my life, though I had been gradually losing sight through my childhood. My parents made the mistake that many parents of blind children make. When I entered school, I could read the print in the first-grade primer. I read with one eye and needed bright light to decode the words one at a time. But because I could make out the text, they rejected the idea of sending me to the school for the blind across town. They preferred to work with me at home while sending me to my neighborhood school. I struggled with that print. As the years went by, the print got smaller, the pictures were fewer, and the other students got the hang of reading better. All these things resulted in my losing ground as a reader. I thought I was getting dumber. It never occurred to me that I was losing vision and working at a greater and greater disadvantage. I was fitted with an expensive lens for my good eye, and that certainly made it possible for me to read for a year or so longer. But gradually my teachers and I worked out a series of accommodations that allowed me to avoid reading. They recognized, though I did not, that I was bright and that it was unfair to hold me back at my reading level. My parents gradually assumed the responsibility of reading my history, geography, and science assignments to me. They wrote down the answers to my arithmetic work, which I did in my head. In reading class I was paired with a bright child, who would read the assignment and then write down my answers after she had finished writing her own. Working with me became a reward to other smart kids. It was a crazy way to acquire an education, but it seemed to work. My parents were adamant that I would do all the work that other students did, and they made sure that my teachers kept me honest. But there was never any talk of teaching me Braille or expecting me to do the reading assignments myself. This was before the days of recorded textbooks or cassette players to record answers. I deeply regret the decision to avoid Braille, but I count myself lucky that we were not tempted to cut corners on homework or group assignments. My friends and I worked out ways in which I could carry my share of the responsibility. I was not much good at art work or coloring in figures on murals, but I could do research and come up with ideas of what to draw. In elementary school I did not realize that I was smart. I got C's and, in one grim reporting period, a D. That was in penmanship. The C's were in art and gym. These teachers had no idea what to do with me, and they certainly got no help from school or rehabilitation officials, so they graded me according to what they expected of all their students. Seventh grade was an awakening for me. Penmanship dropped out of the curriculum. The art teacher liked me and concentrated on finding projects that I could actually do. The gym teacher worked to involve me in the activities, and I think she was pressured into giving me good grades for trying. In any case, I opened my first report card that fall to discover that I had straight A's. I was stunned. My parents paid a teacher that year to teach me to type. The summer after seventh grade I traveled downtown to learn Braille, and I mastered almost the entire code before school began in the fall. This turned out to be another missed opportunity. I was told to read a lot of Braille, and my father even bought me a subscription to the Reader's Digest in order to provide me with interesting material to read in Braille. But I didn't really understand the importance of practicing. I knew only that my Braille teacher was not a rapid Braille reader. She told me that her husband was really fast, but I don't think I believed her. I did not understand that it takes time to sharpen the sensitivity of one's fingertips and that, if I would just practice, I could read Braille as rapidly as my friends were reading print. I was given heavy oak tag [oak tag is the type of paper used to make file folders, also commonly called manila tag] as Braille paper and told to use a slate and stylus to take notes in school. This was exhausting to use even after I had formed calluses. The result was that I used Braille enough to keep the code fresh in my mind, but not enough to become proficient. My junior year I finished learning the Braille code. My senior year I took physics. The school system went to great expense to have my physics textbook transcribed into Braille for me. No one considered that the Nemeth Braille code used for writing mathematical equations was completely foreign to me and therefore unintelligible and that physics was not designed to inspire me to keep reading Braille. It would take me ten to fifteen minutes to read a Braille page, and reading assignments were twenty to thirty pages long. It is not surprising that I found it easier to have my parents, my brother, or my boyfriend read the text to me. That was also the year that I had sixteen lessons in how to use the long white cane. By this time my vision was poor enough that I really could not travel independently. I had been depending on friends to help me find my classrooms for several years. I was excited at the prospect of independent travel. The problem was that the lessons were postponed because the cane that was made for me to use was given to a blind professional in the city who needed it to travel in his job. I understood about this delay, but I have always wondered how I would have felt about those cane lessons if they had begun when I was excited about them. While I was waiting for them to begin, I became aware that my mother was deeply distressed about the prospect of having me wandering around the community using a white cane. It was a combination of worry about my safety and embarrassment at having me identified as blind. I know now that, to be successful at mastering the white cane, one must use it all day, every day for months. Ideally the teacher should be a person who has great confidence in the efficacy of this mode of travel. The state gave me two two-hour lessons a week for eight weeks. I arrived home after each lesson to find my mother in bed with a sick headache because of her fear for my safety. I got very good at hiding my cane and smuggling it out of the house when I had to take it to school. It never occurred to me to use the cane any time but during my lesson. It was remarkable that I did as well as I did with the cane. I was looking at colleges during this time, and I had fallen in love with Oberlin College in northeast Ohio. I was accepted early decision, so I knew halfway through my senior year where I would be going to school. How I would do the work and get around the campus was not anything that I remember worrying about. That summer the state of Pennsylvania arranged for me to talk with a blind counselor who worked for the rehabilitation agency to ask him any questions that I had about college. I remember only one question and answer. I asked him what his advice was about using the long white cane. My cane was made of aluminum. It had a crook covered with leather at the top, and it came to my diaphragm. I hated that cane. I felt that people were staring at me when I used it, and I was not confident with it. Unfortunately he had a definite opinion, and it was about the worst advice I could have received. He recommended that I ditch that long cane and replace it with a folding cane, which did not need to be anywhere near that long. A folding cane, he assured me, need come only to my waist. That advice made no sense. If you need length to know what is in front of you when you are using a long white cane, you need it to provide the same information when you are using a folding cane. I did not stop to consider this obviously fallacious reasoning. He was telling me what I wanted to hear: you can fold up your blindness and put it away the minute you find a sighted person to hang on to. I was delighted. I don't think I even took my long cane to college with me. I got a short folding cane, and I considered that I was good to go. I went to college in the middle of September. I had been assigned a single room because, they explained to me, they did not want me to become dependent on a roommate. I was very disappointed at this news, but I am sure that they were absolutely right. We arrived on a sunny day, and I unpacked and became acquainted with the women in my section and my junior residents. My father described the streets around my dorm, and then it was time for my parents to leave. I was alone. I knew no one on campus. I did not know much about the geography of the college, and I had done my academic work depending on my parents, who were on their way home. I sat down in a panic. I decided that the only way I could survive was to pretend that I knew what I was doing. I would have to be honest about what I needed in the way of information, and I would have to pretend that I was completely comfortable talking about my blindness. One of my junior residents worked with me to learn the geography of the campus. I began recruiting readers for my various courses. I decided that I could not cope with the heavy Braille paper. Instead I would get the same spiral notebooks that everyone else used and write Braille notes in those. This meant that the Braille was easily squashed. I knew that my Braille was inaccurate enough that I had to come back from lectures and transcribe my notes onto open-reel tape so that I would have an audible record of my notes. This had the added benefit of making me review the notes while they were fresh in my mind and while I could straighten out any confusion that I had been left with in class. These notes became a hot item in my dorm after people noticed that I was making A's on my exams. They would borrow my notes after I went to bed the night before the test. That first semester was not easy. It was exhausting to pretend all day every day that I was happy and in control of my life and work. I made some wonderful friends who went out of their way to assist me and help me learn my way around campus. One of them even taught me how to knit, which was a wonderful outlet. I felt like a hypocrite much of the time. But gradually I discovered that I was crying less, that I was managing to supervise my reader pool efficiently, and that I was picking up my short cane and getting myself independently to class and meetings of the organizations I had joined. I was not at ease traveling, and I certainly was not a fast Braille reader or writer, but I made those tools work. I was not a well-adjusted blind person, but I was successfully pretending to be one. It was not a great solution, but it worked well enough to get me through. I completed college and married one of my professors. We settled in Oberlin, where we have lived for the past forty-seven years. When I was a young wife and mother, I found that my old trick of building from the outside in still worked. I could still not read Braille well, but I had Braille recipes and cookbooks. I was not a comfortable traveler, but I could use a cane well enough to get my children and me to piano lessons, the dentist, and the doctor. That was my attitude and outlook at the time when I found the Federation. The NFB finished the job of making me a complete person. I met people who could read Braille flawlessly and rapidly. They traveled where and when they wanted to and didn't think anything of it. I suddenly understood that confidence was all that I had been lacking. By the grace of God I had obtained the skills that I needed to live a full and satisfying life, though my cane needed to grow, and I needed to learn to trust it and the information it gave me. I have discovered like thousands before me that you must acquire the skills to give you competence, and you must learn to claim your freedom even when you are unsure of yourself if you are to become confident. It is all well and good to build from the ground up if you have the support and expertise to do so, but it also works to build from the outside in, as if you were pouring concrete. When you take the form away, you are left with a strong and solid creation. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carlton Anne Cook Walker] A Cry for Unity in Creating Textbooks for the Blind by Carlton Anne Cook Walker From the Editor: Carlton Anne Cook Walker is the manager of Braille education programs at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. In this capacity she writes to express the concern of the National Federation of the Blind about the lack of standardization in the states in mathematics textbooks. Here is how she recounts the issue of the Unified English Braille Code and the Nemeth Code: As you may know, Unified English Braille (UEB) is set to replace the current literary Braille code (EBAE-English Braille, American Edition) on January 4, 2016. The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) resolved to take this action but to retain Nemeth Code for all Mathematics and Science- related texts. BANA has not wavered from this position, as evidenced by its publications on this matter in 2012, 2013, and 2014. This course of action was most recently approved by the National Federation of the Blind in Resolution 2015-29. The American Council of the Blind also passed a resolution in 2012 supporting UEB only if Nemeth Code is retained. As the January 4, 2016, deadline approaches, the change from EBAE to UEB Braille in the literary context has proceeded rather smoothly. While some have expressed regret at one or more of the nine contractions eliminated in UEB, the transition to UEB for literary documents is a relatively minor one. Many believed that updating Nemeth Code to include UEB rather than EBAE for its literary content would present the same orderly and nationally-cohesive transition. Unfortunately, this was not to be so. At some point in the process, a few individuals began advocating for the complete abandonment of Nemeth Code in favor of "UEB Maths" contrary to the wishes of both blind consumer groups in this country and counter to the unwavering guidance from BANA. By way of background, "UEB Maths" is a term (used in "All UEB" countries, by the way) which refers to the numbers and mathematical operations included in UEB. Please note that UEB Maths uses raised (literary) numbers only. This use of numbers in the upper portion of the Braille cell creates the need for numerous and duplicative number indicators and letter indicators in many mathematical equations. Unfortunately, some states have taken the position of the "All UEB" abandonment of Nemeth Code splinter group under advisement-despite clear opposition to such a plan by the NFB and the ACB and despite BANA's position on this matter. In response to the movement to remove Nemeth Code and use only UEB for all literary, mathematical, and science purposes, the NFB membership adopted Resolution Number 2015-29 at the 2015 NFB Annual Convention in Florida. This Resolution (1) urges state departments of education across the United States to follow the BANA guidelines regarding the use of Nemeth Code for mathematical documents and (2) urges BANA to clarify that, "Braille code standards are not set by individual states," and, "to indicate unequivocally that the Nemeth Code, with the guidance for Nemeth in UEB contexts, is the standard for mathematics Braille in the United States." I urge you to again review Resolution 2015-29, for it sets forth the issue of concern in a clear, logical, and concise manner. On August 24, 2015, NFB President Mark Riccobono sent a letter to each department of education in every state. In his letter, President Riccobono sets forth the issues involved with this matter and provides guidance to the educational professionals, "The differences between the presentation of mathematics in Nemeth Code and math using UEB symbols are so fundamental that a blind child moving to a state with a different math standard could find his or her math books and tests inaccessible even though they are in Braille." President Riccobono urges each state's department of education, "to eliminate needless confusion and unnecessary cost by using the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, with BANA's guidance for Nemeth in UEB contexts, as the standard for math Braille." A companion article, "Talking Points," sets forth a brief history leading up to the current situation. "Talking Points" contains links to the referenced files. A May 2006 Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness (JVIB) article, "Studies of Braille Reading Rates and Implications for the Unified English Braille Code" reports, "the mathematical computational format, algebra, and calculus were 21 percent to 54 percent longer in UEBC, linear arithmetic was only 1 percent longer, and computer code samples were 1 percent longer to 4.5 percent shorter." As noted in the article, this significant increase in the length of equations in the higher-level math areas of mathematical computational equations, algebra, and calculus cause grave concern about the potential negative impact upon Braille readers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. "Nemeth Code's use of lower cell numbers allows the upper part of the Braille cell to be used for mathematical functions, critical to the overall successful use of the code for mathematics," observed Dr. Cary Supalo in a presentation at the Spring Meeting of BANA on April 28, 2012. "UEB versus Nemeth States" lists the public positions taken by various states with regard to plans regarding the implementation of UEB and how it impacts Nemeth Code. At this point, fourteen states (California, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) have indicated that they will follow BANA's guidance to retain Nemeth Code. Two states (North Carolina and Utah) have indicated that the state will go the "All UEB" route, but students who request Nemeth materials will still be provided these materials, and only one state (Massachusetts) has declared that it plans to completely eliminate Nemeth Code from its training, instruction, and curricular materials. One state, South Dakota, has indicated that it will fully support both Nemeth Code and the "All UEB" option, while three states (Kansas, North Dakota, and Wyoming) have declared that the "Nemeth Code or "All UEB" question will be decided on a piecemeal, local level by each school district. To date, the majority of the states have not taken a final position on this matter. However, many of these states have disseminated proposals regarding whether they plan to follow BANA's guidance on retaining the Nemeth Code. We are hearing that NFB affiliates have not been contacted in many states even though other non-consumer stakeholders have received information about these proposals. Please contact your state Department of Education regarding this matter. Please review the enclosed materials (particularly the "Talking Points"), and advocate for the retention of Nemeth Code for blind students now and in the future. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Carlton Anne Cook Walker, manager of Braille education programs, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute at (410) 659-9314, extension 2225, or at . Talking Points Regarding UEB Math Versus Nemeth Issues Current BANA Guidance on the Issue Implementation of Unified English Braille (UEB), of November 9, 2014, at: Provisional Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts, November 2014, at: BANA Press Release, November, 2013, at: Motion to Adopt UEB, November 2, 2012, at: NFB Position on the matter NFB Resolution 2015-29, at: NFB Resolution 2012-13: at ACB Position on the matter ACB Resolution 2012-07: at States going "rogue" can only hurt students. The official body governing Braille in this country, the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) has not wavered from its position that UEB should replace ONLY the current literary Braille code (EBAE) and that Nemeth be retained by replacing EBAE with UEB where literary Braille is needed in math and scientific materials. Uniformity in Braille code is a necessity, not a luxury. We do not need a repeat of the "War of the Dots" -especially not in the vital areas of math and science. Switching to UEB Math will be duplicative and expensive. Currently, all math and science materials are in Nemeth Code. Having two codes will mean that all materials will need to be produced in each code. Having two codes will mean that all materials will need to be available in each code. This could well lead to shortages in materials. No students will be well-served if their state decides to discard Nemeth Code and use an "All UEB" approach, an action which is an unnecessary and rogue repudiation of BANA guidance and NFB and ACB Resolutions recommending the retention of Nemeth Code and integration of UEB Literary Code into math and science materials when literary code is needed. Adding UEB Math will erect barriers to relocation within the United States. Families needing to move to or from different states for economic or security reasons risk putting their children behind in math due to the need to learn a new Braille math code. Nemeth Code and UEB math are fundamentally different, so much so that most children who are fluent in one code would have great difficulty reading math and science materials in the other code. Such a child may well fall months behind in math classes due to a lack of familiarity with the different code. This will be particularly difficult for children of military families, who will almost certainly move several times throughout their school careers. Certainly states should not wish to become "that state" or "one of those states" that military personnel with blind children know they need to avoid. This change could also be particularly difficult for children from families of lower socioeconomic means due to a need to relocate more often for financial and/or personal safety reasons. Many times, these students do not have strong family support in the area of Braille education-because of lack of parental time, energy, education, etc. A move away from the national standard of Nemeth Code could render these children so bereft of STEM educational opportunities that they might never recover from the lost time taken to learn new codes instead of learning math and science content. There is no reason to set up a system that will automatically place Braille readers at an academic disadvantage upon relocation. Teachers of Students with Blindness/Visual Impairment will have LESS time to instruct children TSBVIs [teachers of the blind and visually impaired] are in short supply as it is; we should not be creating additional, unnecessary drains upon their time. Rogue, "All UEB" state colleges and universities would be forced to choose between following the national BANA Nemeth model or taking the "all UEB" detour. If these institutions do the former, "All UEB" states students will be ill- equipped to pursue STEM opportunities at any post-secondary institution following BANA's guidance. If these institutions do the latter, few, if any, out-of-state students will choose to attend their post-secondary institutions due to the high learning curve of switching to a new math and science code. Additionally, scores of current Nemeth-using students would find that their in-state schools are now hostile learning environments due to the abrogation of BANA-recommended Nemeth Code. This could well serve as a reason for vocational rehabilitation agencies serving the blind to be required to spend hundreds of thousands of extra tuition dollars to send these students to out-of-state schools where they may pursue higher education opportunities without the need for remediation in math code. "All UEB" state high school and college graduates will be ill-prepared to enter the post-secondary workforce in any STEM field due to what will become their lack of Nemeth Code knowledge. It is highly doubtful that the employment sector would abandon the ubiquitous, useful, compact, and BANA-approved Nemeth Code for the rogue "All UEB" movement. Abandoning Nemeth Code will create a problem with accessible math textbooks. All current math textbooks have been produced in Nemeth Code. It will be time-consuming and expensive to re-create this work in "all UEB." Rogue "All UEB" state students will likely go without math textbooks during this transition period. NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Access Center) would need to maintain two sets of each math and science textbook, one in Nemeth Code and one in "all UEB." Again, the duplicative nature of this unnecessary change will introduce confusion, expense, and delay into a system that functions well right now. There is no certification for "all UEB" transcription in the US. If states adopt an "all UEB" approach, then UNCERTIFIED transcribers will be doing the transcription-because there is no certification for "all UEB" transcription for math and science texts. This situation puts their students at high risk of receiving poor quality math transcription. All students with an IEP are guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Poor quality textbooks violate FAPE and place school districts at risk for litigation based upon the poor quality of textbooks Braille readers receive. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum] Protecting the Bonds of Love: Progress in Defending Our Right to Parent by Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum From the Editor: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum is one of the most tenacious, committed, and articulate attorneys in the country when it comes to issues of parental rights for people who are blind. We are blessed to have her as one of the people who work on our cases from Brown, Goldstein & Levy. Here is what she said on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 8, 2015, at the seventy-fifth annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind: Good afternoon, proud and dedicated members of the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you, President Riccobono and Dr. Maurer, for giving me the honor of speaking to this incredible audience. I feel passionate about the issue that I will be talking about and saddened and angry about what I have seen. I speak to you today from the perspective of an attorney and a parent. Let me start by saying that I am tired of hearing judges, caseworkers, psychologists, and lawyers ask whether my client is capable of taking care of his child merely because he is blind. This question is loaded with societal biases and incorrect assumptions regarding the capabilities of blind people. Those asking this question generally hold a tremendous amount of power and are wreaking havoc on blind parents and their children. When this question is asked and discriminatory decisions are made without any underlying factual basis, we have no choice but to push back on every possible front, including legal advocacy in the courtroom, legislative initiatives in our state capitols, in Congress, and continuous education with state government executives and the judiciary leadership. It should not surprise you when I tell you there is a constitutional right for parents to be able to raise their own children. Although at times this fundamental liberty interest must be balanced against the health and safety of a child, a parent with a disability should never be deprived of her child because of her disability. Sadly, too many times this has been the outcome. Let me tell you about some of the people I have had the privilege of representing because of the advocacy efforts of the NFB. My client was a young single mom with two children. Life was difficult for my client, but not because she was blind. When she found herself struggling, she contacted her local department of social services for assistance. She thought this was a good idea, and many people might have agreed with her at the time. Although the department initially provided her with the support she asked for, the worker assigned to her case could not fathom how this blind mother could take care of her two young children by herself. The caseworker grilled my client with question after question about how she could be certain that her children would be safe. These questions put my client totally on the defensive and ultimately resulted in her young children living in foster care for two very long and painful years. Those with the power could not conceive of how my client could take care of her children. Thanks to the NFB and the advocacy and education that we provided to the caseworkers, lawyers, and judge, these two beautiful children are back with their mom, but only after hundreds of hours of visits where a sighted supervisor was watching my client's every move and scoring her on her parenting abilities. Had I as a young parent had someone watching me every time I bathed my children, prepared their meals, played with them, and put them to sleep and then scrutinized how I did each of these tasks with a scorecard and expected me to perform with complete perfection, I could never have passed this impossible test. But this became the expectation and requirement of those who held the power. Although this mother is strong and her children are thriving now, the painful absence of her children for those two years will always be a cruel memory. My client Pedro wanted his three-year-old daughter to come and live with him after her mother could no longer take care of her. The department of social services had to decide whether the child could move out of state to live with her dad. As is the case for any child involved in the social service system, a caseworker was asked to do a home study of Pedro's apartment. The caseworker's report was glowing. She described Pedro's excellent skills in housekeeping and his complete independence as a professional; she highlighted his superb blindness skills in mobility and use of technology. As I read the detailed report, I thought, how refreshing that the biases that one generally sees are not here, that is, until I got to the last paragraph of the home study report. The caseworker concludes her glowing report with something close to the following: because this father is blind, his young daughter will not be able to articulate whether she is being abused-therefore, placement denied. Pedro was furious and called the NFB; he spoke to Dr. M, who then called me. It took several months of legal advocacy to convince the department that its report was discriminatory and must be changed. Finally, they sent the same caseworker back for another home visit. Her second report was identical, word for word, with one change-the worker deleted the last sentence about the three-year-old not being able to report abuse and instead wrote-placement approved. Pedro's beautiful little one now lives with her father. Pedro is here in this hall and looks forward to meeting you this week at his first NFB convention. Pedro: could you please stand up so that we can salute your advocacy and determination to make a home for your little girl and stand up for your rights as a parent; could you stand up? Let me also tell you about another client and the infuriating and discriminatory actions that are taking place as I stand here today. In a private custody battle, a judge for the past fourteen months has allowed my client (a blind father) to be with his two little children only if there is a sighted person present. There is no factual basis for this requirement. It is based only on the judge's fear that somehow it would not be safe for the children to be alone with their dad without a sighted person present. This requirement is incredibly insulting and demeaning, is unnecessarily expensive, and serves to limit his time with his children when he cannot find someone to be present. We are vigorously fighting this requirement, but the legal system moves slowly and, in these types of cases, very unfairly. And all of you know about the family in Missouri whose baby was taken from them at birth because people did not think this blind couple could parent their infant safely. And what led to this: a hospital employee who thought that the mom was having difficulty breastfeeding her newborn. How could this be? I personally remember crying all night long in the hospital the first time I tried to breastfeed my first child. No one called in protective services for this sighted mom; instead they brought in people to help me. Our friends in Missouri instead were told that either they needed to have 24/7 care at home or the child would have to go to foster care. That's what happened for some fifty-seven days until advocates could convince the authorities that this injustice had to stop. It is my goal to help change the culture so that, when I walk into a meeting with government officials with a blind mom or into a courtroom with a blind dad, those in charge are not focused on the question of how is this possible but rather the truth-that blind parents can parent as well or better than anyone else. My clients have reminded me that all parents rely on some support system to provide for their children effectively. If I ever thought that I had raised my children without the support of an army of others, I would be fooling myself. Part of the education that judges and caseworkers need is a reminder of this truth. An occupational therapist from an organization called Through the Looking Glass often reminds me that it is imperative that a parent's capabilities be considered in the context of the supports he or she uses and that there is absolutely nothing wrong if a parent chooses to have supports in place to do certain parenting tasks. All that should matter is that the parent is able with or without supports to provide what the children need. The problem is when others decide what one needs. It is appalling that someone else can decide when a blind parent needs sighted assistance. The NFB has put together some incredibly valuable documents and videos that I have been providing to courts, caseworkers, and forensic evaluators. The publication Parents without Sight and President Riccobono's video about a day at the playground with his two little girls are impressive and incredibly helpful, but I ask you to create more. I need to be able to show how blind parents work with their children on homework, how blind parents measure out medicine when their children are sick, how you change diapers or travel on a city subway with your kids, and how you and your children do all the day-to-day fun things that you do every day. I need to show how you drop your kids off at day care and what you do in your jobs. I know it may sound lousy or even insulting for me to ask for this, but it is the best way to help educate those who are asking these questions. And this time you can control what people think about your capabilities. There are a number of reasons why these cases are so difficult and why we must fight the current situation on several fronts. A large majority of states expressly permit disability to be considered when determining whether parental rights should be terminated. Unfortunately, in many cases the focus of the statute is the disability rather than the behavior or actions of the parent. It is up to the advocates to ensure that those proposing termination have the burden of proving that there is actual harm or a substantial risk of harm to the health and safety of the child because of the parent's actions before termination can occur. It is also critical to make sure that any determination must take into account a parent's abilities, with the adaptive services and support services he or she uses. In child custody disputes courts must make decisions based on the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, many state laws permit the mental and physical health of a parent to be used as a proper factor to consider when determining custody without also demanding a showing of harm to the child because custody is denied. And, when it comes to state agencies that have the responsibility of ensuring that every effort is made to maintain children with their parents, we must push hard to make sure that a parent's disability does not diminish these efforts. The Department of Justice recently issued a findings letter against the Massachusetts Department of Social Services where it said that the department violated the ADA because it failed to provide assistance to a parent with a disability to help her keep her child-something that the agency readily does for parents without a disability. Contrary to this recent DOJ letter, however, courts have routinely held that termination proceedings are not governed by the ADA, and, similarly, nor are private custody matters. Notwithstanding, I believe that the ADA can be a valuable lever with which to push state agencies and perhaps even judges to support rather than hinder the rights of parents with disabilities. The American Psychological Association seems to understand the biases that are contributing to the injustices that we see. This national organization has issued guidelines that call for psychologists to remain aware of their own and others' biases when completing evaluations. The guidelines remind evaluators to recognize that people with disabilities have a right to a family and that many adults with various disabilities can and do effectively parent children. The guidelines also recognize that a functional evaluation is critical because it ensures that the accommodations the person uses in his or her daily life are understood as part of the evaluation. Just last week we sent these guidelines to a court-appointed forensic evaluator who obviously had not done any of her homework before interviewing my blind client. Her questions showed absolutely no knowledge of blindness or the skills that blind people use. It appeared that her starting point was that my client could not possibly take care of his children without a sighted person present and assisting. In the current climate the key to successfully defending against termination or supporting a parent in a custody dispute is to educate the decision-makers about the parent's functional abilities. One way to do this is by bringing in an expert who understands the nature of the disability, the accommodations or supports that the parent uses, and who clearly explains why the children will remain healthy and safe in their parents' care. Everyone here knows that there are thousands and thousands of blind parents in this country who are successfully taking care of their children. However, when a judge asks me what that number is, I am unable to give an answer. I would like to work with the NFB to see if there is any way to figure this out. Judges and caseworkers are asking this question. For those researchers out there, although we have a few excellent research findings that demonstrate that blind mothers are just as capable of meeting their infants' needs as sighted mothers, that there are no differences in the emotional state of children raised by sighted versus blind parents, and in fact that children of blind parents may be more adaptable and have more positive peer interactions, that a parent's disability is not a predictor of problems or difficulties for children; and that separating a child from a parent is traumatic and detrimental, we still need more academic research to prove that the biased assumptions that many people are making are just plain wrong. I look to those in the audience who are connected with researchers to figure out how we can broaden both pieces of this scholarly work to help change the culture. On the legislative front, states must put in place protections for parents with disabilities in both their child welfare and child custody statutes. Legislation must include a nondiscrimination statement; any court- or government-ordered evaluations must be done by experienced evaluators who understand the accommodations and adaptations that a parent with a disability uses; and evaluators should be required to certify that they are complying with the 2012 American Psychological Association Guidelines for Assessment of and Intervention with Persons with Disabilities. All family court professionals should receive training on how parents with disabilities parent. And, most important, statutes must require clear proof of a nexus between a parent's disability and harm to a child before an adverse action can be taken against a parent with a disability. And judges should be required to explain their reasoning and demonstrate the absence of bias through the issuance of a written ruling whenever disability is a basis for loss of custody or termination of parental rights. Congress should also take steps to protect parents with disabilities by adding specific protections for parents with disabilities by requiring that child welfare agencies provide accommodations to parents with disabilities as part of their efforts to prevent removal of a child from his family home or when providing reunification services. Additionally, courts should give deference to the Department of Justice's interpretation of Title II and hold that the ADA applies to child welfare matters, including termination of parental rights. To ensure this occurs, the DOJ and HHS [Health and Human Services] should promulgate guidelines or regulations specifying that the ADA applies in the child welfare context and clarifying the legal obligations of child welfare agencies and the courts. As the Supreme Court of California so wisely stated when considering the rights of a parent with significant physical disabilities, the parent- child relationship "lies in the ethical, emotional, and intellectual guidance the parent gives to the child through his formative years, and often beyond." It is our job to convince the court and others that it is the capabilities of the parent, not the disability itself, that are relevant. I look forward to working with you on these important and profound issues. Thank you for the wisdom you have taught me and the confidence that you have in working with me. I am honored to represent you. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Gabe Cazares] The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act by Gabe Cazares From the Editor: Gabe is a government affairs specialist for the National Federation of the Blind. This article is written in response to legislation supported by the American Foundation for the Blind which would make changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The National Federation of the Blind has serious reservations about claims made that its passage would strengthen the provision of Braille and other services to blind people. Here is what Gabe has to say: The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, (H.R. 3535) for the 114th session of Congress, is a bill that purports to "strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)," and "improve results for the more than 100,000 children and youth with vision loss, including those who also have additional disabilities," according to the American Foundation for the Blind. First introduced during the 113th session, the Cogswell-Macy Act, according to its authors, will "expand the resources" currently available to blind students, parents of blind children, and educators, a claim that is difficult to imagine after a careful examination of this legislation. As a leader in Braille education, the National Federation of the Blind is committed to supporting efforts to strengthen existing or crafting new policies that provide for instruction in Braille. Specifically, section 614(d) (3) (B) (iii) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (IDEA,) commonly referred to as the "Braille presumption" which currently reads: "in the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, [the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team must] provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child's future needs for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille), that instruction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the child." As a result, the first item on our agenda was inspecting the proposed changes AFB and its co-authors had crafted. The results were surprising and disappointing. Rather than strengthen the already sturdy language provided by the existing Braille presumption, the proposed text would weaken it by shifting the focus of administrators and educators, who are the individuals tasked with the responsibility of implementing these policy changes, from Braille, to a host of other options. AFB's proposed language reads as follows: SEC. 204. CONSIDERATION OF SPECIAL FACTORS. Section 614(d) (3)(B)(iii) (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(3)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the following: "and provide instruction meeting the child's unique learning needs, including instruction which may be needed by students without disabilities or with other disabilities but which must be specifically designed, modified, or delivered to meet the unique learning needs of students with visual disabilities. Such instruction includes assistive technology proficiency (inclusive of low vision devices); self-sufficiency and interaction (including orientation and mobility, self-determination, sensory efficiency, socialization, recreation and fitness, and independent living skills); and age-appropriate career education;" According to the 2014 annual report of the American Printing House for the Blind, there were 60,393 blind students enrolled in elementary and high schools throughout the United States. However, of those, only 5,147 were identified as using Braille as their primary reading medium; that is only 8.5% of blind elementary and high school students across the country in 2014. Confronted with these alarming numbers, it is difficult to understand why the American Foundation for the Blind is seeking to divert the focus of the Braille Presumption to include other alternatives. It is also difficult to understand the fact that their proposed legislation makes an extra effort to highlight low-vision devices, as well as diverting attention from Braille use and instruction with the inclusion of other areas of the "Expanded Core Curriculum." Instruction in the alternative skills of blindness is an integral tool in ensuring that every blind student may live the life she wants. The NFB has consistently led the field in this area through our many student-oriented programs which help blind youth develop blindness skills for independence, including the NFB BELL Academy for young students, our STEM programs for blind youth, and the independent living summer programs provided by our NFB training centers. Ensuring that dual-media students receive all the services they need is also a priority, which is why the National Federation of the Blind has been a leader in calling for and assisting in the development of an independent, research-based reading media assessment, the National Reading Media Assessment (NRMA). The NRMA remains the only research-based, standardized assessment tool designed to identify the proper reading medium (or media) of students. The Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech University states that the NRMA will, "reduce the possibility that a student's academic success is hindered by incorrect reading and writing medium." In an open letter dated October 21, 2015, Mark Richert from the American Foundation for the Blind told our state presidents that "As someone who has been a life-long Braille reader, I can tell you on a personal note that I would never tolerate any attempt to weaken the existing Braille requirements." However, the undeniable effects of AFB's proposed language, as currently written, are hard to ignore. The Braille presumption will be weakened if this language were to be incorporated, and as a result, the National Federation of the Blind cannot support this legislation. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Mary Ellen Gabias] The Rights of Guide Dog Owners in British Columbia under Attack by Mary Ellen Gabias From the Editor: The Model White Cane Law was drafted by Jacobus tenBroek and set in motion the adoption of state statutes throughout the nation to enshrine in law the right of blind people to public accommodations. Every state in the union has some form of this model on the books, and the Americans with Disabilities Act also seems quite clear on the subject of the right of blind people to be accompanied by guide dogs. Even so, recently we have seen an alarming increase in the number of blind people who are being refused transportation because they are accompanied by a guide dog. Our friends to the north in Canada find themselves in a position of having to fight a recent ruling in British Columbia in which a civil rights tribunal has rejected a claim of discrimination, even though the facts and the case are undisputed, and the law seems unequivocal. We reprint here a request from Mary Ellen Gabias, the president of the Canadian Federation of the Blind, as the organization seeks to raise money to fight this most disturbing ruling. I will include a postscript after her remarks to suggest differences and precedents that might make US law a bit stronger, but these observations should not cause us to be apathetic about the rights of guide owner teams everywhere or to ignore the increasing problems that confront us as users of guide dogs. Here is what Mary Ellen says: Without your immediate help, three quarters of a century's work establishing the access rights of guide dog teams may be casually swept away in British Columbia! Discrimination by the taxi industry is just fine, a minor inconvenience, no more, according to Jacqueline Beltgens of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. We need your help to raise fifteen thousand dollars to fight for legal redress of a tribunal decision that gives more credence to hearsay about a taxi driver's unproven dog allergy than to the rights of a person with a guide dog. Please go to to make your cry for justice heard. As you read Graeme McCreath's story, consider the implications for guide dog teams everywhere. Graeme McCreath just wanted to go out for a casual evening with a few friends on July 15, 2014. He never intended to walk into a humiliating bureaucratic nightmare. The story is all too familiar to anybody who cares about guide dogs and human rights. A friend phoned a taxi. When it arrived, the driver, Bruce MacGregor, announced, "I can't take the dog. I'll get you another cab." The refusal of service was a public humiliation. It was also a direct violation of British Columbia's Guide Animal Act. British Columbia has two laws that are supposed to protect people who travel with guide dogs. The Guide Animal Act says: "A person with a disability accompanied by a guide animal has the same rights, privileges, and obligations as a person not accompanied by an animal." The British Columbia Human Rights Act also prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The law seemed extremely clear. Graeme McCreath sought justice from the Human Rights Tribunal. After a year of filings and discussions, the matter finally went to hearing on July 14, 2015. Graeme McCreath, Bruce MacGregor, and Sean Convy (the manager of Victoria Taxi) had nearly a year, more than ample opportunity to produce evidence. The only documentation the taxi company produced was a vaguely worded slip from a walk-in clinic that didn't mention allergies and an internally produced document noting that MacGregor had been given an "exception." Both were dated months after the 2014 incident. Graeme McCreath and three witnesses to the event testified at the hearing. Bruce MacGregor didn't even bother to attend. Sean Convy, the manager of Victoria Taxi, represented his company, since the human rights complaint named Victoria Taxi because the company's policies allow MacGregor and other drivers to refuse service. The facts are undisputed. Graeme McCreath is blind and was accompanied by his certified guide dog. Bruce MacGregor gave no reason for refusing to transport Graeme when the event occurred, but Sean Convy later claimed that MacGregor has both a dog phobia and a dog allergy. Since MacGregor wasn't there, he never verified Convy's claim. This is how the tribunal described Graeme McCreath's assertion that he had suffered discrimination: "[28] Mr. McCreath has established a prima facie case of discrimination. He has a physical disability, he suffered an adverse impact when he was denied a ride by the Taxi Driver, and he was denied the ride because he was accompanied by his guide dog." Yet the tribunal dismissed Graeme McCreath's case! The tribunal ruled that denial of service by one driver was a minor inconvenience since another cab arrived within a few minutes. One wonders how the tribunal would have responded to Rosa Parks. After all, it is also only slightly more inconvenient to walk a few extra steps to the back of the bus. Since MacGregor didn't bother to appear at the hearing, he never had to explain his actions or answer a single question about his reason for refusing to transport Graeme McCreath. Nevertheless, the tribunal ruled that MacGregor had a "disability" that entitled him to an "accommodation" from the company. Beltgens referred repeatedly to MacGregor's "disability" due to an allergy based on hearsay testimony from Sean Convy. Without documentation, Beltgens voided MacGregor's responsibility to obey the law. No proof was required; a claim with no substantiation of the severity of the alleged allergy was enough. We've all met people who say they have a "vision impairment" when what they mean is that they wear reading glasses. Their "impairment" exists, but it doesn't constitute a disability as the term is generally understood. Anyone who wants to establish blindness medically must be seen by an ophthalmologist, a physician with the highest available credential for treating eye conditions. The tests are exacting; all available corrective measures must be undertaken before certification of blindness can be made. The word "allergy" also has variable definitions, ranging from mild sniffles to anaphylactic shock. Clearly anaphylactic shock is disabling; sneezes are not. Yet the tribunal did not require that MacGregor's claim of a disabling allergy be documented by a physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic conditions. She specifically and categorically ruled out any finding that anyone claiming an allergy exemption from transporting guide dogs should undergo treatment, calling the suggestion "untenable." Ms. Beltgens writes: "The Tribunal has determined that an allergic reaction to animals can constitute a physical disability under the Code." She behaves as if it not only can, but that merely asserting the presence of an allergy is sufficient to claim disability status, even though the presence and severity of the allergy is unproven. Graeme McCreath's case uncovered disturbing evidence of systemic discriminatory practices on the part of Victoria Taxi. Beltgens writes: "He (Mr. Convy, the manager of Victoria Taxi) says that, in addition to taxi drivers, the owners of a particular taxi are also entitled to place an exception to having animals in a car. He says that five of the owners of taxicabs have also placed exceptions on their cars preventing the transport of animals." Refusing to take pet dogs is an owner's right. However, the tribunal never raised any issue concerning the legality of applying a no- animals policy to guide dogs, even though failing to make that distinction is clearly a discriminatory practice. Unless we challenge this decision, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has written a manual on how to discriminate and get away with it! You drive a taxi and don't want to vacuum dog hair? No problem. Just file an exemption so that no dogs can ride in your cab. If you want to be really sure that you can get away with denying service, go to a walk-in clinic and ask the doctor on duty to give you a note that says you have "medical reasons" for not transporting dogs. With only a little creativity, Ms. Beltgens' reasoning can easily be extended to include restaurants or other businesses. "I can't serve you because I'm allergic. It's only slightly inconvenient to go next door." We do not want to deny the legitimate claims of taxi drivers and other workers who genuinely suffer with disabling allergies. They should be accommodated by their employers. We know what genuine disability means, and we're passionate about protecting all people with disabilities. That is why we are passionate about not wanting disability to be trivialized by those who frivolously and fraudulently seek to claim disability protection. We realize this story seems nearly impossible. Human Rights Tribunals were set up specifically to put an end to unfair treatment on the basis of characteristics like disability. With that mandate, how could a tribunal rule the way this tribunal ruled? If you doubt this decision was based on hearsay and that the facts were massaged to permit a preordained conclusion in favor of the business interests of Victoria Taxi, we invite you to read Ms. Beltgens' ruling, with all its tortured reasoning, on the BC Human Rights Tribunal website at . We urge you to go to , and contribute what you can. Graeme McCreath was victimized twice-once when he was refused service, and again in an even more profound manner when a tribunal, set up to protect his rights, actively engaged in denying them. If people who care about guide dogs and human rights don't stand together, British Columbia may lead the way in erosion of our rights. If we stand alone here, we may fall separately all across North America. From the Editor: This is what the president of the Canadian Federation of the Blind has to say about laws in British Columbia and the way they are being enforced. Marion Gwizdala, president of the National Federation of the Blind's National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU) makes these comments about enforcement issues in the United States: Taxicabs are especially problematic, rating among the top five industries with which guide dog users have issues. NAGDU has written a grant request to tackle this problem and should have an answer within the next two weeks. We have also been contacted by the DOJ seeking guide dog users to do an enforcement program somewhere in the United States. In the United States most taxicab companies use independent contractors who lease taxicabs from the company. These companies mistakenly believe that they are not responsible for the denials because of this relationship; however, this is not true, and the courts have stated so on several occasions. The DOJ and most state laws specifically state that allergies and the fear of dogs are generally not reasons to deny access to a disabled person accompanied by a service dog, since allergies to dog dander typically do not rise to the level of a disability, and even the presence of dander on one's clothing could be sufficient to trigger an allergic reaction such as watery eyes and a runny nose. Such reactions are not considered disabling conditions by the DOJ. According to US law, individuals with disabilities are considered a protected class and cannot be denied access as a result of a disability. The only exception might be if there were a dispute between two individuals protected by the law, i.e., both have a disability. If, for instance, a taxicab driver were to have the rare condition of an allergy to dog dander that rises to the level of a disability (fewer than .05 of 1 percent of the US population have such an allergy), Title I of the ADA would require the company to make a reasonable accommodation for the disabling condition, provided doing so would not pose a direct threat or cause and undue burden. The bottom line is that the claim of an allergy to dog dander by a taxicab driver does not excuse the driver from carrying an individual accompanied by a service dog. With disturbing frequency we are encountering drivers of taxicabs and other forms of public accommodation who claim that it violates their religious beliefs to be around dogs. There seems to be little ambiguity in the law, which clearly differentiates between one's right to maintain a religious belief and her right to act upon it. Here are some relevant quotations from the United States Supreme Court differentiating between one's beliefs and actions: "We have never held that an individual's religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate. On the contrary, the record of more than a century of our free exercise jurisprudence contradicts that proposition." In another case the Supreme Court said: "Conscientious scruples have not, in the course of the long struggle for religious toleration, relieved the individual from obedience to a general law not aimed at the promotion or restriction of religious beliefs. The mere possession of religious convictions which contradict the relevant concerns of a political society does not relieve the citizen from the discharge of political responsibilities." "Laws, we said, are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices...Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious belief? To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself." ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Joyce Green] Longtime NFB Member Gives Leadership Service in Her Religious Congregation by Gary Wunder Joyce Green is well known to the National Federation of the Blind, having been a leader in the Oregon affiliate since 1971 when she was one of the charter members of the NFB of Oregon. She is a Sister of Providence (Catholic Sister), assuming that role in 1960. She was asked to serve as chairperson for their annual four-day conference in 2015 which she, with the support and aid of an able committee, successfully did in late July of this year. Joyce's commitment to carry out the responsibility of chairperson of this event involved appointing a planning committee, scheduling necessary meetings of the committee, preparing a meeting agenda, traveling from Portland to Seattle to chair the meetings, and maintaining good communications among the planning committee and sisters at large. It also involved arranging for speakers, presentations, reflections, and discussion times. Working out the daily schedule including timely breaks and arranging for technical support and catering were challenges that Joyce and her committee needed to meet. The efforts of Joyce and her committee came to a joyful conclusion July 27 through 30 at the Hawley Conference Center in Renton, Washington, near the regional office of the Sisters of Providence in the Northwest. The religious congregation originated in Montreal, Canada, in 1843 to serve the critical needs of poor, aged, ill, and uneducated people. They answered an invitation to send sisters to the Northwest in 1856 to meet similar critical needs. Joyce grew up in Missouri, received her BS degree from Southeast Missouri State, and worked in a clerical capacity in St. Louis. She then came to the Northwest, entered her religious congregation, subsequently earned her MSW from St. Louis University, and served as a professional social worker at Providence Portland Medical Center, a major medical facility in Portland, Oregon. Her service as a Sister of Providence took her to Seattle for her initial phase, down to Burbank, California, and then to Portland where she now lives and serves. The sisters belong to small local communities, and Joyce serves as coordinator of her local group. Of her membership in the NFB of Oregon, Joyce says, "I want to be a part of bringing blind people into the mainstream of society in every aspect. The collective action of blind people working in concert with relatives and friends is the only effective way to do this, and the NFB has a philosophy which has always been my own." Joyce has served in various capacities on the state board, including six years as its treasurer, and in her local chapter as president and as treasurer at various times. [PHOTO CAPTION: Joyce Green with Mary Johnson] Regarding the conference recently chaired by Joyce, other sisters had positive comments such as: "Now you should be proud of your having been the chair of the whole affair. All is well that ends well. You did a great service for the Sisters of Providence of Mother Joseph Province, and you should be very proud that you took the risk to be the chair. I am happy for you that it is over. It really is a unique experience." Mary H. "By the way, you did very well being the chair of the chapter! You made the chapter very much alive because of your sense of humor! You were very organized, and I think you should chair every year! Thank you for sharing your talents in chairing and enlivening the Chapter. We enjoyed it very much." Felma C. "Just ... read your delightful letter. You really have a great way to catch the reader's attention and tickle our funny bones as well. Great job as always. I think the sisters are going to miss your updates after July." Barb S. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Andrea Jenkins] And the Winner is . . . ? by Andrea Jenkins From the Editor: Andrea is a young person who had a dream, but before she could fulfill it she had to believe it was possible, get the training to do it, and then summon up the courage to do it. Here is her story about her journey through training and her journey to Spain: As a little girl growing up in the small rural town of Cairo, Georgia, I was full of dreams. "One day," I would think to myself. "One day, I will travel the world, experience new cultures, and even speak a different language." As I grew into adolescence, my hunger for culture and languages only increased. Throughout my childhood I would frequently check out language lessons on audio tape from the local library and absorb them like a sponge. On graduating from high school in May 2007, I had taken every Spanish class my school could offer, and I had also learned a smattering of French. While it was obvious I possessed the brains to attend college, I knew that without proper blindness skills training I would flunk even the easiest college exam, and perhaps I would be unable to achieve my dream of traveling abroad. From an early age I was taught a double standard of sorts. On the one hand, my mom was always telling me how proud she was of me, and I think she always believed I would go places and make something of myself. However, the messages I received from society at the time were not as optimistic. Throughout my childhood I was plagued with the fear that, as a blind person, I was not on the same playing field as my sighted peers. In my little Southern town it seemed that to many people "blindness" was an enigma. From July 2007 to March 2008, I attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston, Louisiana, and obtained the instruction necessary to live a normal, happy, and productive life as a blind person. After completing my training, I attended Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia, where I graduated cum laude, with a BA in Spanish Language and Culture in December 2012. According to my family and friends, I had done something amazing by finishing college and learning a language other than English. But, for my part, I was not completely pacified. For you see, there was still a fire down inside of me that had never died. My dream of going abroad and staying a while had not come to pass. So in February 2013 I applied to the Ministry of Education of Spain to serve for an academic year as an English language assistant (Auxiliar de Conversaci?n) in the Spanish primary school system. In June 2013 I was utterly speechless when I received the response to my application. I had been chosen to serve as a language assistant in the village of Guadalupe, Extremadura, Spain! Upon my arrival in Guadalupe at the end of September 2013, I underwent some moderate culture shock, as well as three initial weeks of jetlag. However, after being in Spain for a little over a month, I began to grow accustomed to the Spanish way of life. Throughout the eight months I spent abroad, I was able to impart some helpful insight to the people around me. For example, I demonstrated some cane techniques to the children at my school and shared some nonvisual cooking ideas with a couple of my Spanish friends. Above all, I simply lived life as a normal, productive individual abroad. Toward the end of my stay I traveled to London for five days and to France for two. These excursions only served to increase my confidence as a blind person. I felt that every time I hopped a train, walked to a caf?, or shopped the local markets for groceries or souvenirs, I was being a successful and productive individual. I feel it is absolutely imperative to face the world, not run from it. I chose to challenge myself, no matter how uncomfortable or scary that experience might be for me. It is safe to say that, when I returned from my eight months abroad, I was elated to find I felt more confident at that point than ever before in my life. It seemed that the world had truly opened up for me in ways I had never known. While I most certainly have struggles in life, I consider it a great blessing to have traveled abroad and fulfilled my dream of living in Europe, at least for a time. I give credit to the Lord, my friends, and the instructors at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, who pushed me to be my very best and achieve excellence. Without this support, I would have never attempted to chase my dreams. Currently, I am serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) with Florida Campus Compact, in Tallahassee, Florida. I work with my fellow colleagues to build capacity for college access programming. As someone who has attended college and obtained a Spanish degree, I want students to understand the value of education and be inspired to fulfill their dreams, no matter the obstacles they might encounter. I believe anyone, regardless of circumstances, can achieve success. So, to anyone out there who feels you can't succeed or you don't have the confidence to live life as a blind person, trust me! I've been there, and I can tell you from personal experience, the sky is the limit if you believe. This being said, I pray you will take my experience as a call to action. Whether you are blind or sighted, it is never too late to chase your dreams. I won the battle over fear the moment I boarded the plane to Europe. The moment you step out and take control of your life, seek the training, and do your best, you become a winner. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jeffrey T. Altman] On Structured Discovery by Jeffrey T. Altman From the Editor: Jeff Altman is a proud Federationist living in the state of Nebraska. He works as a cane travel instructor for Nebraska Services for the Visually Impaired, and in that capacity he was asked to address a convention of the American Council of the Blind's Nebraska affiliate to discuss the topic of Structured Discovery. These remarks explain the concept with refreshingly simple language and convey the enthusiasm many of us feel about the concept and the liberating affect it can have in the lives of those who receive it. Jeff's presentation also underscores the need to take our message to those who may not have heard it or may have heard a distorted version of why we use Structured Discovery. Here is what he said: First of all I want to thank all of you for inviting me to speak at your state convention this year. As most of you likely know, I am the cane travel instructor at the Nebraska Center for the Blind, which is located in Lincoln. I've been teaching travel in the center for approximately fifteen years, and I've been working in this profession for nearly twenty-five years. Cane travel instruction is also known as orientation and mobility, and I have both a master's degree and national certification in this field. In other words, I have papers and letters after my name. Now, if you're not impressed by letters and papers, don't worry about it, most people really aren't, and that's okay, because that's not what's actually important about learning independent travel. While it is important for an instructor to know how to travel, and of course, to know how to teach these skills, what is more important is knowing the best way for human beings to learn cane travel. There is a Native American saying, "Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may not remember, involve me and I will understand." Almost everyone learns better by doing, and this is a key aspect of good instruction. I am convinced that the greatest respect a cane travel instructor can show his students is to expect them to be able to draw upon their existing knowledge and to independently gather information from the environment in order to solve the problems that come up when they are traveling. In the center students often joke and sometimes complain that the only thing they ever hear from instructors is, "What do you think?" Well, they're right; we ask that question a lot, and it is because we respect them enough to expect them to be able to answer it. Perhaps I should explain a little about the instructional methods that we use in the center. You have probably heard of Structured Discovery and the fact that we use a longer type of cane and sleepshades in our training center. Not everyone is comfortable with this approach to teaching, and, without having these things explained, they can seem a bit strange, maybe even a little scary at first. Structured Discovery isn't just one way of teaching, but rather it is a continuum between two very different methods of providing instruction, each of which has important benefits and some limitations that can actually make learning more difficult in certain situations. Let me begin by asking you folks some questions and have you answer by applauding. How many of you have taken a foreign language in school? How many of you would consider yourselves to be fluent in that language? For argument's sake, let's say it was Spanish you were learning. Let me see if I can guess what your class experience was like. You took Spanish in a classroom, along with approximately twenty-five to thirty other students. You probably had a book or maybe a workbook, possibly a few "cultural experiences," and likely there were some quizzes and tests. You had a teacher who stood at the front of the room, and that teacher would say something in Spanish, and you'd repeat it back. Or perhaps the teacher would say something in Spanish, and you had to give the correct response. Maybe you had some conversations with your classmates in Spanish. This is called structured learning, and while it works well for some of the things you need to learn, for many things it doesn't work well, such as learning a foreign language. Now at the opposite end of the continuum, there is discovery learning. So, let's say you wanted to learn Spanish through discovery learning. We'd put you on an airplane, give you a parachute, throw you out over someplace like Lima, Peru, and say "See you in a year." If you live through the experience, well, you might just learn some Spanish! On the other hand, if you wanted to learn Spanish through Structured Discovery, it would go something like this. You would hire an instructor who is fluent in both English and Spanish and very familiar with one of the cultures where Spanish is spoken-let's see, maybe somebody like Carlos Serv?n, who might be very willing to work for you for a year in Peru with a nice salary and all expenses paid. Then the two of you would fly to Lima, and on the way your instructor would review some basic words and phrases in Spanish, just enough for you to get by the first day or so. Once you land, your instructor tells you that you are going to go to a restaurant for dinner that night, and he just happens to have a copy of the menu. He says that you and he will go through the menu together, he'll help you to understand what the various items are, and, when you find the items you want, he will help you learn how to order them in Spanish, because you are going to order your own dinner that night. He is going to be there with you and will help you out should you run into any difficulty, but you are going to order your own dinner in Spanish. So you go to dinner that evening, and even if you struggle and need a little extra help, you will make it through the experience. Perhaps the next morning your instructor says that the two of you need to go to the marketplace to get a few things. He tells you what the items are, how to ask for them, and how to get directions to the booths where the items are sold. He also explains how the local money works and how to bargain with the merchants to get the best price. He tells you that he will be there with you should you need some help but that as much as possible you will be doing the talking. So you go to the market together and make your purchases. That night your instructor tells you that the two of you are going to stay in for dinner, but that you are going to walk to the local pizza parlor on your own. The establishment is a couple of blocks away, and you will order and pay for the pizza. You will then bring it back to the hotel. You go and do this on your own, even though you are a bit nervous doing it. After dinner your instructor tells you that tomorrow the two of you will be going to a museum, and the tour will be given by docents who speak only Spanish. This is pretty complicated, so he will be there to help you out. But, as much as you can, you will be doing your best to understand the tour information with as little help from him as possible. You will need to ask some questions about the displays, so he will help you to come up with the questions in Spanish, but you will be asking them. Each time a new experience is introduced, your instructor will be there to help you, although he will often ask you questions so that you are figuring it out for yourself, and just at the point that you are able to handle things for yourself, he will back off and let you work it out on your own. You will find that more and more he is speaking with you only in Spanish and expecting you to answer in Spanish as well. What's more, you are now finding yourself having to go places on your own and use your Spanish to complete your assignments. You'll be meeting lots of people who speak only Spanish, and you will be expected to start conversations with them. How do you think your Spanish would be after a year in this environment and with this instruction? Switching from our language example now, that longer white cane tends to raise some questions for folks who are not used to this type of cane, but it's really not all that complicated. A longer cane allows you to have the necessary preview of the environment in front of you so that you have time to react, and at the same time you are able to keep your arm in a comfortable position. The longer cane also gives you greater upper body protection when you are traveling using the pencil grip, especially in a congested or unfamiliar situation. It is lightweight and somewhat flexible, so it is relatively easy to handle, it doesn't wear you out as quickly as a shorter heavier cane, it absorbs impacts and remains straight afterwards, and it gives you some extra reach when you need it. The metal tip provides very good tactile and auditory feedback that makes it much easier to identify surfaces and to use echolocation. Next, what about these sleepshades? This is one of those things that can cause folks to have uncomfortable feelings about this type of training, and in my experience many times it is a matter of not understanding the reason we use the sleepshades in our program. There are many very good reasons for using the sleepshades, but for now, I'll just touch on a few of them. First of all, no matter how many letters you have after your name or what papers you have hanging on your wall, you simply cannot get inside another person's head and know what works best for that individual. It is the individual who experiences a vision loss that is going to know what works best for him or her in a given situation. Our agency believes very strongly in "informed choice." This may seem a bit obvious, but if you are going to make an informed choice, then you really need to be informed. Otherwise the only thing you have to base your decision on is an emotional reaction. If you are going to make an informed choice between using a low- vision technique and a nonvisual technique, you truly need to know how to use the nonvisual technique. Most folks are so concerned about losing their eyesight that if you introduce a low-vision technique first, they'll likely think it is the best possible solution to their problem and be unwilling to learn the nonvisual technique. If you approach training by addressing the possible low-vision solutions first, then the folks being provided these services are not being given the opportunity to make an informed choice. When you have limited eyesight, sometimes the best use of your vision is not to use it at all. What I mean is that, if you are truly struggling to see to do something and you could accomplish the same task using a nonvisual technique just as well or even better, using your eyesight simply isn't the best choice in that situation. You already know what is possible with eyesight, so using the sleepshades for an extended period of training gives you the opportunity to discover what is truly possible without it. Only then can you make a genuinely informed choice. We tend to use the term blind most of the time in our center and not visually impaired. This concerns some folks as well. We often hear from new students in the Center who say, "I'm not blind. I can see pretty good, so I consider myself to be visually impaired." I think it may help to understand the reason we most often use the word blind by considering how the term legally blind came to be and what it really means. Back when Congress was considering expanding Social Security benefits to help provide an income to people with disabilities, they recognized that, aside from people who were totally blind, a lot of folks out there had very limited eyesight and that they needed this help too; however, how would the law determine who was eligible, and who wasn't? They approached the eye care professionals with this question. The professionals talked about it among themselves and realized that people below 20/200 or with a visual field of less than twenty degrees found it very difficult to function in the world if they attempted to do things using their vision, so this became the standard or what we know today as the federal definition of blindness. Now this is more important than you may realize; this meant that blindness really wasn't about how much a person could see, but rather how that person functioned based on having a certain level of vision. In reality being blind means that you do not have reliable eyesight, to the degree that you need to develop effective nonvisual techniques in order to carry out the majority of your daily activities as effectively, efficiently, and safely as would a person with normal vision. If you are going to function on an equal level with your sighted neighbors, you have to master the nonvisual skills you need. Yes, your vision may work perfectly fine for certain things or in the right conditions, but what about those times in which your vision can't get the job done? We must always train for those situations that are less than optimal. As an example, our daughter, who is not blind, has been driving for about a year now, and before she got her license, we made sure that she got lots of driving lessons. If she had only taken driving lessons on nice days with dry streets and very little traffic, what would it have been like for her the first time it rained or snowed or she encountered heavy traffic? You have to be able to function in adverse conditions, and for folks with limited eyesight this means those situations and times when their eyesight doesn't work well. An instructor teaching the skills of blindness cannot really know or create those conditions often enough or in enough places to assure that the person with limited eyesight has enough experience with the nonvisual skills truly to master them unless the sleepshades are used as a primary tool in this training. The fact that being blind means a person does not have reliable eyesight leads to another important reason for the use of the sleepshades, and it is directly related to learning nonvisual skills. If I never expected my cane travel students to do anything other than to sit in my office and talk with me about being independent travelers, would they learn very much about cane travel? Or suppose that on the first day of class I expected my new student to walk to the biggest, busiest intersection in town and cross it independently. What would that person likely learn? In the first case I'm obviously teaching nothing, and in the second case, I am very definitely teaching something: fear and frustration. Of course, these are silly examples at two extremes, but they demonstrate one important point: that between the point at which someone is completely comfortable and the point at which that person would be overwhelmed, there is an area in which that person will learn. If a person is going to learn, that individual has to be challenged, but not to the point where it is beyond his or her skills and ability. So as an instructor, it is my job to keep my students challenged but not push them too far, and there is some room in this learning zone to meet the individual's unique needs. The closer the challenge is to the student's comfort zone, the less involved the instructor should be, and the closer the challenge is to overwhelming the student, the more involved the instructor should be. Going back to a couple of things I mentioned earlier, a blind person with some eyesight doesn't have reliable vision, and I can't get inside that person's head, right? So, other than an educated guess, I can't really know how effectively the person can use his or her eyesight, nor can I know when and for what purpose the person is using his or her vision. All I can do is observe the person's performance, and since it is my job to keep the student challenged, based on these observations I make my decision as to how much more of a challenge the person needs to continue learning. If the student is doing well, I increase the challenge, and if the person continues to do well, I continue to increase the level of challenge. All of this sounds fine, but without using the sleepshades there is a problem. Remember that the person's eyesight isn't reliable, which means it doesn't work well enough to meet the demands of everyday activities in many places and situations. Also remember that I can't get inside the person's head, so I don't know when or in what situation the person is using his or her eyesight. This means I don't have any way of knowing whether or not the student is actually learning the nonvisual techniques or simply doing what comes naturally and depending on his or her unreliable eyesight. As I push this student forward into more challenging situations, sooner or later the student is going to run into one in which his or her eyesight cannot provide the information to effectively, safely, and efficiently deal with the challenge. In a Braille or computer class, that could prove very frustrating and might lead the student to feel that it is only possible to read or word process when he or she can see. However, in my cane travel class, finding yourself in a situation where you can't see well enough to complete a task and discovering that you haven't learned the nonvisual techniques that would allow you to stay safe could be a lot more than frustrating. When it comes down to it, orientation and mobility is really about being able to get from point A to point B, and the skills a blind person develops through this training are especially important when point B is some place you've never been before. First of all, being highly skilled with whatever type of mobility device you choose to use is very important. Be it cane or dog, you have to be effective in gaining information from the environment and be able to avoid the possible dangers the environment can present. You also have to be able to use the information that is available to you effectively. For example, you probably shouldn't be attempting to travel across town if you haven't figured out how to locate curbs, cross streets at the correct time, and recognize familiar places. Once these things are in place, understanding how to use a street pattern and address system in general, as well as knowing more specific information about the town in which you are traveling, is critical. You are going to have a pretty tough time planning how to get somewhere you haven't been before if you don't have some basic concepts about how the world is put together. Of course, if public transportation is going to be involved, then you would probably be well served to have received some training in how to use the system. If you are going to be going somewhere new, then being able to ask relevant questions and access a variety of sources of information regarding the transportation system is vital. The good news is that, if you have ridden a bus in one town, you'll find they work pretty much the same way everywhere else, and the same can pretty much be said for subways and other types of rail transit systems. There may be some small differences, but the basic mechanics tend to be the same. Some simple things I would tell you are: when you are first learning the system, make sure you have some extra time built into your schedule, be prepared to ask questions, and once you have become comfortable with the system, don't become complacent. Surprises can happen, and you have to be able to respond and adapt. When I was asked to talk with you, it was suggested that I address some of the current trends that may affect the lives of blind people, so I will attempt to give you my point of view on these issues. Some folks in recent years have been promoting the idea that orientation and mobility should be considered therapy. The proposition is that it is similar to physical therapy (PT) or occupational therapy (OT) and should be viewed in a medical context. There are even some in the field of physical and occupational therapy who believe they should be considered qualified to teach these skills and that those without their qualifications should not. I would dispute these notions for two important reasons. PT and OT are primarily focused on human beings from the neck down. Yes, they teach some skills, but for the most part their role has to do with restoring an individual's physical capacity. In other words, the job of these therapists is helping a person regain physical strength, reestablish normal joint movement, and promote the relief of pain to allow them to return to their previous state of health or to come as close as they can to total restoration. If that can't be accomplished, the goal is to develop some physical techniques or use devices that will allow the person to complete the tasks that their physical limitations would otherwise prevent. PT and OT are also providing techniques that allow the individual to return to interacting with the environment or conducting tasks with which the individual is already familiar and well oriented. Orientation and mobility, while it involves the development of some physical techniques, is primarily focused on developing skills related to orienting and interacting with the environment through a less familiar set of sources of sensory information. In other words it focuses on the person from the neck up. For example, an individual injured in a car wreck may have to undergo extensive physical therapy to restore enough movement and strength to be able to reach items stored on an upper shelf. If that individual cannot develop enough strength and movement to do so, then an occupational therapist may teach the person to change the way things in a work area are arranged or provide the person with a device that allows him or her to reach and grab things off a high shelf. On the other hand, a person who has recently become blind may not have any physical difficulty reaching items on that upper shelf; however, this person may find it very difficult to locate the shelf, the place on the shelf where the desired item is stored, and then may not know how to determine which item on the shelf is the desired one. Therefore, in terms of orientation the person must learn how to use information available in the environment to locate the shelf, locate the items on the shelf, and determine how to identify the differences among the items. She or he may even need to create a nonvisual label to identify the item. Therefore, orientation and mobility is not therapy per se, but rather an educational experience. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there is emerging a class of professionals calling themselves "travel instructors." I am a cane travel instructor or travel instructor, but that is not what these folks are talking about. As I understand it, some of the centers for independent living, (CIL's) and some transit authorities are hiring these folks, or people with similar training, to provide orientation to blind people and other disabled people so that they can go to their jobs or use regular fixed-route public transportation systems rather than relying on paratransit. I can't speak to what these folks are doing for people with other types of disabilities, although the whole notion seems a bit confusing to me personally. However, I can speak as a professional regarding the needs of blind people when it comes to the need for these kinds of services. Frankly, a blind person who is only dealing with mobility issues related to blindness and is relying on paratransit where regular public transportation is available has simply not received proper orientation and mobility training. Therefore, the proper person to be working with such a blind person is an orientation and mobility instructor and not somebody that has been given a brief training in a set of general travel-related skills that are apparently designed to address the needs of the full range of disabled people. I would further say that a blind person who does not have other relevant disabilities and has received proper orientation and mobility training does not need a professional at all in the majority of situations and in fact should probably not have been using paratransit to begin with. To clarify, I am talking about those situations in which a regular public transportation system is available and can meet the individual's transportation needs. You will observe that I said I was referring to blind people who are not experiencing secondary conditions such as a physical disability that may restrict his or her mobility or a significant hearing loss or a cognitive condition that limits the ability to maintain one's orientation and safety. In these situations, the limitations these characteristics involve may well necessitate the use of paratransit. For these people, attempting to have these individuals change to a fixed-route public transportation system may not be appropriate, and even if it is appropriate, it is certainly not something an instructor with limited knowledge of blindness should be attempting to introduce. Blind people in these circumstances are in need of very specialized skills, and they are only going to learn them from someone who knows them and how to teach them. Of course we are experiencing a serious shortage of O&M instructors right now, and with many state governments looking to cut spending, proper orientation and mobility training can be a real challenge to obtain. The National Blindness Professional Certification Board, of which I am a member, is making a strong effort to meet this challenge, but we need people willing to make the commitment to obtain the training and education necessary to perform this important work. If you know someone with the interest and character to become an O&M instructor, please send them our way; we'd love to help them reach this goal. I hope I have answered some of the questions you have regarding independent travel and perhaps have given you some additional understanding of Structured Discovery. Thank you again for inviting me to be a part of your convention, and I'll be happy to attempt answering any questions you may have. ---------- Bringing Hope to Hope by Rick Reed From the Editor: Rick Reed is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Wyoming, and in this story, which was originally posted on one of our listservs, he relates the transformative nature of our message and the need to be visible in our communities so we can circulate it. Here is what Rick says: I had the amazing opportunity the other day to represent my affiliate and our national organization at the 2015 Wyoming Transitions Day. This event is primarily for high school students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing and encourages them to pursue higher education with goals of finding a career that will let them live the lives they want. It is sponsored by Wyoming Independent Living, Vision Outreach Services, and the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. The National Federation of the Blind of Wyoming is an annual fixture at this event, where we provide information about our Federation and our programs. This year I was asked to give a presentation on assistive technology, where I introduced many students, parents, and teachers to the KNFB Reader app for the first time. I also presented a session on self- advocacy. During these presentations I had the pleasure of meeting a high school junior named Hope. Hope is a blind student in Sheridan, Wyoming, a little town just south of the Montana border. She is an absolute gem of a person and just so eager to learn everything she can that it warms the heart. Hope's dream is to become a nurse. Until that day the only person in her life who had any faith in her and in her ability to realize her dreams was her TVI [teacher of the visually impaired]. She has no support from her family. They tell her that there is really not much she can do as a blind person. When she shared her dream with her family, she was told, "I would never let someone like you be my nurse." I was and still am enraged by this lack of familial support. I offered Hope my support in any way I could give it and promised to get her in touch with blind people who are working in similar fields with whom she can talk. I am also encouraging her to keep getting good grades and to apply for our national scholarships next year when she is a senior. Before she left to head back to Sheridan from the event, I gave her one of the 75 in 75 Braille wristbands that I carry in my bag. When she read it and felt the "Live the Life You Want" embossed in Braille on the little piece of rubber, she broke down in tears, and I am not at all ashamed to say that I joined her. It was a very emotional moment all around. With that story told, what I'm requesting is this: I would like to get in touch with as many blind people as I can who are working in the healthcare field. This girl needs mentors and role models who can show her that she can make her dreams come true and that she can live the life she wants, not what someone else thinks she should be limited to. If you work in healthcare and you'd be interested in mentoring her, email me at . Thank you for sticking with me through this tale and for whatever help and advice you can give me here. I want this young lady to succeed, and I'd love to see her on stage in a couple years receiving a scholarship at our national convention. ---------- Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first- class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Parnell Diggs] Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Facts for 2016 by Parnell Diggs From the Editor: Every December we publish the Social Security figures that have been announced for the coming year. Here is the 2016 information as prepared by Parnell Diggs, the newly appointed director of government affairs for the National Federation of the Blind: Typically the New Year brings with it a much anticipated series of annual adjustments in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicare programs. But 65 million beneficiaries will be disappointed to learn that, when this new year arrives, there will be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which means that SSDI and SSI payments will not change in 2016. The 2016 numbers appear below, and, while benefit amounts will not change, there are some changes in other aspects of the Social Security and Medicare programs (which are not linked to the CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers)) that beneficiaries (as well as future beneficiaries) should understand. There is also a word about the recently adopted ABLE Act, which will affect SSI resource limits. Let's get started. Tax Rates FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: If you have a job, you know that you do not bring home everything you earn; 7.65 percent of your pay is deducted to cover your contribution to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund. Specifically, 6.20 percent covers OASDI, and 1.45 percent is contributed to the HI Trust Fund. Additionally, your employer is required to match this 7.65 percent for a total of 15.30 percent. For those who are self-employed, there is no one to match the 7.65 percent. Thus, a self-employed individual pays the entire 15.30 percent of her income. These numbers will not change in 2016 whether an individual is employed or self-employed. As of January 2013, individuals with earned income of more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) pay an additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes, not including the above amounts. Maximum Taxable Earnings For the OASDI Trust Fund there is a ceiling on taxable earnings, which was $118,500 per year in 2015 and will remain unchanged in 2016. Thus, for earnings above $118,500, there is no 6.20 percent deducted for OASDI. As for Medicare, there is no limit on taxable earnings for the HI Trust Fund. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Quarters of Coverage Think of it this way: The OASDI Trust Fund works like an insurance policy. You have to pay a premium to participate. Therefore, to qualify for Retirement, Survivors, or Disability Insurance benefits, an individual must pay a minimum amount of FICA taxes into the OASDI Trust Fund by earning a sufficient number of calendar quarters to become fully insured; in other words, one must work enough to be eligible for benefits. In 2015, credit for one quarter of coverage was awarded for any individual who earned at least $1,220 during the year, which means that an individual would have needed to earn at least $4,880 to be credited with four-quarters of coverage. In 2016 the amount increases to $1,260 for one calendar quarter or $5,040 to earn four-quarters of coverage. A maximum of four-quarters can be awarded for any calendar year, and it makes no difference when the income is earned during that year. Basically the taxes you pay into the OASDI and HI Trust Funds are your premiums to participate in the Social Security and Medicare programs. The total number of quarters required to be eligible for benefits depends on the individual's age. The older the individual, the more quarters are required. Furthermore, a higher average income during an individual's lifetime means a higher Social Security or SSDI check when benefits start. Remember the above quoted numbers for quarters of coverage to become fully insured are only minimum amounts. Trial Work Period (TWP) This concept is often misunderstood. The amount of earnings required to use a trial work month is based upon the national average wage index. In 2015 the TWP was only $780, and this amount increases to $810 in 2016. If you are self-employed, you can also use a trial work month if you work more than eighty hours in your business, and this limitation will not change unless expressly adjusted. Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) The earnings limit for a blind beneficiary in 2015 was $1,820 per month and will remain the same in 2016. Remember that this is not the TWP amount. This is to say that the TWP can be exhausted even if your income is well below $1,820 per month. See the above information about the TWP. In 2016 a blind SSDI beneficiary who earns $1,821 or more in a month (before taxes but after subtracting unincurred business expenses for the self-employed, subsidized income for the employed, and impairment-related work expenses) will be deemed to have exceeded SGA and will likely no longer be eligible for benefits. Social Security Benefit Amounts In January 2016 the average amount of SSDI benefits for a disabled worker is estimated to be $1,166. Pursuant to the Social Security Act, a cost-of-living adjustment occurs automatically when there is an increase in inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no inflation, there is no automatic COLA for SSDI and SSI beneficiaries. The CPI-W indicated no inflation between the third quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2015. Thus, there is no COLA in 2016 and no increase in monthly benefit amounts. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) The federal payment amount for individuals receiving SSI in 2015 was $733 and will remain the same in 2016. The federal payment amount of SSI received by couples will also remain the same at $1,100. Student Earned Income Exclusion In 2015 the monthly amount was $1,780, and the annual amount was $7,180. These amounts will not change in 2016. The asset limits under the SSI program will also remain unchanged at $2,000 per individual and $3,000 per couple. ABLE Act Signed on December 19, 2014, the ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) Act will have a significant impact on resource limits associated with the SSI and Medicaid programs for those who were blind or disabled by the age of twenty-six. Traditionally SSI beneficiaries have been required to adhere to strict resource limits: such as a maximum of $2,000 in the bank for an individual receiving SSI benefits. Under the ABLE Act, however, the amount on deposit in an ABLE Account can be much higher. ABLE Account contributions must be designated specifically for purposes such as education, housing (with a cautionary warning to follow), employment training and support, assistive technology, health, prevention and wellness, financial management, legal fees, funeral and burial expenses, and other purposes which may be set forth in the implementing regulations. As to the warning about ABLE Account contributions for housing, it is important to note that SSI beneficiaries may still face the traditional $2,000 resource limit for ABLE Account funds designated for housing. Thus, SSI beneficiaries should consider the many other purposes not subject to the traditional resource limits when making ABLE Account contributions. Because there are also tax advantages associated with ABLE accounts, both SSDI and SSI beneficiaries are strongly advised to consult the financial institution of their choice about establishing an ABLE Account. Medicare On November 10, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services released updated information regarding deductibles, coinsurance amounts, and premiums for 2016. Since there is no COLA for 2016, the law contains a "hold harmless" provision that will protect more than 70 percent of beneficiaries from paying a higher premium. This provision is meant to protect beneficiaries from a reduction in net Social Security benefits that could occur when an increase in Medicare Part B premiums occurs without any change in benefits. Those not protected by the "hold harmless" provision include higher income beneficiaries subject to an income-adjusted Part B premium and beneficiaries who become entitled to Part B in 2016. Beneficiaries whose Medicare Part B premiums are paid by state medical assistance programs will see no change in their net benefits because the state will be required to pay any premium increases, should they occur. But for the relatively few beneficiaries who do not fall within the "hold harmless" provision, the Medicare Part B premium is increasing to $121.80 in 2016, as calculated in accordance with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 signed by President Obama on November 2. Medicare Deductibles and Coinsurance: Medicare Part A coverage provides hospital insurance to most Social Security beneficiaries. The coinsurance amount is the hospital charge to a Medicare beneficiary for any hospital stay. Medicare then pays the hospital charges above the beneficiary's coinsurance amount. The Part A hospital inpatient deductible was $1,260 in 2015 and is increasing to $1,288 in 2016. The coinsurance charged for hospital services within a benefit period of no longer than sixty days was $0 in 2015. From the sixty-first day through the ninetieth day, the daily coinsurance amount was $315 per day in 2015 and will rise slightly to $322 in 2016. Each Medicare beneficiary has sixty lifetime reserve days that may be used after a ninety-day benefit period has ended. Once used, these reserve days are no longer available after any benefit period. The coinsurance amount paid during each reserve day used in 2015 was $630 and in 2016 will be $644. Part A of Medicare pays all covered charges for services in a skilled nursing facility for the first twenty days following a three-day in- hospital stay within a benefit period. From the twenty-first day through the one hundredth day in a benefit period, the Part A daily coinsurance amount for services received in a skilled nursing facility was $157.50 for 2015 and is rising just slightly to $161 in 2016. Most Social Security beneficiaries have no monthly premium charge for Medicare Part A coverage. Those who become ineligible for SSDI can continue to receive Medicare Part A coverage premium-free for at least ninety-three months after the end of a trial work period. After that time the individual may purchase Part A coverage. The premium rate for this coverage during 2015 was $407 monthly and will increase to $411 in 2016. The annual deductible amount for Medicare Part B (medical insurance) in 2015 was $147 and will rise to $166 in 2016. The Medicare Part B monthly premium rate for 2015 was $104.90 per month and will not change in 2016 for those protected by the "hold harmless" provision since there was no COLA increase as discussed above. For those receiving Social Security benefits, this premium payment is deducted from your monthly benefit check. Individuals who remain eligible for Medicare but are not receiving Social Security benefits due to work activity must directly pay the Part B premium quarterly-one payment every three months. Like the Part A premiums mentioned above, Part B is also available for at least ninety-three months following the trial work period, assuming an individual wishes to have it and, when not receiving SSDI, continues to make quarterly premium payments. Programs That Help with Medicare Deductibles and Premiums: Low-income Medicare beneficiaries may qualify for assistance through four Medicare Savings Programs. We will discuss three of them here and leave the fourth one alone because (to qualify for it each year) you must already be on it, and you know who you are. We begin with the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program (QMB) and the Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary program (SLMB). To qualify for the QMB program in 2015, an individual's monthly income could not exceed $981, and a married couple's monthly income could not exceed $1,328. To qualify for the SLMB program in 2015, an individual's monthly income could not exceed $1,197 and a married couple's monthly income could not exceed $1,613. Under the QMB program, states are required to pay the Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance expenses for Medicare beneficiaries who meet the program's income and resource requirements. Under the SLMB program states pay only the full Medicare Part B monthly premium. Eligibility for the SLMB program may be retroactive for up to three calendar months. Both the QMB and SLMB programs are administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in conjunction with the states. The rules vary from state to state, but the following can be said: As of 2015 resources (such as bank accounts or stocks) could not exceed $7,280 for one person or $10,930 per couple. The third program, known as the Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals (QDWI) Program, pays Part A premiums only and has resource limits of $4,000 for one person and $6,000 for a married couple. As to these programs, resources are generally things you own. However, not everything is counted. Examples of things that don't count include the house you live in, one car, a burial plot (or $1,500 put aside for burial expenses), and furniture. If you qualify for assistance under the QMB program, you will not have to pay the following: Medicare's hospital deductible amount, the daily coinsurance charges for extended hospital and skilled nursing facility stays; the Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) premium, the annual Part B deductible; and the coinsurance for services covered by Medicare Part B, depending on which doctor you go to (these services include doctor services, outpatient therapy, and durable medical equipment). If you qualify for assistance under the SLMB program, you will be responsible for the payment of all of the items listed above except for the monthly Part B premium, depending on your circumstances. If you think you qualify but you have not filed for Medicare Part A, contact Social Security to find out if you need to file an application. Further information about filing for Medicare is available from your local Social Security office or Social Security's toll-free number (800) 772- 1213. Remember that only your state can decide if you are eligible for help from the QMB or SLMB program and also that the income and resource levels listed here are general guidelines, with some states choosing greater amounts. Therefore, if you are elderly or disabled, have low income and very limited assets, and are a Medicare beneficiary, contact your state or local Medicaid office (referred to in some states as the Public Aid Office or the Public Assistance Office) to apply. For more information about either program, call the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on its toll-free number (800) 633-4227, or visit . ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: James Gashel] The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards by James Gashel From the Editor: James Gashel is secretary of the National Federation of the Blind and chairs the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee. Here is his announcement about the 2016 Bolotin Awards program: The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. These prestigious awards, granted each year as funds permit, recognize individuals, corporations, organizations, or other entities for outstanding work of excellence on behalf of the blind in the United States. The public recognition ceremony will be held during the 2016 annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Orlando, Florida. Each recipient will be given a cash award in an amount determined by the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee and will also be honored with an engraved medallion and plaque. Dr. Bolotin was a pioneering blind physician who practiced in the early twentieth century, and the awards which bear his name are made possible through the generosity of his late nephew and niece. Their bequest, the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust, allows the National Federation of the Blind to recognize and support the most outstanding individuals and projects working to improve opportunities for blind people in the United States, consistent with Dr. Bolotin's pioneering example. As chronicled in his biography, The Blind Doctor by Rosalind Perlman, Dr. Bolotin fought ignorance and prejudice to gain entrance to medical school and the medical profession. He became one of the most respected physicians in Chicago during his career, which spanned the period from 1912 until his death in 1924. He was particularly known for his expertise in diseases of the heart and lungs. During his successful career Dr. Bolotin used his many public speaking engagements to advocate for employment of the blind and the full integration of the blind into society. Interested in young people in general and blind youth in particular, Dr. Bolotin established the first Boy Scout troop consisting entirely of blind boys and served as its leader. Jacob Bolotin's wife Helen had a sister whose husband died suddenly, leaving her to raise a son, Alfred Perlman. The Perlmans moved in with the Bolotins when Alfred was eleven, and for four years (until Jacob Bolotin's untimely death at age thirty-six), "Uncle Jake" became Alfred's surrogate father. Alfred later married Rosalind, and the couple worked on a book about Dr. Bolotin's life. After Alfred's death in 2001, Rosalind dedicated the rest of her life to completing and publishing the book. Then, upon her death and as part of her will, Rosalind left a bequest to the Santa Barbara Foundation and the National Federation of the Blind to produce Dr. Bolotin's biography and establish the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award program. Her book, The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story, has been published by and is available from Blue Point Books . Award Description In 2016 the National Federation of the Blind will again recognize individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves in accordance with the criteria established to receive the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award. The committee will determine both the number of awards and the value of each cash award presented. The Federation determines the total amount to be distributed each year based on income received from the trust supporting the award program. The award categories for each year are blind individuals, sighted individuals, and organizations, corporations, or other entities. Individuals may apply on their own behalf or may submit a third party nomination, or the committee may also consider other individual or organizational candidates. Who Should Apply? Individuals: Only individuals over eighteen years of age may be considered for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award. Applicants must demonstrate that they have shown substantial initiative and leadership in improving the lives of the blind. Examples of such initiative include but are not limited to developing products, technologies, or techniques that increase the independence of the blind; directing quality programs or agencies for the blind; or mentoring other blind people. All individual applicants or third- party applicants nominating other individuals must demonstrate that the work to be recognized has been conducted within the twelve months preceding the application and/or that the work is continuing. Applications by or on behalf of individuals must include at least one letter of recommendation from a person familiar with or directly affected by the work to be recognized. Organizations: Organizations may apply for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award in order to further programs, services, technology, or techniques of unique and outstanding merit that have assisted and will continue to assist the blind. Applications from third parties nominating an organization will also be considered. The organization category includes corporations, nonprofit organizations, or other entities, such as a specific division within an organization. Organizations or third-party applicants must demonstrate that the programs or services to be recognized include substantial participation by blind people as developers, mentors, administrators, or executives, and not merely as clients, consumers, or beneficiaries. For example, an organization operating a program for blind youth might demonstrate that a substantial number of the counselors, teachers, or mentors involved in the program are blind. The organization or third-party applicant must demonstrate that it has substantially aided blind people within the twelve months prior to application and that an award would support efforts to build on previous successes. The application must also include at least one testimonial from a blind person who has benefited substantially from the programs or services. To qualify for an award both individuals and organizations must be headquartered in the United States of America, and their work must primarily benefit the blind of the United States. Procedures More information, including an online application, can be found on the National Federation of the Blind website at . Online submission of nominations, letters of support, and other relevant materials is strongly encouraged, but applications sent by mail and postmarked by the deadline will also be accepted. The 2016 deadline for application submission is April 15. Recipients chosen by the committee will be individually notified of their selection no later than May 15. Receipt of all complete applications will be acknowledged; only those applicants chosen to receive an award will be contacted by May 15. All decisions of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee are final. The awards will be presented in July during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Individuals selected to receive an award must appear in person, not send a representative. Organizations may send an individual representative, preferably their chief executive officer. Recipient candidates must confirm in writing that they will appear in person to accept the award at the National Federation of the Blind annual convention. Failure to confirm attendance for the award presentation by June 1 will result in forfeiture of the award. Ineligible Persons Those employed full-time by the National Federation of the Blind may not apply for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award for work performed within the scope of their employment. Students may not apply for both a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award and a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship in the same year. ---------- My Adventurous Commute to Work by Syed Yousufuddin From the Editor: Syed is a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois who commutes daily to work. In these commutes he meets more people than many of us who have limited our transportation to personal vehicles, hired cars, taxicabs, or paratransit. In this article he explores the attitudes of those he meets and wrestles with how to deal constructively with them. Here is his article: One of the great advantages of a big city like Chicago is the public transportation. People can get virtually anywhere by using the services of the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). As a blind person I don't drive, so I rely entirely on public transportation for getting from one place to another. Surprisingly, I didn't use public transportation to get to and from work during the first ten years of my employment. My first job was within walking distance of where I lived. When my office moved to the suburb of Lincolnwood, my boss arranged a ride for me. Apart from business-related travel out of state, I worked remotely much of the time. All of that changed recently when I took a job as a customer care representative for the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Hospital. Now that I have become a regular on the CTA buses and trains (and since I am working I gladly pay full fare), I am trying to get the most out of my travel experiences. I take two buses and two trains, requiring three transfers, in order to get to and from work. It's a long and adventurous commute. By now I am so used to being blind that I often forget all about it. I take public transportation to and from work like thousands of other commuters. What is the big deal? I think I possess good travel skills, and most of the people who know me agree. The people who travel with me and watch me every day-my fellow bus-mates and train-mates-should recognize this, too. They see me every day, and they ought to realize that I do not need any assistance. But unfortunately a lot of people seem to lack common sense. Why does one man (I call him Uncle Joe out of respect) consider it his responsibility to grab my arm and guide me from the bus to the Brown Line Station on Western Avenue every morning? Uncle Joe and I ride the same bus every day. He has been watching me get on the bus independently for the past two months. Nonetheless, he refuses to realize that I do not need his assistance. I don't know how to tell Uncle Joe that I am fine. I politely refused his assistance in the beginning, but he religiously insisted on helping me. If it makes you happy, Uncle Joe, I am not going to protest. Uncle Joe sends me off at the entrance to the train station, and from there I begin my solo journey. After seeing me for just two days, the CTA employee on duty was smart enough to realize that he didn't need to grab me and drag me from the turnstile to the platform. Now he greets me every morning with, "Hey Buddy, how are you?" I like him. I like smart people. After I climb the stairs or take the escalator, I walk a few meters along the platform to reach the spot where I need to stand in order to get on the second car. But I don't walk the platform without some shouts of, "You're too close to the edge!" and "Stay to your right!" Again, these are people who watch me every day. Every day they see me use my cane to locate the edge of the platform and make sure I am safe. Come on, people! I understand your concern, but stop thinking I'm a misguided missile! I appreciated their concerns-rather, their shouts-with a smile in the beginning, but I don't pay attention to them anymore. Like everybody else, I board the train with ease and find an empty seat. I have to admit here that it is tricky to find a seat once the train starts to move. It is hard for me to keep my balance with a cane in one hand while I'm searching with the other hand for a bar to hold onto. The key here is to move fast and settle down before the train picks up speed; otherwise you will end up hugging a stranger or sitting on someone's lap. I would like to share one incident with you all. One day as I was riding the Brown Line, the train stopped at a station in the Loop. Some people got off, and some got on, and the train started to move. What happened next knocked the living daylights out of me. Out of nowhere, a beautiful young woman (yes, I have a beauty detector!) crash-landed on my lap. It was a shock and awe moment! Honey, I know I am irresistible, and I know you love me, but there is an empty seat right next to me! The whole mishap lasted only a few seconds, but it was an embarrassing situation for her-she apologized multiple times. Definitely it was not her fault; she simply lost her balance, and the people who witnessed the mishap realized that. Now reverse the situation. Imagine for a minute that she was in my place, and I landed on her lap. The reaction would have been totally different. If a blind person loses his balance, it will become a blindness issue. "Oh, poor blind guy," people whisper. The whole car sympathizes with me, though losing balance has nothing to do with blindness. Okay, let's move on. Let's take the Roosevelt bus. Did you know that there is a pre-recorded announcement on route twelve? "Blind person coming!" This announcement starts as soon as I board the bus. The bus operator makes this announcement, and the front end of the bus echoes it, amen. I am greeted as a superhuman being. People want to give up their seats for me. They inquire about my destination. They try to hold my arm even when I am seated, and they perform all sorts of other antics. The story continues as I get off the bus and walk toward the Red Line train at the corner of State and Roosevelt. As I write this article, a construction project is underway on Roosevelt Road. Construction barriers stand along the street. It becomes a bit challenging for me to navigate the barricaded, narrow sidewalks and deal with the arm grabbers at the same time. One fine evening, as I was cruising along toward the intersection of Roosevelt and State, I heard someone call, "Sir, you are running into a barrier! Come on, hold onto my arm." I respectfully declined by saying, "Thanks, ma'am, I am fine." I started walking a little faster, but she was determined to grab me. I could almost hear the words in my head: "Say what you will, baby, I'm coming for you!" She literally started running in order to get her hands on me. "Sir, sir!" she yelled. "Hold on!" I managed to outrun her by using my cane to good effect and walking really fast, but she didn't give up. She caught up with me as I was waiting for the light to change so I could cross the street. "Don't put your life at risk!" she scolded. "That was dangerous. You almost ran into that fence." I smiled and responded, "I told you I will be fine." One day on that same block, I heard a little boy ask his mother, "Mom, what is that?" "It's an aid that helps him to see," his mother responded. I figured by her response that the little boy was pointing at my cane. Apparently this woman was educated, and she showed that she had common sense. She was teaching that common sense to her son. One evening I decided to take a different route on my way home. I walked an extra two blocks and boarded the Pink Line train. I found an empty seat and was trying to get situated, when someone remarked, "You look very confident with your cane." I turned my head and thanked the woman who was standing next to my seat. She extended her hand and introduced herself to me. "I am Jackie," she said. Interestingly, it turned out that Jackie also works for the UIC Hospital. She told me that she knows some other blind people, but they lack confidence. She was floored to see me so confident in my cane technique. I explained to her that, with proper training and opportunities, blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance. As we talked another woman chimed in, "You are brave." I couldn't agree with her more! Do I sound conceited? "Yes, ma'am," I replied, "and fortune favors the brave." They both concurred as I disembarked from the train. We are indeed changing what it means to be blind, especially when it comes to training. I am fortunate that I went to BLIND Inc., the NFB training center in Minneapolis, where I gained my blindness skills. I stayed there for only six months, but those six months changed my life. We are changing, but a vast majority of the blind community is not. One example of a person without skills and confidence becomes the norm for the public and tarnishes the image of what blind people really can do. I feel bad whenever a paratransit driver drags a blind person into his car. I want to go and liberate that helpless blind individual. I am willing to liberate him, but first he needs to stand up for himself. I see an urgent need for us to undertake more educational/awareness projects. We in the NFB have been on the frontline when it comes to educating sighted people, but I believe it is equally important for us to educate our fellow blind. We need to help them understand that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future, and that blindness should not hold you back. You can live the life you want. Oh, did I tell you that I got a speeding ticket for walking fast at my workplace? And I had a cup of coffee in one hand! No way! ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Edward Bell] The 2016 Blind Educator of the Year Award by Edward Bell >From the Editor: Dr. Edward Bell is an experienced educator in his own right. He was named Blind Educator of the Year in 2008. He chairs the 2016 Blind Educator of the Year Award Selection Committee. This is what he says: A number of years ago the Blind Educator of the Year Award was established by the National Organization of Blind Educators (the educators division of the National Federation of the Blind) to pay tribute to a blind teacher whose exceptional classroom performance, notable community service, and uncommon commitment to the NFB merit national recognition. Beginning with the 1991 presentation, this award became an honor bestowed by our entire movement. The change reflects our recognition of the importance of good teaching and the impact an outstanding blind teacher has on students, faculty, community, and all blind Americans. This award is presented in the spirit of the outstanding educators who founded and have continued to nurture the National Federation of the Blind and who, by example, have imparted knowledge of our strengths to us and raised our expectations. We have learned from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, and Immediate Past President Marc Maurer that a teacher not only provides a student with information but also provides guidance, advocacy, and love. The recipient of the Blind Educator of the Year Award must exhibit all of these traits and must advance the cause of blind people in the spirit and philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind. The Blind Educator of the Year Award is presented at the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Honorees must be present to receive an appropriately inscribed plaque and a check for $1,000. Nominations should be sent to Dr. Edward Bell, director, PDRIB, by email at , or post mail to PDRIB, Louisiana Tech University, P.O. Box 3158, Ruston, LA 71272. Letters of nomination must be accompanied by a copy of the nominee's current r?sum? and supporting documentation of community and Federation activity. All nomination materials must be in the hands of the committee chairman by May 1, 2016, to be considered for this year's award. For further information contact Edward Bell at (318) 257-4554, or . ---------- Ladder Desk-A Creation Story by Joe Schissler From the Editor: Joe is a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland and actively participates in the activities of the Central Maryland Chapter. He is a former student at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland and a senior citizen who retired after a productive life of forty-one years from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Howard County, Maryland. There he worked on the Navy's Tomahawk Weapon System. He became blind after a bicycle accident, but it is clear that his motivation and creativity were not diminished by it. In the National Federation of the Blind we are always encouraging blind people to expand their horizons and to take on tasks that go beyond the traditional roles usually assigned to us. Woodworking is one of the things we teach at our NFB training centers, but seldom do we get articles that discuss the way in which complicated projects are done, the specific challenges we have as blind people in doing them, and how the end product fares in competition with things built by people with sight. In this article Joe provides enough detail to show every challenge he faced, how he met it, and the results of his work. We have tried to include many of the pictures Joe has provided, but the appendices are so detailed that we have decided to provide them only to those who write requesting the full article. If you wish to try building the desk or want more detail than we provide here, please write to me at . Here is the article. Enjoy! This is the story of the creation of a desk that I built for my daughter Erika. I am writing this to show others, both blind and sighted, that it is possible to safely build a fairly complex piece of wood furniture without seeing what you're doing. I also want to leave a record of how I did it, in case anyone in my family cares a few years from now. (I probably will have forgotten by then.) I have been doing amateur woodworking for most of my adult life, and when I totally lost my vision in February 2009, I thought that hobby was over. My basement workshop sat idle for about three years. Then I enrolled in a rehab program for seniors who have lost or are in the process of losing their vision. This program is run at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM), where they have, among many other things, a full-blown woodworking workshop equipped with all the professional power tools and equipment anyone would want, most of which I do not have at home but learned to use. I quickly realized that I can continue my woodworking hobby. My first project at BISM was a small decorative table, which I built there and in my shop at home. It was also the first project I ever built using only hardwoods. It won a first-place ribbon at the Howard County Fair in 2014. This confirmed my belief about continuing my woodworking. Erika and my wife Eleanor helped me clean up and reorganize my workshop, and I have been in there almost every day since. After the fair in 2014 I asked myself what I was going to build next. Then Erika asked me to build a ladder desk for her. My response was, "Okay, but what's a ladder desk?" Erika had seen a ladder desk somewhere before and was able to describe it in general terms, and apparently the internet has lots of photos of them. Of course I couldn't see them, but she and Eleanor talked me through the general characteristics. I now describe a ladder desk, which resembles a step ladder with the steps being replaced by shelves and the main shelf being the working surface of the desk. The back legs are vertical rather than slanted as in a stepladder, so the frame of the desk consists of two triangles, one on each side, and the shelves are supported by the frame. In our initial discussions Erika asked that it be made of cherry and maple and finished with tung oil and paste wax. With this understanding I asked her to do the basic design of what she wanted, and I suggested that she sketch it out to get a feel for the proportions that she thought were correct. She responded by drawing the desk and defining the height, width, the number of shelves, and where they would be placed. She also explained the sizes of wood to be used. She emailed me a preliminary set of measurements, which we discussed and refined. The result of all this was a final design that is very similar to her first definition but had many minor modifications. I do not mean to imply that this was a quick process. The whole thing took place over several months, and the design was not really settled until the project was complete, as has been the case for all my woodworking projects. As the building progressed I found I had to figure out how I was going to accomplish each step in construction and finishing. And, since I am totally blind, I frequently had to find new ways to do things. This is not a complaint, because this is the part of woodworking that I enjoy the most, although I have to admit that the challenges are a little greater now that I have to do things without seeing what I'm doing. Foremost amongst the issues I was faced with, the fifteen-degree angle that permeates the design was the most interesting. This reminded me of mathematics that I hadn't thought about much since high school. I found myself using algebra, geometry, and trigonometry to work out some of the design issues and cuts that had to be made. Many decisions as to the construction details were made during December. Among other things I had some concerns about constructing the fifteen-degree angle. In addition I had made the decision to use edge-to-edge joints at the top where the vertical and diagonal frame members meet and overlapping joints where the frame members meet at the bottom. An overlapping joint involves removing one-half of the thickness of each board to be joined so that the two boards fit together perfectly. In referring to several woodworking books that I have in my library, there seemed to be no real consistency as to the names for these overlapping joints. I've seen both "cross lap" and "end lap" used, depending on where the joints fall on the boards. So I will just call them lap joints. At the bottom, the two lap joints between the vertical and horizontal frame members are ninety-degree angles, but the two lap joints between the diagonal and horizontal members are seventy-five degrees. So I made test cuts using some old three-quarter-inch pine boards that I had in my shop. My wife helped with the first cut, which cut a wedge- shaped piece at the top of the board that simulated the vertical frame member. We used a woodworking protractor that I had, and she sighted along it to get as close to fifteen degrees as she could, and I made the cut. I verified the angle using the trigonometry described in Appendix A at the end of this paper. I also realized that I could have used trig to make the first cut without any help. I remembered some geometry that said that that wedge could be used to set any later fifteen- or seventy-five-degree cuts. These test cuts turned out perfectly and are shown in the photos below. For better understanding, the first two photos show the cuts unassembled, and the third photo shows the bottom joints assembled. They are shown as viewed from the left side as seen facing the desk so that the front of the desk is on the right and the wall is on the left. [PHOTO CAPTION: Test frame top joint-open] [PHOTO CAPTION: Test frame bottom joints-open] [PHOTO CAPTION: Test frame bottom joints-closed] As I started construction the desk design looked like this: the frame consists of three boards on each side. Each board is one inch thick by three inches wide. On each side the vertical board is sixty-four inches long, the horizontal board is about twenty inches long, and the diagonal board is about sixty-seven inches long. The horizontal board is joined to the other two using lap joints, and the vertical and diagonal boards are joined edge-to-edge at the top and may use a screw from the back. The angle used for all the angular joints is about fifteen degrees. All shelves are twenty-four inches long by three-quarter inches thick and are joined to the frame using three-eighths or one-half-inch deep dadoes. The top two shelves should extend to the outside edge of the diagonal frame member and be beveled to the correct angle to be flush. All shelves will have a two-inch high backstop. The top shelf is about four-and- a-half inches deep, and the bottom of the top shelf is six inches from the top of the frame. The second shelf is about seven-and-a-half inches deep, and the bottom of the second shelf is seventeen inches from the top of the frame. The desktop (shelf) is about twenty inches deep, and the bottom of the desk is thirty-five inches from the top of the frame. The desk dimensions are twenty-four inches wide by twenty inches deep, but there will be a three-inch border of a wood different from the center. So the inner square dimensions are eighteen-by-fourteen. At this point the details of the desktop remained to be determined. The horizontal frame member will be joined to the other members a couple of inches above the floor. This will make the bottom of the vertical and diagonal members the legs of the desk. A brace will join the bottoms of the two vertical frame members at the back for stability. It will be three inches by three-quarter inches by twenty-four inches and will be joined using three-eighth-inch mortice and tenons. In addition, I also saw the need for a cross brace at the bottom rear of the desk; this will provide more lateral stability. The details of this were to be determined later. The above is a good description of the desk at this point in the process. The major change was in the thickness of the boards that composed the frame. I recommended increasing them to one inch from the three-quarter- inch. Cross bracing was added for better stability, and some of the joinery details changed. Next came the calculation of the lumber needed and the actual purchase at Exotic Lumber in Annapolis, Maryland. Both Erika and Eleanor joined me in making that purchase. The following is a list of the material we wanted to buy. What we did buy changed based on the reality of what they had available at the time. For clarity it is noted here that the thickness of the rough boards purchased are expressed in increments of fourth of an inch; this is described in detail in Appendix B. For the frame we needed to buy three six-and-a-half-foot rough cherry boards. Two are about seven or eight inches wide, and one is about four or five inches wide, either five-quarter or six-quarter inches thick. For the shelves and such, and assuming eight-inch widths, we needed four cherry short boards, which are six or seven feet long and four inches thick. We also needed to look at what they had available to do the design for the desk shelf, either soft maple or exotics in one quarter thickness or something else. For those readers who are not familiar with but are interested in the details of how to buy wood for woodworking projects, I have incorporated some of these details in Appendix B at the end of this paper. Although we had been there before to see what they had and how it worked, we finally made the buying trip to Exotic Lumber on January 2, 2015. Using Erika's initial specification and the modifications we agreed to, the final list of the boards we needed for construction follows. The frame required five six-and-a-half-foot pieces of cherry, each three inches wide and one inch thick. Four pieces would be used for the vertical and diagonal members of the frame, and one would be used for the two horizontal members. The rough boards should be five-quarter cherry six feet long. These will be planed to one inch and ripped into five three-inch wide boards. The shelves, including the desktop, the backstops, and brace at the bottom are all three-quarter-inch cherry. These can come from several of the four-quarter rough cherry "shorts," which are six feet long. We needed a total width of at least forty-two inches of thirty-six-inch long boards, all three-quarter inches thick. This would determine the number of cherry shorts we should buy. At the lumber yard we found that the five-quarter cherry boards were not to my liking, so I asked to look at the six-quarter boards. These were very nice, so I paid a little extra for the better boards. My original plan was to buy these rough boards and take them to BISM to plane and rip them myself. Then I accidently found that Exotic Lumber would do all the planing and ripping for me at a cost of $25 for all the boards-both the six- quarters and the four-quarters. It would have cost me that much just to get the boards to BISM, and then there is all the time and effort to do the work, while the lumber yard could do it while we waited. So we came home with six six-foot boards planed to three-quarter-inch and various widths, mostly five and six inches wide. And six pieces of three-inch-by-one-inch by six foot boards, all cherry. The only fly in this ointment was that Exotic Lumber's planer had a couple of slight chips in the blade. I didn't notice it at the time, but when we got the boards home, I found a couple of slight ridges running the length of each board. They all had to be sanded smooth. This wasn't hard to do, but it took a fair amount of time. Erika also requested a decorative inlay of maple on the desk surface itself. We purchased a half-inch thick piece of hard maple that was about four feet long and four inches wide for this purpose. It turned out in the end that I couldn't figure out how to use it in a pleasing way for this project, so it has been used to good effect in a jewelry box I recently made for my granddaughter Kailey. So my wife and I later returned to Exotic Lumber for a rough board of soft maple, which they planed to three-quarter inch. Its use will be described later. [PHOTO CAPTION: Hard maple repurposed into a jewelry box.] The first step in construction, after sanding both the three-quarter- and one-inch boards, was to cut and build the two frames. Before proceeding with this description let me give a brief overview of the tools I have in my basement workshop, which is shown in the photo below. [PHOTO CAPTION: Joe in his (slightly messy) home workshop.] The shop includes a ten-inch, two-horsepower Craftsman radial arm saw that is at least thirty-five years old; a small, portable ten-inch table saw that is fairly new; a six-inch band saw several years old; a three- eighth-inch power hand drill that I bought in 1970; several kinds of sanders; and numerous hand tools including many chisels, rulers, and clamps of various sizes. I also have a very nice, sturdy and fairly large workbench with a good wood vise. The only saw I used for this desk was the radial arm saw. For a discussion of the three power saws I own and their attributes and pros and cons, see Appendix C at the end of this paper. One of the key tools for my projects since I lost my sight is a Click- Rule. It allows me to make measurements accurate to one-sixteenth of an inch and one-thirty-second if I try hard. I used it for almost all the measurements for this project. I purchased one from the Independence Market at the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore. It is the only tool that I use that is designed specifically for use by blind woodworkers; all my other tools are of standard design for general use. The Click-Rule has tactile markings to enable blind users to tell where a moveable shaft is set. Moving the shaft in or out makes a clicking sound-hence the name. One click represents a movement of one-sixteenth inch. My Click-Rule is shown in the photo below-with the movable shaft extended two inches of a maximum extension of six inches. The Click-Rule as shown can measure from one-sixteenth of an inch up to one foot, but it comes with three twelve-inch extension rods to expand its capability to four feet. The leading edges of the two flanges are exactly six inches apart, so the ruler as shown is set to measure either two inches or eight inches, depending on which flange is used for the measurement. And the flanges are each exactly one-quarter-inch thick, which can be used to accurately position cuts. (See the discussion on cutting dadoes later in this paper.) I found this to be tricky, and I made a few errors at first. I still have to think carefully to get it right. [PHOTO CAPTION: The Click-Rule] For approximate measurements I sometimes used a wooden folding rule. I know how long it is for any number of open segments, and I could get within a few inches with that. I also cut several strips of wood to lengths that I frequently had to measure, in particular the twenty-five inches for the distance between the two frames. [PHOTO CAPTION: The cherry wedge] The very first cut for the desk was at the top of the first vertical frame member, using the aforementioned pine wedge to set the angle, and the resultant cherry wedge is shown in the photo below. This was used for the second vertical member and for all subsequent angular cuts. This was done for consistency. Using this wedge often required thought, creativity, and experimentation to get the required angular cut. I had to use the radial arm saw's fence, which runs perpendicular to the saw blade, and/or a right angle square to create a fence parallel to the blade. Then I used the wedge to get the desired angle. Another problem that had to be solved was how to make a cut on the end of a six-foot-long board using a radial arm saw with a three-foot wide table. The end not being cut had to be supported, and I don't have any sky hooks in my shop. Nor do I have any of the adjustable supports made for this purpose. These have a height-adjustable roller so the board can be supported and moved, but they aren't cheap. So I made a substitute using a stepladder, a support that fits over one of the steps, and some of my wife's sewing magazines to adjust the final height to the height of the radial arm saw's table. One end of the board sits on the saw's table, and the other sits on the jury-rigged stepladder-problem solved. It's crude, but it works. I used this device many times in building this desk. Again, this is a part of woodworking that I really enjoy. As described above, the first two cuts for the desk were to create the angled surfaces at the top of the two vertical frame members. Later, these angled surfaces would be glued (and screwed) to the top edges of the diagonal members. Then one of the uncut six-foot one-inch cherry boards was cut in half to become the two horizontal frame members. At this point, all these boards were cut longer than required to allow for mistakes and "final tuning." Next came the four lap joints that would join the two horizontal frame members to the vertical and diagonal members. This required removing one-half-inch thickness from each board involved in each joint. There are four joints, so there were eight areas where wood had to be removed to a depth of one-half inch, and each area was about three inches wide. In woodworking terms, a dado cuts across the grain of a board, so all these lap joints require making dadoes, while a groove is a cut that runs along the board. There are circular saw blades for just this purpose called dado blades. They consist of multiple blades that can be stacked together to make a wider cut on each pass. In Appendix D I have included many details about dado blades and making dadoes, including ensuring their accurate placement on the board. There is an old and very true saying in woodworking: measure twice and cut once. For all my recent work I always expand this saying to include the setup for the cut and I increase the "twice" to three or four times. For all woodworkers, and particularly for the blind woodworker who can't see what he or she is doing, the setup must include the placement and any needed movement of hands. I am right-handed, and I usually used my left hand to hold the wood and my right to pull the saw blade, and I always made very sure that my left hand was not where the blade was going to go. Making one wrong cut can lead to one or both of two results: one can remove fingers, and the other will lead to lots of extra work to either fix the piece or do it again. Next came the gluing and screwing required to assemble the two frames. For each frame the first joint that had to be done was the one at the top-the edge-to-edge gluing of the top of the vertical and diagonal pieces. Because of the fifteen-degree angle at the top of the vertical piece, the problem here is that there were no parallel sides to make a good clamp that would not slip as tension was applied. This was exacerbated by the fact that liquid glue is actually a lubricant until it sets up, and the joint has to be held motionless until that happens. I used Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue throughout this project. In many of the joints I also used either wax paper or plastic wrap to protect surfaces I did not want to get glue on. [PHOTO CAPTION: Upper frame joint with screw] To glue this joint I decided to use a single screw to hold the two pieces together until the glue was completely dry. I used a large wood screw about four inches long, and I drilled holes from the back through the vertical member into the diagonal front member, such that, once the glue was applied, the screw would pull the joint together as it was tightened. Once the screw was in place, I was able to apply pressure over the length of the joint. This same procedure was used on both frames, and in the end I decided to leave the screws in place. These screws are the only metal objects in the desk. In trying to countersink the screws, I inadvertently chiseled a gouge around the head of one screw. I was told that the county fair judges took points off for this. Once these joints were done-and I was mildly surprised that the joints were solid and the angles of the two frames were virtually identical- the horizontal member had to be attached near the bottom of the vertical and diagonal pieces. I left one inch of these pieces extended to become the legs of the desk. Also, the lap joints at the back had to allow for the brace board to fit into that joint along with the horizontal frame member. It was in making these lap joints that I made a somewhat serious mistake. I failed to get one of the angular dadoes in the correct place. I missed by about a quarter inch. This led to making the dado wider on one side and filling in the gap with a slice of cherry on the other. I did it the best I could, and after the sanding, it didn't look (feel) too bad. If you are not looking for it, you might not notice it. However, the judges at the county fair did see it, and this, together with the aforementioned gouge around one of the screws, may have cost me a first-place ribbon. At the same time I was working on the frame, I was also cutting several pieces of three-quarter-inch cherry, each about thirty inches long. These were for the two top shelves, the three backstops, and the braces at the bottom in the rear. The boards for each shelf were edge-glued to appropriate widths, sanded smooth, and set aside for later use. The only noteworthy issue with the shelves was the actual gluing. This required applying the glue to both edges of each board and clamping them together so as to minimize the sanding required. I have done this many times before, but I had never had to glue boards this long when I couldn't see what I was doing. It had to be done by feel and fairly quickly. This initially led to much glue on my fingers, but I figured it out without too much mess. Once the frames were complete and sanded, dadoes had to be made in the inside edges of the vertical and diagonal members to slide the shelves into. These dadoes were three-quarter-inch wide and about three-eighths- inch deep. While different from the original specification, my plan at this point was to make the width of the desk twenty-seven inches as measured from the outsides of the frame. This made the width as measured between the frames twenty-five inches. (This choice would turn out to be fortunate, as will be seen later.) Of course, the dadoes had to be at the correct height, as specified in the desk descriptions above, and the dadoes had to be aligned so that the shelves would be level when the desk is upright. The last point was easy since the dadoes could be cut in both the front and back members at the same time, with the vertical frame member against the fence on the radial arm saw. This is another situation in which I could have used sky hooks, but I had to use my jury-rigged stepladder to support the end of the frame. The only problem here was that the dadoes had to be on the correct side of the frame, and this required putting the stepladder on different sides of the saw for each frame-not hard to do, but it took a while to get it set up right. What has not been discussed yet is the third shelf-the working surface of the desk. This is the twenty-inch deep shelf that Erika wanted to be a decorative desktop, one that has a pattern of maple incorporated into the cherry. We tried many variations using the hard maple that we bought on our first trip to Exotic Lumber. These included cutting the maple into rectangles that could be pleasingly inlayed in a solid cherry surface. To make a long story shorter, none of us could come up with a design that made anyone happy, and I had reservations about doing inlays since I don't have a router that I would trust to remove one-half-inch of the cherry so that the maple pieces would fit tightly. I also did some research on the hardness of hard maple versus cherry. I was concerned about having to sand the finished surface and the problem that might result using two woods with very different hardnesses. (See Appendix B for a discussion of the Janka hardness scale.) So we did a reset and looked for other ideas. Erika was busy at the time with her job and said "surprise me." I had decided that soft maple would be a much better hardness match with the cherry, and my wife and I made another trip to the lumberyard. We bought a piece of rough four- quarter soft maple that they planed to three-quarters inch. Then Eleanor came up with the idea that is reflected in the final product. We talked through it and, when we visited her sister Rosalie in Jupiter, Florida, in late February and early March, I sat down with Rosalie to make a scale drawing of the pattern so we could see what it would look like. With my help Rosalie was able to do it using PowerPoint software, and we all liked it. Then, the next challenge was to build it, and I wasn't sure if I could do it. It required a lot of cutting thin strips of both maple and cherry and lots of gluing and trimming and sanding. And I had to keep the maple separate from the cherry. I first calculated the appropriate sizes of each piece and started from the center and worked out. The rectangle of maple was easy. Then I built the cherry surrounding it: four strips of cherry glued on one at a time. I glued the first strip, cut and sanded it to length, then repeated it three more times until the cherry ring was complete. Repeat for the maple ring. Then the result had to be surrounded by wider pieces of cherry, and the width of each piece had to be carefully calculated to ensure that the final desktop was exactly twenty inches deep by the twenty-five-and- three-quarter inches wide required to fit in the frame's dadoes. The final step was to sand the whole thing and make sure it was both smooth and flat. The result is shown in the photo. [PHOTO CAPTION: The resulting desk top] Next came the assembly of the desk. This took a long time and was rather frustrating, but it was fun because it took a lot of imagination and figuring things out. I started this process without any glue, a technique called dry-fitting. I was dealing with the two very large frames, three shelves, and a lot of smaller pieces. During these many dry runs, I felt like I needed several extra hands. But, after much trial and error and the use of several measuring sticks and clamps, I was able to figure it out. All these pieces had to fit together and in a very specific order. If the order wasn't right, I could get to a point where I could not fit in a piece, and that would be a huge problem once I got to the point of actually using glue. I can't count the number of times I put it together and took it apart. These dry runs were rehearsals to get the order of assembly correct and to do a lot of fine-tuning of the individual pieces. I did all this with the desk lying down-sometimes on its back and sometimes on its front. On its back, it was easier to fit the shelves, and on its front, it was easier to work on the braces that fit on the back. The only part that hasn't yet been discussed is the cross brace that provides lateral stability. This was done by using two pieces of three- quarter-inch cherry that fit in an x-shape between the frame members on the sides and the bottom of the third shelf (the desktop) and the top of the horizontal brace that fit in the dadoes that also held the horizontal frame members. It turned out that that rectangle was actually a perfect square- twenty-five inches by twenty-five inches. This made the construction of the lap joint easy; the two pieces crossed in the middle of each, and the angle was exactly ninety degrees. These pieces were added last, and I was concerned about how tightly they would fit, which was important for the stability of the desk. But they went in very tightly, to the point that I did not use any glue in the lap joint itself. The result as installed is shown below. [PHOTO CAPTION: Cross brace, bottom rear] As an afterthought, I used some of the leftover maple and cherry to make two desk accessories: a small, tall box to store narrow and long objects, such as pencils and pens, and a small, shallow box for other desk- related accessories, such as paper clips, erasers, etc. These small boxes required the use of thin pieces of wood, and this allowed me to explore the world of resawing. Resawing is a technique of cutting a thick board into thinner boards; in this case cutting a three-quarter-inch thick board into two one-quarter-inch thick boards. This is usually done using a band saw, and I have one in my shop. I had used one at BISM for this purpose with less than satisfactory results, but I had no trouble using mine at home. I used the resulting pieces to construct the two boxes shown in the photo below. [PHOTO CAPTION: Small desk accessories] Now the desk construction and assembly was complete, and the last step was to apply several coats of tung oil and two coats of paste wax. Erika had specified both, and I had done some of each on my previous project, the small table. But this was a much larger task. At BISM I had used the easily available product called Tung Oil Finish before, but I wanted to do some research to find out if that was the best thing to use. It turns out that this product is not really tung oil. It may contain a small amount of tung oil or it may not, but the rest is chemicals that are added to speed up the drying time. On the other hand, pure tung oil is a natural product that comes from the seeds of the tung tree, which is found only in China and in some areas of South America. It is a nontoxic vegetable oil and can be used on surfaces that are used for food preparation. It cures rather than dries over time to bring out lots of rich color and grain patterns that my wife says makes the wood "pop!" It does take a long time for each coat to cure before applying the next coat. It is rather expensive and cannot be found in any hardware store, but my favorite woodworking supplier, Lee Valley, carries pure tung oil, so I bought some. Before starting to apply the oil, I spent some time raising the grain. If this is not done, some bad things can happen, as was the case for the first top I built and finished for the small table. I had perfectly sanded the glued-up top and followed that with tung oil and wax, just as I was instructed to do at BISM. A couple of days later, I noticed with much dismay that I could feel the seams of the top's surface. For several months nobody could explain what had happened. I ended up making a completely new top. When I read the directions for the pure tung oil, they reminded me that the oil will raise the grain if it is not already done. I knew this but had forgotten it. It turns out that a wood surface will become slightly rough if it gets wet. The water causes the grain of the wood to stand up, and it has to be sanded again to get it smooth. Later applications of water will not affect it nearly as much, and one time is usually enough. The technique is simply to use a fairly wet sponge (you really can't get it too wet) to wipe all the wood surfaces, let them dry, and sand. When I used the wet sponge on the desk, I was surprised to find that the tiny ridges from the chip in the lumber store's planing saw reappeared-not as much as before, but it was pretty noticeable, especially on the desk frame. So I had to resand all those surfaces. Then I raised the grain again, and sanded again, just to be sure. Once all that was done, I used a small pump-style plastic bottle to help in the application of the tung oil. This was the first large piece of furniture that I had the pleasure of putting pure tung oil on. The oil actually smells rather nice; even my wife agreed. And there are no warnings about ventilation, as exist with many other finishing products. I simply pumped a small amount onto my fingertips and rubbed it on, spreading it out as far as I could, which wasn't far for each pump. I then spent a few seconds rubbing it in. The pump bottle made this task much easier than it would have been without it, and I soon got the hang of it. It took about ninety minutes for each coat. I did a reasonable area (about one-fourth of the project), then went back to wipe off the excess, and continued until that coat was done. Then I came back about an hour later and wiped again to get up any resurfaced excess. Note that tung oil is an oil, and rags that get damp from wiping off any excess oil should be properly handled. They are susceptible to spontaneous combustion and should be spread out to dry and disposed of properly. I found no consistent directions as to how long to wait between applications and how many coats to apply. I waited at least three days for each coat to cure and put three coats on the frame and four on the shelves. The Lee Valley directions recommended up to ten coats on surfaces such as the top of a desk, but it gave no explanation of what the value of this many coats is. No one said anything about putting furniture paste wax over tung oil, but I did it. The final result is shown in the two photos below. Erika saw her desk for the first time at the Howard County Fair, and I believe she was surprised. [PHOTO CAPTION: Front view of finished desk with accessories and a second place ribbon.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Side view of finished desk.] Now this project and story are finished, but the life of the desk has just begun, and the benefits in my life and in the expanded vision of what I can do will extend far beyond the pages of this article. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan] The 2016 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award by Carla McQuillan From the Editor: Carla McQuillan is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon, a former board member of the national organization, and the owner and executive director of Main Street Montessori Association, operating three Montessori schools. Most recently she has accepted an appointment as the chairman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award Committee. Here is the announcement she has written, seeking applications for the 2016 award: The National Federation of the Blind will recognize an outstanding teacher of blind students at our 2016 annual convention, June 30 through July 5, in Orlando, Florida. The winner of this award will receive the following: * An expense paid trip to attend the convention * A check for $1,000 * A commemorative plaque * A place on the agenda of the annual meeting of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children to make a presentation regarding the education of blind children, and * The opportunity to attend seminars and workshops that address the current state of education of blind students, as well as a chance to meet and network with hundreds of blind individuals, teachers, parents, and other professionals in the field. The education of blind children is one of the National Federation of the Blind's highest priorities. We are committed to offering and supporting programs that enhance educational opportunities for this group. Please help us recognize dedicated and innovative teachers who provide quality education and meaningful experiences and opportunities for their blind students. Q: Who is eligible for this award? A: Anyone who is currently a teacher, counselor, or the administrator of programs for blind students. Q: Does an applicant have to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind? A: No, but attending the national convention in Orlando is required. Q: Can I nominate someone else for this award? A: Yes. Applicants can be nominated by colleagues, parents, supervisors, or friends who have first-hand knowledge of the individuals work with blind students. Q: How would I apply? A: You can fill out the application at the end of this article or find it on our website at www.nfb.org. Q: What is the deadline to submit an application or make a nomination? A: All applications must be received no later than May 1, 2016. Please complete the application and attach the required documents specified in the application. If you have questions, contact Carla McQuillan at (541) 653-9153. National Federation of the Blind Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award 2016 Application Deadline: May 1, 2016 Name: _______________________________________________________ Home address: _________________________________________________ City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________ Phone: (H) ____________________ (W) ____________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________ School: ______________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________ City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________ Use a separate sheet of paper to answer the following: . List your degrees, the institutions from which they were received, and your major area or areas of study. . How long and in what programs have you worked with blind children? . In what setting do you currently work? . Briefly describe your current job and teaching responsibilities. . Describe your current caseload (e.g., number of students, ages, multiple disabilities, number of Braille-reading students). Email is strongly encouraged for transmitting nominations; letters of support and other relevant materials should be included as attachments. Applications sent by mail and postmarked by the deadline will also be accepted. Send all material by May 1, 2016, to Carla McQuillan, Chairperson, Teacher Award Committee, or by mail to 5005 Main Street, Springfield, OR 97478; (541) 653-9153. ---------- Recipes As a special holiday treat, the Monitor put out a call on the Nfbnet- members-list for holiday recipes. And the members responded with a variety of the most delicious recipes, from the classic and traditional holiday favorites, to more unusual choices for holiday fare, from breakfast to dessert. But whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Solstice, or just having friends and family together, you're sure to find something to tickle your taste buds in these amazing recipes. Breakfast Delight by Yvonne Garris, Pennsylvania Yvonne tells us why this is her favorite holiday recipe: "My mom use to always make this for Christmas morning, and now I make it. Since you make it the night before you have a stress-free Christmas morning with breakfast in the oven. It makes me think of my mom and makes Christmas a little warmer." Ingredients: 1 loaf of bread, cut into cubes 1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled (cubed ham or sausage work as well) 12 large eggs 2 cups milk 1 stick butter, melted Method: in a nine-by-thirteen-inch pan layer half of the bread, cheese, and meat. Repeat layers. In mixing bowl beat eggs together with butter and milk, adding salt and pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture over layers in pan. Set pan in refrigerator to sit overnight. In the morning preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove pan from refrigerator, cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for fifty minutes, remove cover, bake additional ten minutes. ---------- Stuffed French Bread Casserole by Linda Coccovizzo, Missouri Linda says: "I've been doing Christmas at my house for the last seven or eight years, playing Mama Santa. I do everything I can to make sure there is either a present under the tree or a stocking for anyone there, especially if you're a kid. Sometimes I have people in early, and there is a need to put together a large breakfast. This is an overnight, quick, but awesome dish that will have your family and friends convinced you are the bomb in the kitchen!" Ingredients: 20 slices French bread (one-inch thick) 1 8-ounce package cream cheese 12 eggs 2 cups milk Method: Arrange ten slices of bread in a thirteen-by-nine-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread each slice with cream cheese. Top with remaining bread. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator thirty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes or until top is lightly browned. You can use flavored cream cheese or flavor it yourself with fresh strawberries or preserves. You can go the fat free or sugar free route if you like. Add flavoring to your egg mixture with maple syrup or cinnamon and sugar and maple extract. Leave the cream cheese plain and top with preserves, syrup, or whatever fits your fancy. Change it up however you want. I serve this with ham steaks for a quick, easy breakfast for a crowd. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Una Lau] Egg Drop Soup by Una Lau, Texas Una has this to say about her holiday recipe, "My father was a professional chef from China. We owned Chinese restaurants, and he gave me his recipe, which is a favorite among my friends when they come over for dinner." Ingredients: 1 can of premium chicken broth 1 can of premium cream corn (has to be creamy) 1 cup cubed pork or ground pork Green onions, minced (optional) 1/4 teaspoon white pepper Salt to taste 1 egg Oil to cook meat (Canola, peanut, or non-extra-virgin olive oil all work well) 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch Method: Season cubed pork with salt, sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch. This is a traditional Chinese seasoning method: get one pork chop and slice into strips and put in a bowl. Put a pinch of salt and sugar on top. Then pour in soy sauce. In a separate bowl, put cornstarch and mix with water to make it into a glue-like consistency. Wear a disposable glove and mix the cornstarch with the meat. Now use your gloved hand to squeeze and massage the meat so that the seasoning is well mixed in with the meat. In a deep soup pot, pour in oil and pan fry the pork until half cooked. Pour in the cans of chicken broth and cream corn; bring everything to a boil. Add the white pepper and salt. Very slowly pour in the eggs in a steady stream. To make shreds, stir the egg rapidly in a clockwise direction for one minute. To make thin streams or ribbons, gently stir the eggs in a clockwise direction until they form. Garnish with green onion and serve. Egg Drop Soup is frequently thickened with cornstarch in restaurants. To add a cornstarch thickener, mix two to three tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Just before adding the beaten egg, stir in the cornstarch/water mixture, remove the soup from heat, and then add the beaten egg. ---------- Sweet Potato or Yam Casserole by Mary Ellen Gabias, British Columbia Mary Ellen says, "In our home we celebrate Thanksgiving twice- Canadian Thanksgiving on the weekend of the second Monday in October and American Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November. My children tell me that neither Thanksgiving feast is official unless this casserole is on the menu. It's the only sweet potato or yam casserole I've ever found that has no added sugar, yet it tastes dessert sweet." Ingredients: 6 to 8 large yams or sweet potatoes 1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt) 1 egg, beaten 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon almond extract 2 tablespoons butter, melted 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or you can use 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice) Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut a small slit lengthwise in each yam and bake until soft, about an hour and a half. When potatoes have cooled enough to handle, slice them in half lengthwise. Scoop pulp into mixing bowl. If you choose, you can save the skins and make "twice baked" potatoes; otherwise, discard skins. Add the rest of the ingredients to the potatoes and mix thoroughly using electric beaters. For twice baked, spoon mixture into reserved shells; otherwise, put mixture into casserole. Whichever you choose, return to oven at 350 degrees long enough to heat through, between fifteen and thirty minutes. ---------- Killer Mac 'N Cheese by Beth Taurasi, Colorado Beth says, "I'm a graduate from the Colorado Center for the Blind from the class of 2011. This particular recipe is a huge hit especially with my friends. This is a really good treat for Christmas." Ingredients: 1 package pasta, whatever shape you like 1 pound Velveeta or other processed cheese 1 3/4 cups of whole milk or 2 12-ounce cans evaporated milk, 2 cups or 1 8-ounce bag of your choice and the of cheddar cheese, white or sharp 2 cups or 1 8-ounce bag of any other cheese (Monterey Jack, Fiesta blend, taco cheese, etc.) 3/4 cup egg whites/egg substitute in cartons 1 whole stick of butter Method: Cook pasta according to package directions, but for best results do not completely cook the pasta. Strain the pasta, then place it in a slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, usually I do liquid ones first, to the slow cooker and cook on low until cheeses are melted through. You may serve this as soon as all of the cheeses melt, stirring occasionally. The total cooking time is only one to one-and-a-half hours maximum. ---------- Bruce's Rigatoni by Claudia J. Combs-Wise, Michigan Ingredients: 1 pound Rigatoni (brand of your choice) 1 large sweet onion 1 green pepper Olive oil 6 cloves garlic (plus or minus to taste) 2 cups shredded mozzarella 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce 1 6-ounce can tomato paste 1 pound ground sausage (as mild or spicy as you like) 2 to 3 tablespoons oregano 2 to 3 tablespoons basil Salt and pepper to taste A few flakes of red pepper (if you like heat) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta in salted water and drain. In a saucepan add tomato sauce, paste, and spices, heat to simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning while cooking. In a skillet, brown sausage, crumbling sausage as it cooks. Chop onion and garlic and saut? in olive oil until light to medium brown, and then set aside. Chop green pepper and saut? in olive oil until it starts to brown and set aside. Combine all ingredients in ovenproof pan, stir, cover, and bake for ten minutes. ---------- Peanut Blossom Cookies by Linda DeBerardinis, New Jersey Linda says, "I am an active member of the NFB of New Jersey. I'm on the board of directors for the state and on the scholarship committee, plus I am the treasurer for the Garden State chapter. This recipe has been in my family for as long as I can remember. If you follow these directions, you will have baked what others have only tried! They are delicious!" Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 30 to 35 Hershey's Kisses Method: in a bowl mix butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla with a spoon. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together. Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet, mixing evenly. Eventually you may need your hands to knead the mixture. Shape dough into small balls, using rounded spoon. Roll balls around in additional granulated sugar on wax paper. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for six to eight minutes. Remove from oven and place one Hershey's Kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down firmly. Return to oven and bake for three to five minutes longer. Note: It's wise to unwrap all the chocolate kisses before the cookies first come out of oven. ---------- Swedish Twists by Maureen Pranghofer, Minnesota Maureen says this is her favorite holiday recipe. It is an old family recipe brought to the United States by her great-grandmother from Sweden. Ingredients: 1 cake yeast or one packet 1/4 cup lukewarm water 3-1/2 cups sifted flour 1-1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup shortening 3 teaspoons vanilla 1-1/2 cups sugar Method: Soften yeast in lukewarm water. Sift flour and salt, and cut in butter and shortening. Blend in eggs, sour cream, one teaspoon of vanilla, and softened yeast to flour mixture and mix well. Cover and chill for two hours. After two hours, mix sugar and remaining vanilla. Sprinkle board with one-half of sugar/vanilla mixture. Roll out one-half of dough into a rectangle (approximately 16" by 8"). Sprinkle some sugar/vanilla onto rectangle and roll again the width way of the rectangle. Fold one side of dough over to the center; repeat with the other side to make three layers. Put some more sugar/vanilla on top and roll just enough to have the sugar/vanilla set in dough or about one-quarter inch thick. Cut into one inch strips. Twist each strip two or three times and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. If strip is too long, cut in half and continue with twist. Repeat for rest of dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 12 minutes. ---------- Christmas Pretzel Salad by Barbara Pierce, Ohio Ingredients: 3 cups pretzel crumbs 3 tablespoons sugar 3/4 cup butter 8 ounces cream cheese 1 cup sugar (I use 2/3 cup) 1 small tub Cool Whip 1 large box strawberry Jell-O 20 ounces frozen strawberries 1 cup water Method: Mix first three ingredients and press into 13-by-9-inch dish. Bake for ten minutes at 425 degrees; set aside to cool. Beat cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip. Carefully spoon it to the edges of the crust. Dissolve Jell-O in water that has come to a boil. Stir in the frozen berries and their liquid. Pour over the cream cheese layer and chill till set. In recent times I have spun the berries in the food processer to make the Jell-O part smoother, I leave a bit of texture. ---------- Crock Pot Candy by Arlene Hill, Louisiana Arlene says, "This is a recipe that I have found to be wonderful tasting, easy, and fun for children to help out with. I unfortunately didn't have it when my kids were little but have had fun doing it with grandchildren, almost always at Christmastime. It makes a lot and can be given to neighbors and friends." Ingredients: 1 jar unsalted peanuts 1 jar salted peanuts 1 18-ounce package chocolate chips 1 4-ounce plain chocolate bar 2 packages chocolate bark Method: This must be done in exact layers. First layer unsalted peanuts on bottom of crock pot. Next salted peanuts, then chocolate chips. Break the chocolate bar into pieces, sprinkle over layers. Finally, break chocolate bark into pieces, sprinkle over top. Do not stir, cover and place crock pot on low, mine cooks a bit high so I put it on keep warm or it scorches on the bottom. Leave alone for three hours. Remove lid and stir, drop by table spoon full onto waxed paper and let cool. Package as you wish for gifts or have your family enjoy. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Melissa Riccobono] Peanut Butter Balls by Melissa Riccobono, Maryland A collection of holiday recipes from the Federation just wouldn't be complete without one from the Federation's First Family. Federation First Lady Melissa Riccobono offers this memory of her recipe, "I have fond memories of making these with my mom and older sister. First of all, the dough by itself is delicious, so I know we ate our fair share while we worked. Our job was to roll the balls and put them on wax paper. After all of the rolling was done, we had to carry the balls, one at a time, to my mom at the stove. My mom would say "plop" each time she put a ball into the chocolate. My sister and I thought this was hilarious when we were young and loved the sound effects. I now love making these with my own kids. It's a great way to pass the time on a cold winter afternoon. Warning! These peanut butter balls look to have no nutritional value at first glance. Remember however, there is protein in peanut butter, and if you use dark chocolate you will reap the health benefits from it as well!" Ingredients: 1 pound butter 1 pound crunchy or creamy peanut butter (I prefer crunchy) 2 pounds powdered sugar 1 to 2 pounds baking chocolate (I prefer a darker chocolate, but I am sure any type would work. Even melted chocolate chips might work in a pinch.) Method: Melt butter and peanut butter together. Stir until well blended. Add powdered sugar, stirring frequently to mix into dough. Roll dough into small balls-a bit smaller than golf balls will probably work best-and put balls on wax paper. Allow them to cool a bit while you prepare the chocolate. Melt chocolate on stove or in microwave. Start with one pound of chocolate; you can always melt more if needed. Carefully dip balls into chocolate until coated. Put balls on wax paper to cool and harden. Store in a cool place. You can refrigerate, but it is not absolutely necessary. Makes many servings! ---------- Bourbon Balls by Shelia Wright, Missouri Shelia Wright has been a member and leader in several states. She currently serves as the first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri, and she has a good sense of chapter history. Here is how she introduces this recipe: "I remember one of the longtime traditions at our Kansas City Chapter Christmas parties was the Bourbon Balls made by Bill Simms, Jana Moynihan's father. Because they were quite potent, he always made a special batch to go on the front edge of the tables for the kids, but he would monitor the buckets to be sure that no young hands reached into the adult bucket." Ingredients: Box of vanilla wafers 1 16 oz. pack of chocolate chips (semi-sweet) 2-1/2 cups of chopped pecans 1-1/2 cups of granulated sugar 3 tablespoons of light Karo syrup 1/2 cup of bourbon Powdered sugar for rolling Method: Melt chocolate in double boiler. Crush wafers and nuts. Combine granulated sugar, bourbon, syrup, and melted chocolate. Add crushed wafers and nuts. Stir all together. Shape into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Store in tins. -------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family A Brief Report from the National Organization of Blind Educators: At our national convention, we were privileged to hear from several successful blind educators from a variety of fields. Sheila Koenig shared her experiences as a ninth grade English teacher, Carla McQuillan described her journey from the classroom to an administrative position, Mrs. Patricia Maurer gave us insights into her days as a substitute teacher, and Dr. David Ticchi passed along his expertise in creating an ethical and respectful classroom and schoolwide community. In addition to the opportunity to hear this fantastic panel, the division took time to network in small groups by grade and subject level and to plan for future outreach and fundraisers on behalf of the division. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. Information Available on NASA Internships: If you would like to subscribe to an announcement-only list about NASA internships for people with disabilities, please send an email to with "subscribe" in the Subject field, or by visiting the list page at . Coloring Books and More from New Business: Ambron Products is a newly formed business whose main purpose is to produce and sell books and other items that can be shared by the blind and the sighted in the community. The company was started by two members of the Colorado Center for the Blind Senior Support Group. Our first product is a Braille and large print coloring book with tactile pictures for blind and sighted children and adults to share. The book is: I am a Crayon. What Color am I? by John Batron. John has been an active member of the NFB for many years. Part of his inspiration for this book was his desire to share with his five grandchildren. We are also offering a 2016 calendar, produced by Tactile Vision Graphics Inc. The theme of the calendar is the history of the automobile. Each month has the Braille and large print name and date of a different car, with a tactile representation of the car. The dates on the calendar are in Braille. After the first of the year, the price of the calendar will be discounted. We will also offer discounts for quantity purchases. If you would like more information or are interested in purchasing one or more of these items, please contact Estelle at Ambron Products: (303) 789-7538 or by emailing . Blessings, and thanks for your interest and support! Monitor Mart The notice in this section has been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale. For Sale: I have a PowerBraille 40 with cables in good condition and a Perkins Braille Writer also in good condition. Both are for sale, either together or separately. Call Vincent Tagliarino at (716) 681-1645 to make a reasonable offer on one or both items. ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution. From buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org Thu Dec 31 14:42:57 2015 From: buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org (Brian Buhrow) Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:42:57 -0800 Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, January 2016 Message-ID: <201512312242.tBVMgvjU005515@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 59, No. 1 January 2016 Gary Wunder, Editor Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive (see reverse side) by the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND Mark Riccobono, President telephone: (410) 659-9314 email address: nfb at nfb.org website address: http://www.nfb.org NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org NFB-NEWSLINE? information: (866) 504-7300 Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed to gwunder at nfb.org. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES. ISSN 0006-8829 ? 2016 by the National Federation of the Blind Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped. You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device. [PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Shingle Creek Resort] Orlando Site of 2016 NFB Convention The 2016 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in Orlando, Florida, June 30 to July 5, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819-9357. Make your room reservation as soon as possible with the Shingle Creek staff only. Call (866) 996-6338. The 2016 room rates are singles and doubles, $83; and for triples and quads $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before May 27, 2016. The other 50 percent is not refundable. Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations may be made before May 27, 2016, assuming that rooms are still available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon. All Rosen Shingle Creek guestrooms feature amenities that include plush Creek Sleeper beds, 40" flat screen TVs, complimentary high-speed internet capabilities, in-room safes, coffee makers, mini-fridges, and hair dryers. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site spa. The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort has a number of dining options, including two award-winning restaurants, and twenty-four-hour-a-day room service. The schedule for the 2016 convention is: Thursday, June 30 Seminar Day Friday, July 1 Registration Day Saturday, July 2 Board Meeting and Division Day Sunday, July 3 Opening Session Monday, July 4 Business Session Tuesday, July 5 Banquet Day and Adjournment Vol. 59, No. 1 January 2016 Contents Illustration: The NFB of Pennsylvania Convention Then and Now Statewide Blind Group Meets at Birthplace by Eric Mark When History Repeats Itself, Why Must Blind People Be the Victims? by Steve Jacobson Keeping Some of the Good Oranges by Justin Salisbury Low-Tech Solutions for Employment for the Blind by Jan Bailey People, Power, and Pelf by Ed Vaughan A Matter of Dignity: How Minnesota is Failing the Disabled by Chris Serres and Glenn Howatt In Their Own Words: The Historical and Rhetorical Significance of the Annual Banquet Address at the National Federation of the Blind Convention by J.W. Smith Senior Citizens Take on Senior Challenges by Ken Cary The Secret to Winning a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship................................. by Patti S. Gregory-Chang Class Action Lawsuit Against Redbox Has Proposed Settlement Recipes Monitor Miniatures [PHOTO CAPTION: Plaque at the Genetti hotel commemorating the founding of the National Federation of the Blind.] [PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono shakes hands with Dutch tenBroek in front of plaque.] The NFB of Pennsylvania Convention Then and Now In mid-November of 1940 the Pennsylvania Federation of the Blind held its fifth annual convention in Wilkes-Barre. Gale Burlingame, president of the organization, invited representatives of other organizations of the blind to attend that meeting, which was to be held at the Reddington Hotel. We all know that in the late afternoon of Saturday, November 16, the National Federation of the Blind came into being with Jacobus tenBroek as its first president. Gus Genetti, son of the original owner, explained that the room where that historic meeting took place at the Reddington Hotel was damaged by fire, but the Genetti Hotel, which was expanded and occupies the same property, has continued to serve the community. It was at the Genetti that the NFB of Pennsylvania conducted its 2015 convention November 13 to 15. NFB President Mark Riccobono was the national representative, and a number of other state presidents were also present: Pam Allen of Louisiana, Carl Jacobsen of New York, Eric Duffy of Ohio, and Jennifer Dunnam of Minnesota. Other notables included Marion Gwizdala, president of NAGDU; Barbara Pierce, longtime president in Ohio and former editor of the Braille Monitor; and Julie Deden, director of the Colorado Center for the Blind. Dutch tenBroek, the tenBroeks' eldest son, and his wife Kathy were also in attendance throughout the weekend. Friday was filled with parent and legislative seminars and an exhibit room. The students met that evening. One of the highlights of the day was a fundraiser for the Keystone Chapter, a game of Jeopardy featuring NFB trivia questions with Carl Jacobsen, Julie Deden, and Barbara Pierce as the contestants. Carl wiped up the floor with the two women. An auction that evening raised a good deal of money for the affiliate. Many of the presentations during the convention session contrasted life and prospects today with life as it was lived in 1940. After lunch on Saturday participants congregated outside the hotel to take pictures before a bronze plaque at the entrance of the hotel. This plaque displays the NFB logo and the words "Birthplace of the National Federation of the Blind November 1940" both in raised letters and in Braille. This was a truly memorable convention. Dutch tenBroek's recollections of his family and especially his father were unforgettable. A champagne toast was offered by President Riccobono at the banquet using commemorative wine glasses for each attendee. No one who was present will ever forget the convention. ---------- Statewide Blind Group Meets at Birthplace by Eric Mark From the Editor: This article comes from The Citizen's Voice and its web version citizensvoice.com, originally published November 15, 2015. It is reprinted with the kind permission of the publisher and shows what citizens of Wilkes-Barre heard about the organization that was born in their community: The Pennsylvania chapter of the National Federation of the Blind held its annual convention this weekend at the spot where the organization was born in 1940: Best Western Genetti Hotel & Conference Center. In November 1940, a group of sixteen advocates for the blind from seven states gathered in Wilkes-Barre at the hotel that is now Genetti's. They formed a constitution that created the National Federation of the Blind, or NFB, which grew to be the largest organization led by blind people in the nation. To mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Federation's founding, the Pennsylvania chapter chose Wilkes-Barre as the site for this year's state convention, said Lynn Heitz, the chapter's first vice president. "The national organization was founded right here," she said Saturday afternoon, outside a spacious meeting room where most of the 120 people who attended the convention gathered for lectures and seminars on a wide range of topics that affect the visually impaired. Blind and low-vision people of all ages walked confidently into and out of the room with the help of long white canes. One of the seminar topics was "Technology for the blind and how it has changed." Mark Riccobono, the national president of NFB, had some thoughts on that, as he stepped out of the meeting room to speak with a reporter. He called technological advances "double-edged" for the visually impaired community. On the upside, there are useful technologies such as voice-activated personal assistants available on computers and smart phones. Riccobono demonstrated an app he recently installed on his iPhone, called KNFB Reader, that can take a picture of printed text and read it aloud to a visually impaired person. He pointed his phone toward the program for the convention, clicked a button, and a mechanical voice started to recite the convention schedule listed in the program. On the other hand, the push for technological solutions to replace Braille, a writing system for the blind that uses raised letters and characters, has left some blind people struggling, especially younger ones in school and college, Riccobono said. "A lot of technology is not built with accessibility in mind," he said. He cited his own experience growing up as a legally blind student in Wisconsin, where his teachers, in line with the educational philosophy of the time, tried to get him to read and study as much as possible the conventional way and use Braille only as a last resort. "I faked it all the time," he said. "I had to memorize things." There were lots of positive stories at the convention, which draws a dedicated core group and some newcomers each year, according to Heitz, who described the gathering as "a family." Liliya Asadullina, twenty-two, said being blind has not stopped her from a rewarding and enjoyable college career at Metropolitan State University of Denver. "They have a really good public transportation system," she said, adding that she has no qualms about taking a bus or train on her own. She credited the local chapter of the NFB near Philadelphia, where she grew up, with helping her to develop that confidence. "They showed me you have to be independent," she said. The NFB has led the push for civil rights for the blind, which has helped raise awareness for all special needs groups, Riccobono said. As traffic drove by on East Market Street outside the hotel, he gave an example. In 1940 when the Federation was founded, if a car jumped a curb and struck a blind person on a sidewalk, the blind pedestrian was considered partly culpable, according to Riccobono. Blind people and others with challenges or special needs were expected to basically stay out of sight and mind in those days, he said. Today, through educational efforts and legislation such as "white cane laws" that require motorists to stop and allow blind pedestrians to cross the street, things are different, Riccobono said. "Blind people have the right to be in the world," he said. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Steve Jacobson] When History Repeats Itself, Why Must Blind People Be the Victims? by Steve Jacobson From the Editor: In the December 2015 issue of the Braille Monitor, we talked about the rollout of Unified English Braille and the decision made by the Braille Authority of North America, the National Federation of the Blind, and the American Council of the Blind to continue using Nemeth Code for mathematics in the same way that we continue to use music Braille for that very specific notation. Every organization that debated this issue was reluctant to change Braille, but all of them decided that, in the interest of allowing it to represent print symbols that are more commonly used in our more technical society, in an effort to produce better materials which are translated from print to Braille and from Braille to print, and in an effort to create a code which could more easily be expanded as changes in notation would require, we would make the difficult transition to Unified English Braille for the literary code. However, because of many concerns raised about the use of Unified English Braille for mathematics, a decision was made that we would continue to use the Nemeth Code for mathematics. In this article Steve Jacobson discusses policy positions taken by the Braille Authority of North America and examines the implications of letting the choice of Braille instruction be individualized. I observe that the word "individualized," like the word "choice," seems to be the buzzword of the day. The question we must ask ourselves is whether words in common usage represent the goal being sought when they were adopted or whether their invocation too often represents just the opposite. Because individualized education is a part of the law, some claim there can be no requirement that blind children be given Braille instruction, that no test can be used to determine a child's optimal reading method, and that, in essence, individualized means that what a child gets or does not get is dependent on his or her individualized education team, a team all too often composed of people who lack a strong understanding of (or often even basic exposure to) the efficient use of blindness techniques. Since so many in the field proclaim that we are interested in seeing more blind people enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, isn't it reasonable that we point out that the argument is rarely if ever advanced that the answer to a scientific problem or a mathematical answer is individualized or a matter of choice? Arguing for a teaching style that embraces many different learners is commendable, and offering informed choice to the person who is most affected by decisions is unquestionably worthy, but I believe these words have been taken far beyond their intended meaning and have been used by those who want to avoid facing the making of sound, scientific decisions that lead to quality education and employment. Here is what Steve has to say about the recent debate over using the Nemeth Code: During the past year, and particularly after BANA's fall meeting, some confusion has arisen regarding exactly where we are with respect to how to Braille math and scientific materials. As a result, there are several new issues we need to resolve with associated questions that must be asked. As a starting point, let's take a look at the entire series of BANA (Braille Authority of North America) press releases to understand where we are now. We will start with the press release issued in 2012: "... The most prevalently-used of these, the Nemeth Code, a Braille code for mathematics and science notation, has been widely recognized as a powerful and efficient system for representing these subject areas in Braille. Therefore, it is moved that the Braille Authority of North America (BANA) adopts Unified English Braille to replace the current English Braille American Edition in the United States while maintaining the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 1972 Revision; the Music Braille Code 1997; and the IPA Braille Code, 2008. The official Braille codes for the United States will be Unified English Braille, Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, 1972 Revision and published updates; Music Braille Code, 1997; and The IPA Braille Code, 2008; . . . " This press release continues with references to formats and tactile graphics guidelines, but we have not included that here: In 2013 BANA issued a press release after their November meeting, setting the implementation date for UEB, and once again they referred to the motion passed in 2012. In 2014, a statement approved at the BANA board meeting in November says: "As of the implementation date in 2016, UEB, Nemeth, Music, and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) will be the official codes for use in the United States. BANA is providing guidance on how to incorporate the Nemeth Code into UEB context with the intent that the Nemeth Code will continue to be integral to Braille in the United States." Now we come to November 2015 and the following statement: "The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) recognizes and appreciates the genuine concerns from the Braille community regarding the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB). BANA stands by our original motion to adopt UEB as a complete code as well as the implementation statement issued in 2014 in which we expressed that the Nemeth Code remains integral to Braille in the United States. The Board of BANA could not reach consensus regarding the establishment of a single standard code for technical materials for Braille in the United States. The decision to use UEB or the Nemeth Code within UEB context for technical materials should be made based on Braille readers' individual needs." Although those of us who believe for a number of reasons that adopting UEB while maintaining Nemeth Code for math and science have reason to be disappointed in this statement, it also provides us with an opportunity to try to understand some of the various views on this subject. It also demonstrates the need to establish exactly how we approach changes to Braille in the future. First, note that the word "standard" was not used in any of the press releases except for the most recent one. The word to describe the various codes was "official." Given that past statements continue to be supported, Nemeth Code is still considered an official math code by BANA. This is further supported by the fact that BANA has implemented changes to the Nemeth Code during the past year. Some argue that by virtue of UEB being an official code, since UEB includes mathematics, it should have the same status with respect to math in the United States as does the Nemeth Code. Certainly many mathematical symbols will be used in materials that are not considered mathematical or technical. Without repeating the consequential arguments already put forth by the National Federation of the Blind on this matter (see Resolutions 2012-13 and 2015-29), there are a number of questions that follow from the November 2015 statement that must be explored. What makes a student better suited to one code or the other? Are the two choices equal choices when viewed in a historical context? What do decisions today say about future decisions about Braille codes? During the long debate regarding this issue, it has been difficult to document which approach, Nemeth Code or UEB, is clearly superior for the representation of mathematics and technical materials in Braille. Arguments show that there are strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Given that the decision as to which code to teach a student is in reality made by a teacher and not by a student, there is legitimate concern that what we are facing is the expression of a preference by an educator for a particular code rather than the application of an objective process to determine which code should be used by a student. Many educators have long expressed the opinion that Nemeth Code is difficult to learn and use. There is even a mistaken notion held by some that, since mathematics is already part of UEB, mathematical symbols (and thus mathematics itself) will be easier to learn if only UEB is used and not the Nemeth Code. In reality either code requires a good deal of effort to learn if one sets out to learn the entire code all at once as is the case for transcribers or even teachers. A student will generally not learn the entire code, whether Nemeth or not, all at once. Rather, a student will learn the elements that are required at a particular time. The challenges of learning a mathematical code will be different depending upon which code is learned, but it is difficult to see a clear advantage of either code in this regard. In other aspects of education, there are usually characteristics of a student that can be used to make decisions about his or her education. Which characteristics would be used to determine which code to teach? How will the benefit of choosing UEB instead of Nemeth Code for math for some students be measured to insure there is a significant advantage when weighed against the fragmentation of resources and the other disadvantages of supporting two approaches? Another concern raised regarding UEB/Nemeth is the fact that some UEB math symbols will be present in general non-technical material. This raises the question of whether learning two separate sets of symbols is a reason to avoid teaching Nemeth Code. It needs to be understood that what we used to think of as higher or more advanced mathematics is becoming more and more common at lower grades. The use of equations in math and science occurs earlier than ever before. Delaying the teaching of Nemeth Code will increase substantially the number of symbols that have both Nemeth and UEB representations that will need to be learned all at once, creating confusion rather than avoiding it. There is, of course, a downside to being required to learn separate representations of the same symbol, but there has been a very strong belief in the United States that moving away from the established Nemeth Code simply does not offer the same advantages as does moving to UEB for literary Braille. To a large degree, we have been learning multiple representations of the same symbol already, so this isn't really new. So have the waters just been muddied by the above? Is the choice of a math code strictly an "A" or "B" choice between equal alternatives? As has been written elsewhere, we have an infrastructure and experience in the United States with the Nemeth Code that we simply do not have with math and science using UEB. This includes trained transcribers, a certification process, and the refinements and supports that come from the decades of experience of Braille readers doing math. In addition, the retention and integration of Nemeth Code has been an essential part of gaining support for the adoption of UEB by consumer organizations and others. To use Nemeth Code allows us to continue down the path that BANA defined in 2012 and mostly still supports today. Not to use Nemeth code for mathematics undermines this position, fragments our ability to produce timely Braille, and requires that we develop a second set of transcribers and a new certification process. We have not been shown with clear evidence that there is truly an overall advantage in changing our approach to Braille math in the United States. Finally, are we entering a new era that requires 100 percent agreement before we regard any choice of a standard code to be the preferred choice? Are we turning the clock back one hundred years to a time when the Braille code is defined in part by geographic boundaries within the United States or the school attended, just when mathematics and science are gaining an increasing importance in education? To move in this direction requires that there be a real advantage clearly demonstrated, and that simply has not been done. Until it has, and until the voices of consumers come to echo this, Nemeth should continue to be the code use for mathematics. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Justin Salisbury] Keeping Some of the Good Oranges by Justin Salisbury From the Editor: Justin Salisbury is a second-year graduate student in the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech University. He was working on his dissertation in agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when he changed directions and decided to pursue a career as a teacher of the blind. In this article he discusses a long-running debate about blind people pursuing careers working with the blind and exposes interesting contradictions in what we say and feel about the value of the field and the motivations of those who work in it. Is educating and rehabilitating the blind important enough that this is where we should direct some of our most capable people, or do we reflect the widely held view in America that "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." In addition, we are similarly divided when it comes to when people should enter the field. One line of thought has been that blind people should first work in a field that has little or nothing to do with blindness, show that they can be successful, and then come to work with the blind. In this way they can speak with authority to say that blind people can compete in the private and public sectors. The argument on the other side is that teaching is a learned skill and that one can't just transition into the blindness field without specialized training, the kind that is usually gotten by young people who select the field when deciding a college major. Here is Justin's perspective on this issue: Many of us may think that, if we want good oranges and can go anywhere to buy them, the place to go is Florida. However, in agricultural economics the "oranges principle" teaches us that high-quality products are disproportionately shipped out of the regions where they are produced. The price of shipping a high-quality orange is the same as the price of shipping a low-quality orange. The price to the consumer has to absorb the cost of the shipping; if people have to pay more for any orange because of shipping costs, they might as well buy high-quality oranges. In the namesake example we learn that the high-quality oranges, relative to the low-quality oranges, are disproportionately shipped out of Florida. Today, young people in the organized blind movement have a culture discouraging the most competent among us from entering careers in the blindness field. I knew this to be the case long before I chose to enter the field, and I must admit that I was a part of perpetuating that culture at one time. My fellow Federationists were consistently thrilled to learn that I was studying in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) area and were always willing to support me. I had become socially conditioned so that, when I met young blind people interested in working in the blindness field, I quickly asked if they had considered any other opportunities outside it. In mainstream society, if we meet someone who plans to get a job at McDonald's, we do the same thing: we ask if they have any bigger plans. If we meet someone in medical school, we don't ask. We are not nearly as compelled to push that person to fulfill a greater potential. This demonstrates some widely held value judgments about working at McDonald's and working as a medical doctor. It was not so long ago that I was telling other blind students that they could do better than becoming a Braille teacher. I knew that this cultural phenomenon existed, but I had to face it myself when I transitioned into the blindness field. This prompted my investigation into the causes of that culture, and I have written this article to outline the results of my investigation. I must thank Dick Davis and the Employment Committee of the National Federation of the Blind, a committee on which I am proud to serve, for acting as a solid sounding board and providing me with some of the concepts I describe today. We have gone through several historical phases in employment for the blind. At first we had blind people living in blind guilds, doing all we could to survive together, maybe caning chairs or singing to make a little money. The concept of blind people holding competitive, integrated jobs was nowhere on the horizon. Then we went into the sheltered workshop era, where blind people were often employed in facilities with other disabled people, frequently making subminimum wages and being supervised by the sighted. Opportunities for advancement were almost zero, and the thought that this should be otherwise was ridiculed as fanciful if not downright foolish. As bad as it was, blind people at least had jobs. Then we started seeing blind people working as the greeters at the state agencies serving the blind. Blindness did not need to be hidden anymore, and people entering the agency buildings could feel good to see a blind person doing something. Soon enough blind people began holding jobs as assistants to blindness professionals and then as low-level human service professionals. Here we were able to say that we were working in the blindness field, though we were not the highly skilled blindness professionals that the National Blindness Professional Certification Board certifies today. After this phase we began seeing an increase in the employment of the blind in many fields, though technical ones like engineering and medicine still saw smaller gains than fields such as social work or education. We now live in a time in which a blind person can realistically pursue a career doing just about anything. There are challenges to get the education, secure a job, and deal with the inaccessible technology that so often comes with it, but blind people have more opportunity now than we have ever had before. No longer should we feel forced into work in the blindness field, but neither should we be so focused on running away from the past that we fail to consider careers on an old but still-to-be- conquered frontier. When considering careers with the most occupational prestige, many require rigorous training beyond the skill sets that people already have prior to beginning training for them. For example, medical school and law school are rigorous preparation programs, giving aspiring lawyers and doctors the skills that they did not have prior to attending those programs. It is generally assumed that people know how to ask, "Paper or plastic?" prior to becoming employed to bag groceries. Similarly, a properly trained blind person can read Braille and walk with a cane, as well as function with a strong sense of self-efficacy; these are fundamentals of daily life. Those who do not fully understand the duties of a good teacher of the blind mistakenly believe that possessing those basic fundamentals is all a person needs in order to teach blindness skills to others. But that assumption overlooks how much work a teacher of the blind may have to do to give a student self-confidence, self-worth, and a healthy attitude toward living with blindness. In this devaluing of teaching and the art of motivating people to become all they can, we diminish the respectability of the blindness field and categorize some of our more energetic members in the movement as poor performers or those who just couldn't compete. In our society we assign value to opportunities based in part on how exclusive those opportunities are. Part of how we assess the prestige of a university is based upon how hard it is for someone to gain admission to it or how selective or exclusive it is. If an opportunity appears to be off- limits and restrictive to many members of our community, we assess that opportunity to be more valuable than those opportunities which are more widely available. Scarcity drives up the assessed value. Becoming a teacher of the blind is not off-limits to most blind people who wish to become one. What we do may be a lot of work, but it is not rocket science, and the discrimination that blind people face in the job market is lessening with each new CBP (certified blindness professional) entering the field. Though the shortage is immense and the need is great, the ability to access the opportunity somehow makes that opportunity less appealing. Our goal is to help every blind person become well rehabilitated, but often this term is defined more by contrasting him with others who lack the skills or confidence we want every blind person to have. Many of us have encountered a teacher of the blind who was dependent enough that she or he did not serve as the kind of role models we wanted them to be. Maybe it was the Braille teacher who was led everywhere by a sighted assistant. Maybe it was the blind rehabilitation counselor who would talk to himself during important meetings. Since many supervisors and decision-makers in the blindness field have low expectations of blind people, they may fall victim to accepting a lower standard of performance from these employees. If we know that blind people can occasionally keep jobs in the blindness field without performing competitively, we are tempted to associate that career field with blind people who have not yet acquired good training. Would we make the same generalization when encountering an ineffective lawyer, a doctor lacking bedside skills, or a teacher who didn't relate to her students? If we generalized this freely, soon we would come to feel that all fields were safe havens for incompetents, and indeed some who are less than competent are found in every field. The flipside of the argument that people who work in the blindness field are incompetent or have to meet a lesser standard is also in evidence. The blind people who work outside blindness in the more prestigious career fields are most often thought to be independent and well rehabilitated. We therefore strive to work in these fields, not just because they might interest us, but as a way of affirming our own independence. We seem to believe that, as with oranges, the good ones get shipped out. The assumption is that those without the best training and attitudinal adjustment are less able to compete in the cutting-edge frontier job fields, which leads to their disproportionately staying in the blindness field. The same logic holds that well-rehabilitated blind people are disproportionately entering frontier job fields. I doubt that statistics exist to show that these assumptions are true, but perhaps this is research I will one day do. The idea that becoming a teacher of the blind is a less valuable career rests upon the assumption that blind people are not important. Ultimately, we prioritize what we identify as most important. When we tell a young person that he or she can do better than a certain career, we are saying that the career itself is not important. When we devote our career to helping a certain group of people, assessing the importance of the career inherently requires a value judgment on the importance of the population being served and of the service being provided to them. As a parallel, we too often tell a woman that she should not become a stay-at- home mother because she can do better for herself and for the broader population of women by pursuing a financially-compensated career. As stay- at-home fathers become more common, the same message will likely emerge for men. This bias and consequent push inherently carries with it the message that children are not important and that caring for their health and safety and fostering their intellectual and personal development is not important. If by the will of God I become a parent one day, I do not plan to undervalue the importance of caretaking, and I am grateful for the benefits I experienced because my mother kept herself available to her children most of the time. When a person encourages blind students to consider other options over teaching the blind or talks about the career as if it is a less- appealing option, that person is telegraphing the message that this career is less important and not quite worthy of a truly capable and competent blind professional. Maybe the person persuading blind people to go in a different direction does not understand the life-changing effect that a good teacher of the blind can have on a blind student. Maybe that person has been affected by the low expectations in society and considers blind people to be less important than sighted people. Maybe the person who believes these things has never taken the time to consider the contradiction in saying how important it is to get quality training and opportunity and at the same time devaluing those who provide just that. We can all fall victim to these messages, and the National Federation of the Blind is what inoculates us against them. Part of the emotional adjustment which occurs at our training centers is learning to believe at the deepest levels that blind people are equal in value to our sighted counterparts. After all, we are. We need good blind role models working in the blindness field. It is only because of the good blind role models in my life, whom I found through the National Federation of the Blind, that I am on the path to self- actualization and living the life I want. Good sense ought to lead us to ensure that good blind role models are working in the blindness field. Every blind person deserves an instructor who can put on a pair of sleepshades and do exactly what he or she is telling the blind student to do. As President Riccobono reminded us in his first national convention banquet address, diamonds must be cut by other diamonds. The lesson is clear: we must not ship out all of the good oranges. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Jan Bailey] Low-Tech Solutions for Employment of the Blind by Jan Bailey From the Editor: This article is gratefully reprinted from the fall 2015 issue of the NFB of Minnesota's quarterly publication, the Minnesota Bulletin. Here is how Editor Tom Scanlan introduced the article: Editor's Note: Jan is a retired counselor for State Services for the Blind. She serves as our Rochester Chapter president and a member of the NFB of Minnesota board of directors. There is a plethora of technology in our world today, and it is certainly important in helping blind people to become employed, but often the simple low-tech solutions are never thought of. When I got my first job, I was a college student, and the job was splicing movie film in the darkroom. I was one of the first people hired, so we started out working on fake film to practice, but when the real film came in we had to prioritize the processing of the film, first doing the one-day film, ending with the film that would go back to a small town drugstore where they promised the customer to have their film back to them in a week. These films were labeled on a card on the inside of the box of film, and my boss soon called me in. He said they liked me, told me I did a good job, but said they would have to let me go. When I asked him why, he explained that they couldn't ask another employee to get my film for me, and that the A film had to be done first, then the B film, and then the C film. Since I couldn't read the cards, I had to go. On my own I had begun to realize this was going to come up, so I started thinking about a solution in advance. I explained to my boss that the system he had in place was time-consuming and ineffectual, but I told him that in a nice way. I explained that, since we were in the darkroom, a blindness technique would work much better. I told him people were wasting a lot of time taking film off the conveyer belt, going to the front of the room, removing the card, picking up the flashlight, moving away from the film, turning on the flashlight to read the card, and then, if the film wasn't an A film, they would have to turn off the flashlight, put the card back into the box of film, put down the flashlight, pick up the box of film, and try to remember where they got it off the conveyor belt. I told him it would be much easier if he would buy three one-hole paper punches for the people out front who prepared the trays of film for us. They could write on the card for the people out in the light, but for us they could punch holes in the card: one for A, two for B, and three for C. I suggested they make a space between the punches so that people who weren't used to doing things tactually could easily feel these holes. He loved it, adopted my technique, and I kept my job. My technique was faster too, because we could just go up and down the conveyor belt, feeling the cards without removing the trays of film. It was a major time saver, and everyone continued to use it long after I left. The next job I had was as a social worker in a nursing home. One of my jobs was to make quarterly case notes on all the residents in the nursing home. At that time I used a typewriter since this was in the late seventies and before the advent of the personalized computer or word processor. I knew I could type the notes, but I had to figure out a way I could recognize my own sheet in the chart and how I would know where I had left off in my typing. I did a search and found some paper that was perforated in four places. I simply put this paper into the typewriter, typed the first quarter's notes, and put it in the chart. When it was time to do the next quarter's notes, I put the same piece of paper back into the typewriter and went down to the next perforation. The charts were in numerical order at the nurse's station, so I never had a problem finding the correct chart. Since this paper was perforated, I was able to find my sheet very easily, because I could easily feel the perforations. My next job was as a rehabilitation counselor at State Services for the Blind, where I worked for thirty-one years. I had a client who wanted to be a dishwasher, but after his work evaluation his job coach told me that he couldn't be competitive as a dishwasher because he wouldn't be able to walk across the room carrying a stack of clean dishes to put them away. I suggested that he place all the dishes on the cart (probably more than the average person could carry) and then pull the cart behind him as he walked across the room using his cane. He was successfully employed as a dishwasher at a large hotel. I had another client who was going to work as a station aide in a nursing home, and he too was working with a job coach. He filled water pitchers, made up and delivered bedding packets, and took the residents down to their meals. They were going to let him go because they wanted him to signify that each resident had eaten their meal by marking their names off a printed list they gave him. He couldn't read this list, and no one could figure out a solution. We met, and I asked him how many tables were in the room. He said there were fifteen tables. Four people sat at each table. I asked him if he knew who sat at each table and where they sat, that is, what side of the table they sat on. He said he did. He could read very large print and could read Braille, but not fast enough. I asked him if he could read very large numbers. He said he could. So I suggested his wife could make up fifteen cards on 5-by-8 cards. She would number these cards one through fifteen, then draw four circles in magic marker on the card, and then fill in the names of the residents. She would put these fifteen cards in order on a large ring. Then, since he knew where each person sat, he would simply make an X on each of the four circles and hand them in. After three days of this they said he didn't have to keep doing that, but it saved his job. Too often I see people deciding that a blind person can't do a job because of one small thing, when just a little ingenuity could save the job. In the lingo of the day they call this thinking out of the box, but in my day we called it using your brain and being flexible enough to come up with alternative techniques. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ed Vaughan] People, Power, and Pelf by Ed Vaughan From the Editor: Ed Vaughan is professor emeritus in sociology at the University of Missouri Columbia. He has been a Federationist for more than thirty years and has written extensively about blindness in academic publications and in books he has authored and co-authored. He is also a frequent contributor to the Braille Monitor, and here is his most recent offering: Throughout my academic career and personal life, I have been concerned when individuals are exploited. Concerning blindness, I was always angered when I encountered educators and rehab workers with low expectations for blind people. This becomes worse when low expectations are embodied in the culture of agencies and organizations. Pelf is the Middle English word for wealth ill begotten. Does this idea apply to people who make their money and careers while diminishing the life prospects of the people they are supposed to be serving? In the January 1985 Braille Monitor in the article "Bringing Conflict into Focus" I described some of the sources of conflict between consumers and the providers of rehabilitation services. I observe that there is no necessary unity of interest between consumers and providers. Many of the sources of conflict are rooted in the organizational work settings of rehab and education professionals. From the organization's point of view, regulations, budget matters, and procedures are both necessary and important. Throughout the resulting procedures, the blind person is a case to be processed by the various workers involved. The client may spend many hours doing nothing while awaiting events scheduled for the convenience of the organization. The person seeking rehabilitation may be anxious, uncertain as to how he or she is being perceived, and aware that the process is the "only game in town." Quite normal and ordinary procedures from the point of view of the organization may appear to the client as himself or herself continually being considered as a category of a problem rather than as a whole person. The notion of "red tape" is used universally to describe the frustrations ordinary citizens feel in dealing with bureaucratic requirements, and there is a full measure of it here. Over the past thirty years some conditions are definitely improving. However, a great many blind people still experience unnecessary frustration and difficulty in using rehabilitation and educational services. The persistence of needless barriers to progress is rooted in the organizational and bureaucratic inertia of many government and private agencies. Since the Middle Ages the most common form of large scale social organizations is rational bureaucracies. More than any other social scientist, Max Weber described their characteristics. Such organizations concentrate power and economic resources to achieve goals. Power is from the top down-everyone has a boss. People are employed for their specialized competence-you only do your carefully defined job. Typically employment leads to careers, and loyalty to the organization is presumed. Information comes from the top down, and you are extremely disloyal if you are a whistleblower. Organizational goals are important but not crucial. For example, when the March of Dimes helped defeat polio, it dramatically reached its goal. However, the organization continues adopting more general goals such as fighting birth defects. If you have an effective fundraising organization with good salaries, who wants to quit? Such organizations are thought to be more efficient, thus linking the most effective means to reach goals. These organizations are the most dominant forms of employment in modern societies. However, they are value neutral-they can be efficient in organizing mass murder or raising money for the Red Cross. Blind people of necessity interact with large organizations when they seek education or rehabilitation services. This circumstance is more complicated than simply dealing with a bureaucracy. We must deal with workers who claim to be professionals. What does it mean to be a professional? These are workers who claim specialized knowledge to deal with specific problems. In terms of our concerns the first professions dealing with blindness were medical. Early in the twentieth century physicians got legal control of the medicine/drug prescription process, and they also became gatekeepers for determining blindness. If you claimed blindness or visual impairment, you had to have a physician document your condition. Subsequent medical groups evolved under this medical umbrella, including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work, and several want-to-be professions relating to blindness. Each profession claims specialized knowledge about a problem they have defined. They control entry and claim legitimacy by being licensed by the government or seeking certification from standards created by their own organization. No longer are professionals solo practitioners. Overwhelmingly they work within rational bureaucracies such as state governments, hospitals, and Lighthouses. They are now legitimated by socially powerful organizations, and they work within bureaucracies with all the characteristics mentioned above. When we encounter a problem with education or rehabilitation services, we are not merely dealing with a specialized geek in a bureaucracy; we are dealing with workers who think they possess scientifically-based knowledge on any problem we present. They know what is wrong with us and what we need. Many of them insulate themselves from consumers. Professionals working in the field of blindness frequently give as reasons for not participating that they must keep a professional orientation, that they cannot be advocates for groups, that conflict situations are harmful to agencies. Why are these professional groups and their organizations so resistant to consumer input? Why are some sheltered workshops so resistant to paying the minimum wage when it is almost certainly not an economic issue? Why did professional organizations so long resist the idea of blind mobility teachers? Why in the 1930s and 40s did the developing profession of workers for the blind eliminate itinerant blind teachers? All of us continue to be concerned about the needless dependency creating aspects of many rehabilitation programs. Increasingly the NFB has confronted the inertia of private and state agencies as well as corporations whose products are not accessible to blind people. Why the inertia and resistance to change? Administrators obtain social prestige, economic power, good salaries, and long-term career security. The field of work for the blind is not a large profession, and these professionals often have limited mobility opportunities. In many cases these administrators and professionals have no interest in seeing their boat rocked. "There is a crack in everything-that's how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen frequently discusses freedom and social change in his music. Max Weber was also concerned about freedom and individual responsibility. In the modern world these are experienced in social organizations. As Weber observed, charismatic leaders emerge as they challenge present arrangements, and their followers sometimes become involved in social movements. This is how we got the National Federation of the Blind- charismatic leaders and a strong social movement. However, the NFB is also a rational bureaucracy. How has it avoided bureaucratic inertia and stagnation? First, it has kept a constant and clear focus on the organization's goals. Through this focus it has avoided being co-opted by other social movements. Second, through its constitution it is a tightly knit organization from the top down. This permits prompt correction when things go awry at local and affiliate levels. Third, there is circulation within the elites. Individuals with talent can move up through the organization, becoming board members, national staff leaders, and holding leadership positions in the numerous special interest groups. Fourth, four decades ago when I first encountered this social movement, I was impressed by the ethnic and gender diversity. This again brings new leadership, talent, and energy. Finally, through careful selection there has been remarkable continuity at the presidential position, providing organizational stability and continuity. As an example, I was at first skeptical when the NFB created three residential agencies in Minneapolis, Denver, and Ruston, Louisiana. Did this social movement need three agencies that might become similar to the numerous existing centers? After twenty years these centers have continued to embody the values that characterize their founding. They continue to change attitudes and lives by expanding opportunities and horizons. There are no low expectations here. Why the title-"People, Power, and Pelf"? Pelf is ill-begotten money or wealth. What kind of people would be characterized as earning ill- begotten gains? If a rehab organization is not rehabilitating, is this not pelf? If organizations are not changing with new human developments-not providing more options for clients-is this not pelf? If an organization does not welcome consumers as partners, is this not pelf? Such organizations should not be controlling, but liberating. "Oppression, however well intended, is evil." Through its continual development of national leaders the NFB has liberated or at least greatly improved many state and private agencies. In the many decades ahead we can hope that pelf will be largely eliminated in agencies and institutions that provide rehabilitation services. ---------- A Matter of Dignity: How Minnesota is Failing the Disabled by Chris Serres and Glenn Howatt From the Editor: The National Federation of the Blind's fight to do away with subminimum wage payments in America is well known and long- standing. The following article describes the plight of people who work in subminimum wage environments and their desire to be paid a living wage. We thank the authors for writing this, and their newspaper for allowing us permission to reprint it. (Copyright 2015, Star Tribune, republished with permission.) In a field on the outskirts of town, a man with Down syndrome is spending another day picking up garbage. He wears faded pants, heavy gloves, a bright yellow vest, and a name tag that says "Scott Rhude." His job is futile. Prairie winds blow debris from a landfill nearby faster than he and his coworkers can collect it. In the gray sky overhead, a turkey vulture circles in wide loops. Rhude, thirty-three, earns $2 an hour. He longs for more rewarding work-maybe at Best Buy, he says, or a library. But that would require personalized training, a job counselor, and other services that aren't available. "He is stuck, stuck, stuck," said his mother, Mary Rhude. "Every day that he works at the landfill is a day that he goes backward." Rhude is one of thousands of Minnesotans with disabilities who are employed by facilities known as sheltered workshops. They stuff envelopes, package candy, or scrub toilets for just scraps of pay, with little hope of building better, more dignified lives. Many states, inspired by a new civil rights movement to integrate the disabled into mainstream life, are shuttering places like this. Not Minnesota. It still subsidizes nearly 300 sheltered workshops and is now among the most segregated states in the nation for working people with intellectual disabilities. The workshops are part of a larger patchwork of state policies that are stranding legions of disabled Minnesotans on grim margins of society. More than a decade after the US Supreme Court ruled that Americans with disabilities have a right to live in the mainstream, many disabled Minnesotans and their families say they still feel forsaken-mired in profoundly isolating and sometimes dangerous environments they didn't choose and can't escape. Records examined by the Star Tribune bear them out. Minnesota pours $220 million annually into the sheltered workshop industry, consigning more than 12,000 adults to isolating and often mind-numbing work. It also relies more than any other state on group homes to house the disabled-often in remote locations where residents are far from their loved ones and vulnerable to abuse and neglect. And when Minnesotans with disabilities seek state assistance to lead more independent lives, many languish for months-even years-on a waiting list that is now one of the longest in the nation. "We have entire communities of people with disabilities in this state who have zero choice," said Derek Nord, a University of Minnesota scholar who specializes in disability policy. "They live in closed systems with no obvious way out." State officials defend Minnesota's record, saying it led the nation in closing large institutions for people with mental impairments and that it ranks high in the generosity of its disability benefits. But in interviews with the Star Tribune, they acknowledged that people with disabilities deserve more control over their lives and said they are taking significant new steps to give them more choice in work and housing. "Today, too many families believe their child or their loved one only has one option-a sheltered workshop," said Jennifer DeCubellis, assistant commissioner at the Department of Human Services. "So we have to undo that, and make sure they understand there are other options. We have not done such a good job connecting people to those options." Other states are far ahead of Minnesota. Vermont has abolished sheltered workshops and moved most of their employees into other jobs. States across New England place nearly three times as many disabled adults in integrated jobs as Minnesota. Washington offers disabled workers nine months of vocational training and career counselors. "Nationally, the big river of change is flowing ... toward increased integration," said Pamela Hoopes, legal director of the Minnesota Disability Law Center. "Sometimes it appears that we [in Minnesota] are meandering along the bank and getting hung up on the weeds." Safe or Trapped The segregation starts early. As a boy in special education classes, Scott Rhude showed talent with computers and photography. But once he graduated from high school, his mother says, he bounced from one segregated workplace to another, never quite escaping a system that has sometimes amounted to little more than what she calls "babysitting." Away from his job, Rhude has built an independent life. He pays his own rent and shares a house with three friends in Willmar, a town of 19,600 west of the Twin Cities. He sings karaoke, goes on double dates, and started his own book club. His bedroom is packed with trophies from Special Olympics events. "I'm not afraid of anything," he joked recently, flexing his biceps under a poster of a professional wrestler in his bedroom. But Rhude's pursuit of independence ends each morning when the city bus drops him off at West Central Industries, a sheltered workshop on the edge of town. From here, a van takes him to the Kandiyohi County landfill, where he spends the next five hours collecting trash on a hillside as big as two football fields. Mary Rhude says she and her son hoped the roving work detail would broaden Scott Rhude's skills and give him exposure to other employers in Willmar. Instead, she says, it has become a "suffocating" experience that keeps her son isolated from the community. Kristine Yost, a job placement specialist for people with disabilities, calls this system "the conveyor belt." "It's heartbreaking," she said, "but time and again, young people get pigeonholed as destined for a sheltered workshop, and then they can't get out." Civil Rights Revolution In 1999, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling, known as Olmstead, that prohibits states from unnecessarily confining people with disabilities in special homes or workplaces. In a broad reading of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the court said that fairness demands not just access to buses and buildings, but to a life of dignity and respect. People with a wide range of disabilities-including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism-call it their "Brown vs. Board of Education." In the ruling's aftermath, many governors closed state institutions for the disabled and the US Justice Department sued Oregon and Rhode Island to close sheltered workshops. But, sixteen years later, the movement has yet to take hold in Minnesota. Under sustained pressure from a federal judge, Minnesota this fall became one of the last states in the country to adopt a blueprint-known as an Olmstead plan-to expand housing and work options for people with disabilities. County officials and social workers have begun consulting disabled clients about their goals and interests. By 2019 the state expects counties to complete detailed, individualized plans spelling out work and housing options for thousands of disabled adults. Yet even if it is executed successfully, the state's plan calls for only modest increases in the number of disabled adults living and working in the community. It makes no mention of phasing out segregated workshops and group homes. Its employment targets, Hoopes said, are "woefully inadequate" and a "lost opportunity." Some families defend sheltered workshops, saying they provide a safe place and a sense of accomplishment for young adults who cannot hold competitive jobs. Minnesota has a high overall employment rate for adults with disabilities, in part because of its sheltered workshops. Others say the state is clinging to an obsolete and paternalistic practice. "We have this mindset in [Minnesota] that says protection trumps everything else, and we have to keep people in these isolated bubbles to keep them safe," said Mary Fenske, a disability rights advocate from Maple Grove who advises employees of sheltered workshops. Sheltered Workshops Multiply Sheltered workshops were designed after World War II to prepare people with disabilities for traditional employment. They caught on in Minnesota, and between 1970 and 1984 the sheltered workforce increased from 700 to 6,000 workers, including thousands of people who needed daily activities after the closing of state mental hospitals. Today, state policy perpetuates the segregation. Each year, Minnesota pays more than $220 million in state and federal Medicaid funds to scores of sheltered workshops and training programs, which have become a large and self-sustaining industry. They operate fleets of vans, partner with local group homes, and use a federal loophole that exempts them from minimum-wage law. Most of Minnesota's sheltered workshops are nonprofits, but many hold business contracts with companies such as 3M to assemble or package products, while others provide janitorial services to local businesses. Even though they pay, on average, just $4.05 an hour, most could not survive without state subsidies to cover the cost of supervision and other services. "If not for the government money, a lot of these [sheltered workshops] would be starved out of existence," said Jim Clapper, board chairman of Midwest Special Services, Inc., a sheltered workshop and day training provider in St. Paul. Clapper's son works at a sheltered workshop. From a taxpayer's perspective, the workshop model is highly inefficient. It costs roughly $52,000 to create a sheltered workshop job that pays at least minimum wage, state records show. That's nearly ten times the $5,300 it costs to help a disabled worker get a job in the community, according to a 2010 survey by the Department of Human Services. "This all comes down to funding," said John Butterworth, director of the Institute for Community Inclusion, a research and training center at the University of Massachusetts. "If Minnesota spent this money on competitive employment, you would see more people working in typical workplaces earning typical wages." If sheltered workshops prepared their clients for better jobs, they might justify the huge investment. But academic research and state reviews suggest they do not. When Minnesota's legislative auditor studied the industry in the 1980s, he found that only eighty-three of three thousand sheltered workers graduated to competitive jobs. Today, research places the share at about 5 percent. In fact, sheltered workshops can actually impede clients' progress by training them to be compliant and settle for mundane tasks, said Bryan Dague, a University of Vermont researcher who advises states on disability employment. "All too often, a job in a sheltered workshop is a dead end," Dague said. Factory Work Early one morning last spring, at a warehouse set amid cornfields near Fairmont, Minnesota, more than thirty workers with varying disabilities stood quietly in line, clutching their white time cards. A few checked their watches nervously. At 8:15, a clipboard-wielding supervisor shouted, "It's time to get rollin'! Time to get rollin'!" With its clockwork precision, this workshop operated by MRCI Inc. of Mankato shows how the industry has developed a keenly efficient model-but also why many of its employees find it suffocating. Over the next eight hours, employees filled 3,600 plastic tubes with patriotic red, white, and blue gumballs for Memorial Day sales at big-box retailers. They also arranged more than 50,000 cans of chicken into tidy piles as they tumbled down a fast-moving conveyor belt known as the "T-Rex." Apart from managers occasionally yelling orders, the sprawling room was quiet but for the steady rat-a-tat of gumballs pouring into twelve-inch tubes and the hum of a machine wrapping plastic around cans of chicken. "Our workers are very well-behaved and task-focused," said Ramona Harper, the workshop's manager, as she walked the plant floor. "This is the best-kept secret in Martin County." Next to many workers were small white sheets to track their productivity. Every so often, a manager stopped by and jotted down how many tubes each employee had filled with gumballs. Pay is calculated using the prevailing wage for similar work: A disabled worker who pours gumballs half as fast as a non-disabled person makes half the prevailing wage for light manufacturing, or about $5 an hour. At noon, workers rushed into the cafeteria for plastic-wrapped sandwiches waiting under a heat lamp. On this day, the room buzzed with talk of two colleagues who "made it to the outside." One landed a job at Walmart, and the other was bagging groceries at a local supermarket for $9 per hour. "It's the success stories that give us hope that someday we can make it out of here," said Dustin Leibfried, 42. "Because there are some days when you feel like you're just racing, racing to catch up. Most of us want out." A Closed System John Wayne Barker was working his way through the brightly lit lunchroom of Merrick Inc., where he has been executive director for the past seventeen years. Every few steps, a worker stopped him for a high five or a hug. Barker is a vocal defender of sheltered workshops, and his expansive facility is considered a model for the industry. It operates an assembly line where about one hundred workers perform tasks like inserting greeting cards into envelopes for sale at grocery stores. But it also offers an array of "life enrichment" services, from music and pet therapy to yoga and gardening, for people who may be unable to work. If the workshop closed, many of its employees would be "at home, staring at the wall," deprived of their sole source of wages and social interaction, Barker said. "Without our program, virtually nine out of ten people we're serving would have no consistent daytime activity," he said. "Nobody [here] is trapped or unhappy." Some parents agree. Ivan Levy said his twenty-six-year-old son, Jason, who has autism and a developmental disability, has improved his social skills and self-confidence since coming to work at Merrick five years ago. After years of job coaching, he earns minimum wage in Merrick's recycling center. "If you closed the workshop, Jason would go from being in an environment with a lot of support and a lot of interaction to one with zero support and zero interaction," said Levy, an attorney in St. Paul. "He'd be sitting at home, watching television or playing video games all day." But for a large share of Minnesota's disabled workers, that's simply not true. At sheltered workshops subsidized by Minnesota's state workforce agency, as many as 45 percent of employees simultaneously hold other jobs in the community for at least minimum wage, according to an internal analysis. When Vermont closed its last sheltered workshop in 2002, social workers found jobs for 80 percent of the workers. "The numbers show that a lot of people [in workshops] can do real work for real wages if given the opportunity," said Jon Alexander, a supported employment provider in Little Canada. That includes people like Larry Lubbers, 61, who made $15 an hour moving shopping carts at a Rainbow Foods until he suffered a back injury. Unable to find other work, Lubbers, who has an intellectual disability, said he didn't object when the county suggested a sheltered workshop. Yet Lubbers says he remains shocked by his low pay. He now makes less than $30 a week doing menial tasks such as inserting straws into plastic bags. "It's out of sight, out of mind," Lubbers said one day as he waited for a van to work from his home in Inver Grove Heights. "Once you walk into a sheltered workshop, you become invisible." Breaking out of the system can be extremely difficult. Because their wages are so low, many sheltered workshop employees can't afford their own apartments or transportation. A 2010 state survey found that nearly 80 percent rely on their employer as their primary source of transit. In fact, a half-dozen sheltered workshops also run their own group homes; at least one, Functional Industries in Buffalo, Minn., shuttles people to its sheltered workshops from its group homes in its own vans. "It's a closed system," said Mary Kay Kennedy, executive director of Advocating Change Together, a disability rights group in St. Paul. "It's so safe and predictable that a lot of people never get to explore other options and realize their true potential." Handing Out R?sum?s Kenisha Conditt, twenty-seven, who has a developmental disability, went straight to work at Midwest Special Services in St. Paul after graduating from youth vocational training. For the past five years, she has been assigned to a cleaning crew that collects trash, mops floors, and cleans toilets at area businesses. On a recent morning, Conditt's team marched in a line through the parking lot of an industrial park in Minneapolis, carrying large plastic jugs in one hand and long-handled pincers in the other. With a supervisor watching, they plucked plastic bags, cigarette butts, and shattered glass from the blacktop. "You missed one, Kenisha!" the supervisor called, pointing to a rusty nail. After dumping her last bucket of trash and mopping the entryway of a bus terminal, Conditt returned to Midwest's gated campus in St. Paul, where she spent the next several hours killing time before a Metro Mobility bus arrived to take her home. Sitting with a group of coworkers on a row of plastic chairs, she stared ahead stoically as a woman with an accordion played "Goodnight Irene" and then the workshop's special song, "Midwest Special Services is where I like to be ... " When the song ended, Conditt and the others filed quietly back to a row of desks full of puzzles and games. "Five years of this, and I'm ready to move on," she said. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life cleaning toilets." A few days later, Conditt seemed transformed. On Sundays she helps teach children at Christ Temple Apostolic Church in Roseville. She laughed, sang, and read children's books as toddlers crawled over her lap and shoulders. "Kenisha has gifts that people at the workshop never see," said her mother, Antoinette Conditt. On the drive home from church, they spotted an Old Country Buffet with a "Help Wanted" sign in the window. Her mother pulled over. Conditt darted across the parking lot. Stepping into the restaurant's lobby, she smoothed her blue skirt, smiled broadly, and asked if she could speak with the manager. In one of her hands Conditt held tightly to a folder filled with copies of her r?sum?. She takes them everywhere she goes. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: J. W. Smith] In Their Own Words: The Historical and Rhetorical Significance of the Annual Banquet Address at the National Federation of the Blind Convention by J. W. Smith From the Editor: Dr. J. W. Smith is an associate professor teaching communications studies, focusing on rhetoric and public address and political and cultural contexts. He teaches at Ohio State University in Athens, Ohio. He is the Immediate Past President of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, a gospel singer who had a CD or two to his name, a family man, and a Federationist who loves good speeches. JW joined the NFB almost a quarter of a century ago and has long been moved and fascinated by the annual banquet speech highlighting our national conventions. This article represents interviews that he did nearly twenty years ago, so the reader will observe that Dr. Maurer is referred to as president, and Dr. Jernigan is sometimes referred to as the past president. Here is what he has to say after talking with two dynamic speakers and one very observant, reflective, and articulate member: I joined the National Federation of the Blind in 1990 when I was a young professor of communication studies at Indiana University, South Bend. As it happens I was invited to a chapter meeting as a result of someone seeing a story that had been done on me by the South Bend Tribune. As you might expect, my life was never the same after that first meeting. I remember listening to Dr. Jernigan and President Maurer on the Presidential Release and, as a professor of what was called speech communication at that time, I was mesmerized by their rhetorical style and delivery. I was fortunate to attend my first national convention in 1992 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was an overwhelming and exhilarating experience overall, but the power of the banquet speech was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Since that speech I have not missed a convention to date or a banquet address. When I attended the 1993 convention in Dallas, Texas, and after leaving the banquet that year, I made up my mind that I would write a critique of the historical/rhetorical significance of the banquet address itself. I decided that it would be helpful to interview Dr. Jernigan, President Maurer, and perhaps several other Federationists who had been longtime members of the movement to ascertain just what this event and that speech meant to them. I had just missed the 1990 banquet address delivered by Dr. Jernigan, which had commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the NFB. Although I was not in attendance at that convention or banquet address, it was a desire of mine to do a rhetorical analysis of that speech. In a paper entitled "In Honor of Kenneth Jernigan: Argumentative Functions of History in the 1990 Banquet Address to the National Federation of the Blind" presented at the Central States National Communication Association Meeting in April 2012, my colleague Dr. Jerry Miller and I sought to analyze that speech from a particular communication perspective. In part we wrote: "Routinely honored and recognized for his achievements and dedication throughout his tenure as the leader of the NFB, Jernigan accepted an invitation to deliver the 1990 banquet address. In reality no other member of the NFB had the knowledge and respect comparable to that of Kenneth Jernigan. Jernigan's address serves as a defining event for the NFB, as it simultaneously chronicles the historic journey of the blind movement, challenges the audience to accept his historical account of the NFB, and motivates the association and its members to take responsibility in securing their rights. Jernigan's address permitted his listeners to become part of one-man's lived experience and perceptions of truth that, in turn, serve as argumentative proof for his audience, particularly members of the NFB. Jernigan's efforts motivate his audience to take action and embrace their identities. As Kenneth Jernigan delivers the address, he establishes the importance of such a speech and outlines what is needed in a successful address. He accomplishes this lesson by quoting an excerpt from a letter shared with him by his mentor, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. In this letter Dr. tenBroek is inviting Professor Kingsley Price to deliver the 1949 banquet address: "The banquet address is a kind of focal point in which the problems of the blind, their peculiar needs with respect to public assistance, employment, and equal opportunity are formulated and presented both with an eye to rededicating and stimulating the blind persons present and an eye to enlightening and possibly converting the many sighted persons who have been invited to attend. For me, this has always been a job of rehashing and repeating certain central ideas. My imagination and new methods of statement have long since petered out. The next alternative is to get a new 'stater.' This is what I would like you to be." Jernigan reflects on a passage from another of tenBroek's letters in which he admonishes Professor Price for declining the invitation to deliver the banquet address. "We are desperately in need of new voices and a new brain to do this job, and a man from New York has geographical advantages as well." This strategic use of direct quotations and "report speech" by Kenneth Jernigan accomplished the task of calling the membership to action. Although Jernigan provides his own set of guidelines for a successful banquet address earlier in the speech, it is his reflection on the words of his mentor that allows him to call others to action, while admonishing those who fail to step forward when called. As the longest serving leader of the NFB and one responsible for much of its organizing, Jernigan argues that it is fundamentally important to become familiar with their history. As he writes, "In considering our past I am mindful of the fact that except for inspiration, perspective, and prediction, there is no purpose to the study of history." Jernigan's ironic phrase draws humorous attention to the importance of history and the instruction such information provides." I have listened to that speech many times, and it never fails to encourage, inspire, and motivate me as a member of this movement. The purpose of this article is to bring to light interviews that I conducted over twenty years ago from those most responsible for the creation of this phenomenon known as the annual banquet address. I was privileged to speak with Dr. Jernigan, President Maurer, and the longtime editor of the Braille Monitor, Barbara Pierce. I want you to hear in their own words their thoughts about creating such addresses and their rhetorical and historical significance for both members of the movement and the general public. [PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Jernigan speaking at 1994 convention] Interview with Dr. Jernigan I approached Dr. Jernigan in the fall of 1994 and requested a phone interview. As you might expect, he graciously agreed, and on a cold October night I called him, and even though he was tired after a long day, he took time to answer my questions and to provide me an extraordinary experience. I recorded this interview on a small tape recorder, and I maintained that small cassette for approximately twenty years before getting the interview itself transferred to a CD version. There were times during those years when I feared I had lost the cassette or that it had worn out, and I would never be able to get the valuable information from it for this purpose. You can only imagine how elated I was when I was able to get it done, and, in fact, the quality of the interview is still amazing even to this day. Here is what Dr. Kenneth Jernigan had to say on that late October night in 1994: JW: This will be in essence a historical/rhetorical analysis of the NFB banquet address over the first forty-four years of our movement. KJ: All right. JW: And I have a rare chance to talk with a person who has-let me see, how many of them have you heard? KJ: I've heard all of them since 1952, so I've heard forty-three. JW: That's right, and do you know how many you've actually done yourself? KJ: Well, I could count them. I did the 1963 banquet speech, and I did the 68, 9, 70, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 80, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 90. JW: And 90 KJ: So I've done twenty-one of them, I guess. JW: Wow. All right, talk to me then a little bit about the banquet address and its present-day impact on the blind of this country. KJ: The banquet address is meant to be a statement of principles and also a philosophical guidepost for our future. It is meant to be a summing up of where we've been and where we're going. It is now regarded by everybody as the high point of the convention. I would say the banquet speech constitutes a psychological-it certainly is the key statement of philosophy during the convention or is meant to be. JW: Tell me about your best and worst memories of the banquet addresses you've heard and you've done. It sounds like a strange question, but what is your best, and what was your worst experience with it? KJ: Let me say that my banquet addresses have been meant to address given things. One time we dealt with the history of blindness, one time with what blindness was like in literature, and another with what kind of relations we have with the public. One time I gave a banquet address called "Blindness: The Patterns of Freedom," which talked about what the principal elements are that go to make up the pattern that you have to have coming from second-class to first-class status. I would think that my best banquet speeches have been, at least from my point of view, the 1973 speech, which is "Blindness: is History Against Us;" '75, "Blindness: is the Public Against Us;" '76, which would be "Blindness: of Visions and Vultures;" and '85, which is "Blindness: The Pattern of Freedom;" and the 1990 one, which is the fiftieth anniversary speech. I regard those as the five best banquet speeches I've made. As to my most difficult experiences with the banquet speeches, they had to do with one of those very five. In 1985, in Louisville, when we were just starting, we were a minute or two in and apparently some wires got hot, and the people got all panicky-the hotel people-and jerked all of the video wires and lights. So everything, the sound system and everything, went down, and we had to start the banquet speech over. JW: Oh my goodness-[laugh], I didn't know that. Moving on, how in the world does one prepare for such a speech? Talk to me about that-how do you put it together? KJ: I think that what you have to do in preparing a banquet speech is quite different than what you do in preparing a letter or even an article. In the first place let me say to you that when I have written banquet speeches, I've put in an average of eighty working hours on the banquet speech. Now that is so because every sentence, every comma and period, every word gets careful examination and scrutiny. The banquet speech essentially-it seems to me that the ones that I've given-the pattern I've developed for a banquet speech is you pose a problem or you state a proposition, and then it seems to me you talk some about the historical roots of it all, and then you give illustrations and examples, and ultimately you come to the place where you're going in the future with it and you say some concluding propositions. That's about what a banquet speech is, the patterns that I would use for a banquet speech. JW: I have read the entire book Walking Alone and Marching Together in Braille. I have a Braille copy. I am now going through the taped version of it, and I must say that I am not finished. I'm at the point where you did your 1986 speech, the last one as president. In my observation you sounded-I don't know what the word is-you sounded very introspective. What were you feeling during that speech? KJ: Well, of course that speech represented what I viewed to be a major milestone in my life because, although I had stepped aside from the presidency in 1977 for a year, I did not know whether I would come back as president. I suspected I might if things so indicated-if my health improved, and it did. But in 1986 I knew that, barring a tremendously unforeseen circumstance such as the death of the person coming in as president or some other fantastically unlikely situation, that I was not going to be president of this organization anymore, and therefore I of course reviewed in my own mind my time in the federation as well as many other things in my life. JW: It came through [laugh]; it really did. I don't have the chance to talk with Dr. tenBroek, but you were one of his principal lieutenants in those early years. Did you have much discussion with him about the banquet address? How did he feel about it? Do you have any memories about his involvement in it? KJ: Yep. I think that his own banquet addresses, as I've read them, underwent a change also. He was from first to last quite a scholar, a legal scholar, but he was interested in-after studying the philosophical tone of the movement in several of his earlier speeches- he was interested in making a more-I don't know how to put it, speeches that were immediate-issue-oriented. The earlier ones were also issue oriented, but they were more heavily philosophical-- rallying cries as opposed to the heavily issue oriented ones of the latter stage. JW: What would you say was his best in your mind of the ones that you heard? KJ: I believe "The Cross of Blindness" was the best that he gave from my point of view. JW: What year was that? Do you remember the year? KJ: 1956. JW: Six, okay. KJ: No, 1957, take it back. '56 was "Within the Grace..." JW: "Within the Grace of God," yes. KJ: Now I regard some of his earlier speeches as perhaps better to read and study than some, and "The Cross of Blindness" was a prime example of one that was better to listen to. JW: Well, my final question for you, and then I'd like for you to have the opportunity to say anything else you'd like to say about this whole issue. My final question goes something like this: I heard you say at this year's meetings that if things work out and you attend your-I believe it's your fiftieth convention-or is it 2000 that you and President Maurer said that you would do the banquet address is that... KJ: 2001. JW: Uh huh KJ: It will be my fiftieth banquet in a row. JW: I'm asking you to take out your crystal ball now. What do you see as possible primary concerns for that banquet address? Where do you see the blindness movement, and what do you think you might say? KJ: Well, of course it is natural to look back over a century or a half a century and to look ahead. We'll be halfway toward our century mark, so you're really talking about what will be more than fifty for me. This will be the sixty-first convention-or the sixty-second-I guess sixty-first for the NFB. We'll be into our second half-century; we'll be into a new century, and this country is bound to have undergone considerable change by then. The first Clinton administration will have come and gone, and there'll either be a second or a Republican administration, and then we'll be into still yet another administration down the line. There are tremendous changes now coming in the social fabric of this country, and so the blind naturally look to accommodate to those changes and to try to make those changes accommodate to them. All of that will need to be considered. JW: Yes. Any final comments you could tell me about the banquet address- something that has not been addressed in my questions-observations that come to mind? I mean, I think I've captured the essence of a once- in-a-lifetime experience here. KJ: I think that the banquet address does many things. For the brand-new Federationist, the banquet address is an experience that brings that convention together. It cements Federationism into the whole of the individual, almost. It is, for the person who has been there five, ten, fifteen years who is in mid-stride in the Federation-I think the banquet address renews; I think it encourages; it gives a shot of energy for the coming year. I think for the person who is a longtime veteran in the ranks that the banquet address has nostalgic overtones to it. I think it also makes one think of generations to come. It tends to expand the sweep of one's thinking forward and backward. It, I think, impresses and invigorates all of us, but it does different things for people, depending on how long they've been coming to conventions. JW: Yes, as I said, this is the third one that I've actually heard, and, uh boy, I remember that first one in '92, and it did all those things that you say. That was the interview, and even as I write and listen to this recording now, I am struck by its power, focus, and sincerity. Dr. Jernigan's graciousness and love for this movement was as genuine as it could be, and as a young member then, I could not believe that he was allowing me this amazing opportunity. [PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer speaking at podium in 1995] The Interview with President Maurer In the winter of 1995 it was quite obvious that I should interview President Maurer, and once again I was afforded extraordinary access and genuine graciousness. I conducted this interview by phone as well, and I am indebted to Sarah Parsloe, a graduate student at Ohio University, for her willingness to transcribe these recordings. She captured the essence of the interviews, allowing me the editing license necessary for these finished products. In the Maurer interview I was struck by the candor and conversational quality of the interviewee. This was 1995, and by that time President Maurer and Dr. Jernigan were functioning as a well-oiled team. In fact, their tag-team approach to everything really did seem to give us double for our admission at the conventions. I think you can also read and hear the genuine love and respect that President Maurer has for his mentor and friend, Dr. Jernigan. For me to be able to interview both of them on this topic provided some profound insights and revelations that I think worthy of future research and study. Here is the Maurer interview: JW: Marc, could you first talk with me about the historical significance as well as the contemporary significance of the banquet address. MM: Well, the banquet address is a document which intends to put, at the time that we are having the convention, into perspective where the blind of the United States and-for that matter, in a sense, the blind of the world-are. In fact I think the blind of the United States, at least at the moment, are ahead of the blind of the world and developing the opportunities for independence, and I think that's the objective involved-for blind people to exercise their talents to the extent that we who are blind have them, and therefore that tries to put into perspective at the time it is delivered where we are. Now, it also intends to have a sweep which is broad enough to show that what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve as a movement is a part of the broader perspective of history so that the banquet speech is timely when delivered, but is also in a sense timeless because it will show, in one facet or another, one element or another of the greater society, why this particular movement matters, and what difference it is making to the broader arena or the broader community in which blind people live. JW: I talked to Dr. Jernigan about this, but I really want your input on this: How do you prepare for such a speech? Walk me through that. MM: Well, I look for speech ideas all the time. I know that speeches will have to be written. I look for ideas, and I try not to use up ideas when they are of special significance. There is one speech that I have written and delivered which might have been a national convention banquet speech, but was not. Well, no, there are two. One of them became a Monitor article, and it might have had enough importance to be a banquet speech. I know it wasn't developed enough to be a banquet speech, but a Monitor article. It's a good Monitor article, and it has an important nugget of an idea and reality about it which might have been significant enough to be a banquet speech. See, the sun will rise in the east-that is true, and it is important. It is very important because if the mangy thing does not rise, you'll freeze to death after a while, and a while won't be long, and so will the rest of the world, and so it's important. But, since you can't do a thing about it, it wouldn't make a good banquet speech. The speech has to be something that you can do something about. It has to be a message showing that the individual action of the human being will matter and can make a change, which is important both for the blind person and to the world at large. So, with that in mind, I look for ideas that can be made into banquet speeches, and I look for them all the time. An idea-it has to be important, and it also has to be one which not everybody in the world already knows so it has some freshness about it, and it has to be an idea which has an element in it which means that a person can do something to make some change which will make a difference to bring greater cohesion, conformity, and a brighter and better world. So that's the idea I'm looking for. I never know what it is before I see it, and sometimes even then I'm not sure it's good enough. JW: I see. MM: So I'm looking for that. Then, once you have that idea, it has to be presented in a package which is understandable. Two or three years ago- I forget which one it was now-there was an idea, the mysterious 10 percent. It said that education happens-that you have to know 90 percent of what you are presented, and the new stuff can be about 10 percent, and that 10 percent is all important. Well, I think this has an element of truth about it, but you have to present this idea in a way which is understandable. It can't be so different and so new that nobody gets it, so it has to be presented in a way that people will understand. This means that the banquet speech can't be written all at once-100 percent, you write those words, and they take a long time. And then you go over them, and that takes a long time. My experience is that I write the introduction to the banquet speech and then throw it away and start over. And then, after I've written it the second time, usually I like it well enough to keep it, except that it gets massaged- probably anywhere from a dozen to twenty times before it's finished. JW: By you? MM: By me. JW: Do you have other official or unofficial editors, people you've trusted over the years look at it? MM: I went to Dr. Jernigan on them. JW: Ok. MM: But I don't show it to anybody else. JW: I see. Let me ask you: I have read the Braille issue of Walking Alone and Marching Together. I am now listening to the tape issue. I am now at 1987. MM: You have the one with the voices? JW: That's right. I'm in 1987 now. I'm about to listen to your first banquet address. Talk to me about what it was like getting ready for that and how you felt delivering that if you can remember. MM: Well, there was only one real question. Everybody has a speech in them- one. Your own story is a speech if you know how to write it. JW: Yes. MM: So everyone has one speech, and the question was could I deliver it. JW: Uh huh. MM: There are two speeches that the president gives as a matter of tradition although it hasn't always been that way, and I don't guarantee that it always will be. Dr. Jernigan and I have agreed for example that in the year 2000, he's going to give the banquet speech- which is a nice thought-I won't have to write it if I'm around. JW: [Laugh] MM: There are two speeches: one is the presidential report, and one is the banquet speech. I had delivered the presidential report by the time we got to the banquet in 1987, and the presidential report went all right. You could offer criticisms of its delivery, but it went all right-people liked it, at least. When Dr. Jernigan ceased to be president, as you will remember from this year's banquet, there were many people that weren't sure if that was a good thing to have done. I believe Dr. Jernigan wasn't sure, although he never said so. I wasn't entirely sure myself. He asked me once upon a time if I wanted to be president of the organization, and I told him I did. He said "That's just as well, because you can't be president if you don't want to be." So we talked about it, and I became president. Whether it was a good thing to have done, a lot of us were wondering about. I was wondering, he was wondering, although he didn't say so. The question was whether or not I could carry what the organization had already done. Dr. Jernigan makes great speeches, so the organization cannot have somebody who can't make pretty good speeches as its leader because it will look like second-rate and second best. Say what you will about the organized blind-we're not prepared to have second rate by and large. On occasion we might take second best for some specific purpose, but it will have to be to achieve a different end. We're not prepared to have it overall, and I'm one of the ones that isn't. So, with that in mind, the question was whether or not the speech could swing at all, and it went all right. JW: Ok MM: And it's hard-with that kind of understanding behind you, it makes a person moderately uneasy. JW: Yeah [laugh]. Let me ask you about the audiences you have to address. I've sat through three banquet addresses now live and in person, and probably just about all of them or most of them on tape. Talk to me about-as you prepare that speech and as you deliver it, what are the audiences you are addressing, and what-you know-how do you get at meeting their needs? MM: The Federation is a good audience, a very good audience. When the then president comes to the microphone to speak to the Federation, the president knows that the Federation is friendly to begin with. It is longing for whatever is being done at the podium to be successful and is willing to empathize with the person making the address. All of that is good. But the Federation is a very knowledgeable audience. It knows what good speeches are like. It recognizes a flimflam, and it's not willing to tolerate one. Consequently, you have to give it to the audience straight, and it has to be of good quality. The audience knows when it's not going to have good quality. It's willing to tolerate people who aren't top quality, but it's been through enough of the good quality stuff that it's perfectly well aware of when it's not getting the best. So with that in mind you've got to prepare for the people who are out there. Now, who have you got: you've got the guy who is on the line in the factory; you've got the unemployed person who didn't get much education; you've got the fellow from the hills who didn't get much chance; you've got the college professor and you've got the lawyer and the engineer; you've got people who didn't find a way to go and be a part of the broader society too much, so they've spent a lot of time listening to the talk shows, they are aware of what's happening on the talk show circuit. You've got all those people. And you've got all of the ethnic backgrounds, and you've got all of the religious backgrounds. There are some people in the audience who will be-probably there aren't many who are anti-religious- but there are many who don't have religion as a high priority, but there are some who wouldn't miss a Sunday at church. And you've got to know that. JW: Yes MM: It's a very broad range of individuals. JW: If you had to highlight two or three key things or issues that you try to bring out within this address, what would they be? MM: Well, individual responsibility and individual power. If you don't have individual responsibility, individual power doesn't make any sense. If you don't have individual power, neither does individual responsibility. The fact that anyone can, with the right motivation, the right persistence, the right understanding make a significant difference sufficient that it will change the fabric of society at least in the area where that individual is-that is part of every single banquet speech. JW: Okay, well this is fascinating, you know. I'm going to write an article about the banquet address. I've spoken with Dr. Jernigan, but you had a chance to work closely with Dr. Jernigan, and you had a chance to hear a number of his banquet addresses. Tell me how you felt as an audience member listening to his banquet addresses. MM: Oh, my. I don't know whether your experience was the same as mine, but the first banquet address I heard was the 1969 banquet. I was in the audience, and Dr. Jernigan got up there and began to talk, and in a minute I knew he was talking to me. I think that most of the people in the audience felt the same way: he was speaking to me individually. He was saying these things that would make a difference to me in my own life, and it was positively magic. JW: Oh yeah, yeah. My first one was yours in Charlotte, and I'll never forget it. I was hooked from then on. Let me ask you also, then, what do you think was the best Jernigan speech you've heard? I've already asked him what he thought was his best. What would you say was his best? MM: I don't know. JW: So you haven't singled out one in particular? MM: Well, I could tell you some I liked. I could tell you some I liked for different reasons. JW: Yes MM: Banquet speeches are supposed to be timeless, and mostly they are. But some, it seems to me, came at a particularly good time. I think that the 1990 speech was one like that. The 1976 banquet speech had a magnificent power, too. But then maybe the 1985 banquet speech does. Anyway, I don't know which one I liked better. JW: Yes, yes. Well, how about you personally? You've done seven of them. Which one would you say has been your best or worst, and why do you think so? MM: Well, I think that I'm not in a good position to answer that question. I think that one of the more interesting banquet speeches was the first, and yet I don't think it was as well delivered as I would have hoped. The 1994 banquet speech may have been delivered better than any of the others. It had an interesting idea in it, but it's not the idea that I would regard as the most interesting of any of my banquet speeches. Last year's banquet speech I found interesting. I don't know whether other people did or not, but I did. JW: Well, my final question to you, President Maurer, is very simple, and it is related to the banquet address. What is the future of the banquet address, and what are some of those future themes. Let's say it's ten or perhaps fifteen years from now-look into your crystal ball, and tell me what that banquet speaker is talking about. MM: Well, the Federation has changed over the years. The position that we now have is different from the position that we had twenty-five years ago. The National Federation of the Blind is more powerful. It has a larger membership; it has many successes to its credit. It seems to me that one banquet speech will need to focus on something which Dr. Jernigan talked about a little bit two years ago. There will be two things that I think will occur that will have to be addressed in banquet speeches, and one is that we have to find a way to know how to manage the power that we possess with understanding and restraint. Most countries that have gained independence have fought hard to gain it, have had a period of time that was relatively peaceful, and then have gone into civil war and civil strife either for longer or a shorter time because they didn't know how to govern internally. The failure to know how to manage the power that they had attained caused conflict, disturbance, and destruction. We must prevent that. We have to be able to use the power that we gathered together to make the society better. We have to find a way to become truly integrated, and that means to interact with other outfits around the world or at least around this country. That has to be done without strife. The second thing that is important, it seems to me, is that as you gain a measure of success and as people grow up not facing the stark reality of nonparticipation, then they begin to believe that there isn't anything important for the organization to do, and they may not join it. Especially is this so if they think they've made it on their own, so why bother. We have to address that. That is occurring right now, in fact. JW: Yes MM: I think that the number of people who have that feeling may increase. A sense of history must be a part of what we are, and a sense of history must give us a sense of community, so we have to address that in times to come. If we don't address it now, I think it will be a greater phenomenon in the future. Just imagine having had the opportunity to speak with the two men who had delivered the banquet addresses from 1968 to 1995. It seemed to me what was left for me to do was to find a unique audience perspective-and did I ever with Barbara Pierce. [PHOTO CAPTION: Barbara Pierce at 1997 national convention] Interview with Barbara Pierce My original plan was to interview several longtime Federationists and then take themes from their responses in reference to their recollections of the banquet addresses. After thinking about it, I thought that interviewing the then-editor of the Braille Monitor would be sufficient and provide a sort of insider/outsider perspective on the topic. Unlike the two previous interviews, this one was conducted in my hotel room at the 1997 convention in New Orleans. Of course, Barbara Pierce was my affiliate president at the time, and she was her usual professional and confident self during the interview. Her unique take on the topic is timeless and instructive even today. JW: Ok, I have Barbara Pierce here and Barbara, first of all, two-part question: how long have you been with the NFB, and what is your role in the organization? BP: I joined the Federation in January of 1974 and have been active in the organization ever since. I have organized a chapter and become that chapter's president (that was back in the 70s). I've been a state board member and a state officer. Since 1984 I have been president of the NFB of Ohio. I have been the director of public education for the national organization since about 1980, or maybe '78, to the present, and since 1988 I have been first associate editor and now editor of the Braille Monitor magazine, the house organ of the Federation. JW: As you know, this interview is about the banquet address. Now I say that to you as someone who knows what that means, but what does that mean to you? BP: I have been present at twenty-three consecutive banquets of the National Federation of the Blind. The banquet address, as an element in the organization-it's certainly the high point of the convention, and the convention is the high point of the Federation's year. For me the banquet address is the focal point of the magnifying glass; all of the rays come together and focus on one point. It is an articulation of the philosophy as it is manifest in the lives of blind people. It is a way of saying to ourselves over and over again, "Here's who we are; here's what we struggle against; here is the victory we define for ourselves." JW: Now that's a twenty-three-year-old answer, and that's good. I want to ask you something else: can you remember your first banquet address, and can you take yourself back to how you felt, talk to me about the atmosphere; put me back there. BP: Okay, now first of all, my first banquet was 1975, and as it happens that was the third in a series of three banquet addresses: "Is History Against Us," "Is Literature Against Us," "Is the Public Against Us." So in fact, I had heard recordings of the first two elements before I went to the 1975 address, but there was something electric in the air about being present for that address. Dr. Jernigan is a powerfully eloquent speaker, and his delivery is nearly flawless. I could hear that on the recordings before then, but there is something about being in the room and sharing the experience with over 1,500 other people. Somehow sharing such an experience with 1,500 people has in itself a powerful effect, and I can remember sort of reaching and pinching myself. Am I really here? Having heard the speeches, suddenly to be present and to have this speech laid out before us, which was, "Here are all the ways in which in a sense it feels as though public attitudes are so piled up against us, and yet the public isn't really against us. We must see that people understand and come to the realization of blindness that we have," and it was like being hurled out into the world on a catapult. I think nothing will ever be as exciting to me again. I have heard better banquet speeches since, but the impact will never be the same because nothing like that will ever be like the first. JW: I know, it's kind of like your first love, your first whatever. BP: First baby, yeah, [laugh], that's right. JW: Of the twenty-three you've heard, what was your favorite and why? BP: Hmmm, well, 1976 "Of Visions and Vultures" has a special place in my heart, partly because I was sitting there in all innocence, and suddenly a letter that I wrote got read in the banquet address. That was a pretty astonishing experience suddenly to make it into the banquet address-it sort of felt like I had achieved a little piece of immortality, but that banquet address is certainly the articulation of a lot of our perceptions of what it is like to live out the Federation's philosophy. We must keep our eye on what it is that we're doing; we must not be distracted; we must move forward in absolute focus and attention. It was laid out in intimate detail, anecdote by anecdote, letter by letter, personal crisis by personal crisis, so that one was a very powerful one. I really like-and I'm going to have a hard time getting it right-I think it's 1985, it's Dr. Jernigan's "The Patterns of Freedom." I personally find that a very powerful one because it goes to the heart of what constitutes freedom, and it seems to me this is absolutely essential for blind people to understand. No one can give us what it is we must have. We must take it; we must deserve it; we must maintain it, and I think that is such a fundamental truth, and he managed to find ways of saying it. There are so many wonderful quotes through the ages that he pulls together and puts into a blindness context; I love that speech. JW: You know that Dr. tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, and President Maurer have done the majority of the speeches since the founding of this organization. You've had the privilege of sitting through that transitional phase of Dr. Jernigan to President Maurer. Talk to me about that. BP: Of course, in the structure and evolution of the organization that was a very important speech because the question in everyone's minds had to be, can President Maurer deliver a speech of the force and caliber that we have been used to hearing. If this is the single experience that is going to galvanize an entire organization for a year, it is fraught with a great deal of importance, so everyone, myself included, came into the banquet that night with a profound question on our hearts: Can he do it? JW: No, no pressure on him! BP: No, none whatsoever-I mean, you know that was just astonishing, astonishing how he did it, and I suspect he will never work on a banquet speech as hard or as long as he must have worked on that one. I don't know that for a fact, but I believe that is in fact the case. "Back to Notre Dame" was the name of the speech, and it was his thinking about his own evolution and how far we have to come by looking at his experience as a student at Notre Dame, and it worked. So there was this great euphoria for that that all of us were caught up in because the magic was there. You know, we're looking at a young man just beginning, taking over for a man seasoned and experienced, who had an impeccable ear for the language, and so it's not the same. It's a different voice. The great sophistication and sensitivity to nuance of the language that Dr. Jernigan has, Mr. Maurer didn't have in 1986. But, but, it was clear that it was going to be all right and that the nurturing, the feeding, the food, and the energy were all there. We were still capable of sending people out into the world, marching together, and we were capable of going out to walk alone, and that is so essential for us in this organization. So much of the time each of us labors in a little part of the vineyard where we're the only person. JW: Do you have a favorite part, a favorite segment? BP: Of the address? JW: Of the address itself, of the oration? BP: I have never really looked at it in that way before. JW: See, I like introductions. I like the introductions of those presentations. BP: When introductions are done well, I agree with you. I think that the introduction is probably the hardest thing to do well, and I think that as we plow this particular field it gets harder to find a way into the material. Certainly, historically, the most fun part of the banquet address is the middle part where all of the examples such as the putting sponges on blind people's heads and twenty-seven steps and teaching a blind person to clap and all of the nonsense, the nonsense that so much of our lives leads to such painful frustration, and suddenly, for one glorious moment together, we laugh, and that is so healthy for us to be able to laugh about it together. I think that is such a creative, energizing, and frustration-letting portion for the group to experience together that that I find that great fun. So, in sum, in many ways I think that's my favorite part. JW: And your laughter-it does stand out, as does your clap. I have a couple more questions, and I have one specifically for you now as an editor- you know as an editor of this journal/magazine. Do you listen differently to these addresses-as both a Federationist and as an editor-does the job ever enter in? BP: The job enters in as I note how things will go, because, of course, in our journal we have both a print and a Braille version, and that's just text. That's set because the speech has been typeset, and he's reading a copy of it. That's it, you know: that's cast in stone. But the recorded version-we will tape, but we roll cleaned up tape. There was the year that the fire department came rushing in, and we had a ten-minute hiatus in the middle of the banquet address because they pulled the plug on the microphone. Of course we clean up little things that go on, so I'm always listening to see how much of that kind of thing has to be done and to note the places where I want to make sure that the technician has, in fact, done it correctly. My goal is to see that the person in Dubuque who didn't get to the convention has the sense of magic that we had in being there, that he is swept along, at least to the degree that we can get it onto the tape. At the same time I want to work to see that the person is not distracted by the little things in the banquet room that didn't matter with all the emotion and everything there working together, but which, if you just listened to the tape recorder at home, would get in the way. So it's more of the technical things that I pay attention to as I'm listening and to see where I'm going to have to polish the mirror to make sure that the reflection comes up accurately. JW: I see. What advice would you give to potential banquet speakers for this occasion in terms of preparation? BP: Of course I do banquet speeches because I go around the country and do state banquets. So the banquet address as an art form is something I agonize over quite a lot. I am deeply grateful that I will never have to give a banquet address of the significance and with carrying the freight that this one has, because it is an awesome responsibility to have. Anyone who is giving a banquet address to an organization doing the kind of work that is done in our Federation has to take it seriously. You need to give more than just a delightful, lively, interesting after-dinner speech that will keep the folks awake. You have to think hard about your message and how you will deliver it when you really want the banquet address to work and when the work that has to be done is serious work because it has to kindle people and unite them and send them out reenergized to lift their weight in wildcats. I think that you cannot just stand up-or it takes many years before you can stand up and do that kind of speech off-the-cuff and have it work right. So you have to decide what mechanism you're going to use to try to accomplish what needs to be done. Are you going to try humor? Are you going to try to do it with tight logic? Are you going to try to do it with just inspirational words? Or, if not just one but several, what is the mix you're going to try to use? How much are you going to try to make this a personal expression, and how much are you going to try to take material that you come across and shape that into to a fully developed argument of the kind that you want to make? Different people in this organization have different styles. Some of them are very personal and idiosyncratic, some of them depend absolutely on ideas that they play with and develop, and some of them roam around and pick up a lot of anecdotes and pieces of literature and leave their speeches at that. You've got to decide what your way is to do that. It seems to me the other thing that one has to decide is whether you are going to do a speech that you're going to read and deliver sentence by sentence, carefully crafted as Dr. Jernigan's and Mr. Maurer's speeches are always done. They are reading a speech that takes about eighty hours to put together, and they read the speech almost exactly as written. In many ways I think that is extremely hard for most people to pull off because it is so hard to project one's personality into that kind of crafted prose and not have it sound as though you're just reading the text. You have to project so that you are speaking to them and ensure that you really are bringing your audience along. I've tried delivering speeches in which I've read the whole text, but I have settled more or less on extensive notes so that I've got my focus very carefully honed. I've plotted my path, my map is very clearly defined of where I'm going and how I'm unfolding it, but I depend on the energy and the hormones at the moment to give me the actual sentences and the words to convey the ideas. But it seems to me that you have to find your own personal style, whatever it is that is most successful for you, the most successful mechanism for you to use in conveying your ideas. Then be comfortable with that choice, and don't eat your heart out because you can't do it some other way. The important thing is to develop your own style, and then go on about your business. Conclusion So there you have it-the words of three giants in our movement, and my extraordinary interaction with each of them. I don't know why it took me twenty years to do this article, but in some ways it seems timely and appropriate for the 75th year of our movement. Little did any of us know that Dr. Jernigan would deliver his last banquet address in 1997 and pass away in 1998. Hearing his voice in this recording continues to inspire and encourage me, and I hope it does the same for you. I could feel the emotions of President Maurer as he prepared to bring the gavel down on the convention with President Riccobono at the banquet last year. Thus, hearing his voice from 1995 and watching his efforts to build the Jernigan Institute and lead this movement into the twenty-first century, has been quite amazing as well. And I never would have thought that when I conducted that interview with Barbara Pierce in 1997 that I would follow her as the President of the NFB of Ohio. Perhaps twenty-five years from now someone will write a similar piece albeit probably much better than this one, and it will be fascinating to see what the story of our movement is then. I am confident that the banquet address will continue its historical and rhetorical significance for us, and although the audiences will change, the message will only get more clear, necessary, and focused. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Ken Cary and Jane Lansaw] Senior Citizens Take on Senior Challenges by Ken Cary From the Editor: This article is special to me because it comes from an unexpected source and offers thanks to someone who is a longtime personal friend of mine, a friend I once doubted when she said she was going to become a mobility instructor. I have several times apologized for doubting and do so yet again. Turning to the author, it is fascinating to observe how people age and how they view new life opportunities. Many say they are too old to learn and shutdown when people talk with them about mobility, technology, learning once again to read, and engaging in new adventures. Ken Cary has been blind just over ten years, and at seventy-five he should give all of us pause who say "I can't," or "I am too old." Ken wrote this story for the Braille Monitor both to motivate other blind people and to thank someone who has played a very special role in his life-both very laudable reasons to embrace the task of writing, even when it is not one's normal activity. Here is what he says: My name is Ken Cary, I'm seventy-five years old, and I'm deaf and blind. I have neuropathy in my hands and feet, and I suffer 25 percent memory loss because of a stroke in 2003. In 2007 I went to Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC) in Austin, Texas. There they taught me the computer. They taught me daily living. I couldn't do Braille because of the neuropathy. They taught me industrial arts, and what I think is the most important thing they taught me is mobility. About six months ago I went to Leader Dog in Rochester, Michigan, to be trained to receive a dog. I had just undergone five weeks of radiation, coupled with a sinus condition that torments me 24/7. They weren't aware of these things when I arrived, which affected my performance. They had a video of me which was taken at home before my illness, and they said that a different person came down to the school. They had already trained a dog for me. I told them that earlier I had walked fast. But in the condition I was in when I arrived for guide dog training, I couldn't keep up with the dog that they trained. After three days they decided the best thing was to just send me home and have me come back later when I was in better shape. Before I left they got a lady from DARS to come over and check my mobility skills. The people with leader dog weren't with her. She did this independently. She took me through alleys and pastures, down highways, and on streets where I did curb travel and shoreline. She took me to places where there were trees I had to navigate around. When she got through, she said, "Mr. Cary, I want to know who taught you how to do this because you have excellent mobility skills, and I think you could go all over the United States and the world, as far as that goes, and you could do it by yourself. My opinion is that you don't need a dog. Who was your instructor?" Now we're getting closer to the lady I want to talk about. At Criss Cole my first mobility instructor was Marion Small. She was an excellent instructor, but she taught me the basic things, and I wasn't with her but for about three months. She was a character; I called her Showbiz Small because she liked to dance with you out there and get you mixed up to see if you could cross the road and line up to the street. She was real outgoing, altruistic, and had a positive mental attitude. Then I was moved to another team and got Jane Lansaw as an instructor. Jane was the total opposite of Marion. At first I didn't like her. She was all business, and her goal was to teach me everything about mobility. She told me to carry a bag and always have a raincoat in it because we didn't come in for rain, snow, or windstorm. Our sessions were for two hours. There would have to be severe lightning for us to come in before the two hours were up. Not many deaf-blind people go to Criss Cole. There are only legally blind and totally blind people who are there. Consequently a lot of instructors there didn't have an opportunity or didn't know how to train mobility trainers for the deaf-blind. Jane really got interested in this. To help me and others, she had to come up with some new techniques she didn't use with her regular students. She made signs for me that I could use when I would go on a travel lesson using the bus. I would hold up a sign saying "Bus 5," and then another one that said "Bus 38," which I used a lot. She got hooked up with our deaf-blind specialist, Kathy Young, and she had a bunch of knowledge that Jane didn't have. Jane also got a lot of stuff from Helen Keller [the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults] with techniques that Ann Sullivan used, and these she used to train me. She also made a sign that said "taxi" that I would hold up when trying to get a cab. Another sign that I carried said, "I am deaf and blind, and I have trouble crossing busy, high-traffic streets. Would you help me cross the street by touching my left shoulder?" I carried these signs wherever I went, and I had some cards made up that I gave the bus drivers that said the same thing. They also told the drivers I was hard of hearing and instructed them to talk really loud to me when I needed to get off the bus. I spent hours with Jane Lansaw in training. I didn't know it, but she was sharing techniques with interns from out of town so they could learn by seeing how I was performing. Often I would get mixed up, disoriented, and she would let me mess up, even if it took hours. She would stay with me until I figured out where I was supposed to be going. It was unbelievable the patience that she had. One time I was having trouble finding the warehouse, the place at the center where we would sometimes meet and where we could buy supplies. It was simple for everyone else, but I was having a terrible time finding it, so I had a digital recorder, and she dictated the instructions on it. I was following those instructions the best I could, but I still crossed the road where I wasn't supposed to and rewound the recorder to read the instructions again. I realized I made a mistake and corrected it. I would go forward several blocks and would then decide that I needed to go back. I was going back and forth, constantly going back to my recorder, and I finally got to the warehouse. Of course, Jane had enough confidence in me that she remained at Criss Cole, believing I could and should go by myself. When I got to the warehouse, I made them sign a letter saying that I made it there, because I didn't think she would believe that I did it. When I finally got back, she could see me coming, and, when she saw that letter from the warehouse, we both started jumping up and down, and she was hugging me, and we were acting like two crazy people out there, because this was a major accomplishment for me. She liked to make me go to the University of Texas and walk the main drag. There are thousands of students there, and Jane would give me addresses of businesses that I had to find. It was either north or south of where I was. I found out that, when I went inside a business, most of the employees didn't even know their street address, which really complicated it. One time she and one of her interns were in a business that I was supposed to find. I walked by it three times and thought about stopping, but I said to myself that "No one would stop at this place." So I just went about my business and went back the other way. I went into a building, and for some reason my arm started to bleed really badly. I take Plavix and aspirin, and if I hit something, I really bleed. The manager said, "You are losing blood," and gave me a paper towel and said, "You need to leave our business and go clean yourself up somewhere." So I knew I had to go back home because I was going to have sunstroke I was so hot. There was no way I could get in touch with Jane, so I went back to the center, and after about an hour and a half she called in and said, "Has Ken Cary checked in?" "Yes he has. He checked in, and he checked out again, and he's going to the warehouse by himself." She said, "Well you tell him I'm going to wring his neck when I get in." When she came back and got all the information, she knew I had made the right decision. In my team at Criss Cole they were always inviting people they thought were the best mobility people to walk to the Capital, which was four miles, and they had to wear a blindfold. They never thought I was good enough to do that, so one Saturday I did it on my own. I recorded every step on my Milestone digital recorder. After about two hours I got to the Capital, and a guy had been watching me. He said, "You finally made it to the Capital." I guess he was surprised. I went over and had a lady that worked there stamp a piece of paper saying that I had been to the Capital. After I had gone there, I had a friend that took the information off the recorder and put it on a disk. I waited for about a week and gave it to Jane. She couldn't believe it and mentioned it in the auditorium at the center. I got the Traveler of the Week award. On bad weather days Jane would take me in a room and explain how Austin was laid out. She explained that there is a river that runs through Austin so you kind of keep up with Austin by how many roads are north or south of the river. What she explained seemed to me to be kind of a complicated process, but after you studied it, it would help you find addresses better. She would send me out on drop-offs, sometimes out in the middle of Austin, and say, "Get home." Supposedly they would go back to the center, but I think they were watching me from far away with binoculars to see if I was heading the right way to get back. When on these trips, you could ask people, "Where is the closest bus station," and if they wanted to help you, you could let them help you get there. We did these drop-offs several times, and one time I lucked out and just got on the right bus and beat them home. I was sitting, waiting on them, and they couldn't believe that I got there first. Jane Lansaw loves to work with deaf and blind people. When new deaf and blind people come into Criss Cole, she gets them, and she tells them about me. It encourages them because Jane knows that, since I left Criss Cole, I have been to Detroit, Michigan, by myself. I've been to Disney World in Florida four or five times by myself. I have been to the Chicago Airport, Denver Airport, Atlanta Airport-you name it, I've done it by myself. To accomplish this I have had to ask a lot of questions. I live in a small town, and I go to the post office by myself about once a week. I have to travel by the schoolhouse to get there. It's about four blocks down to Highway 69, and there are 150,000 cars that pass by there every day both ways. It is a very dangerous road. When you are deaf- blind your primary travel problem is not jumping out in front of traffic; it is the turning lanes that you can't hear as well, and you've got to be sure that you don't jump out in front of a car in a turning lane. If I'm not sure, I will use my sign for asking someone to help me. I am not going to do something stupid. Once I cross the street heading to the post office, I go through parking lots; I pass a couple of small, narrow alleys that could be roads; I walk through grass and finally find the post office. Of course I have to come back home after I go to the post office. This requires a lot of mobility skills that I learned from Jane Lansaw. I just want to say thank you, Jane. You gave me my life back, so I don't have to sit down and watch TV all day and be afraid to go anywhere. Since working with Jane, I have gone to skydive in San Marcos, and I jumped out nine times to beat former President George H. Bush's tandem jump record. I took jumps eight and nine the same day to accomplish that. Fortunately, President Bush has quit jumping. During the process, every time I thought I had him beat, he would go jump out again, and I had it in my head I was going to break his record. I started jumping at age sixty- seven, did my most recent jump at seventy-four, am now seventy-five, and I will not quit jumping. When I die, I want it to be when I'm swinging a cane while jumping out of an airplane. Thanks, Jane. ---------- Seize the Future The National Federation of the Blind has special giving opportunities that will benefit the giver as well as the NFB. Of course the largest benefit to the donor is the satisfaction of knowing that the gift is leaving a legacy of opportunity. However, gifts may be structured to provide more: . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission . Realizing income tax savings through a charitable deduction . Making capital gain tax savings on contributions of appreciated assets . Eliminating or lowering the federal estate tax in certain situations . Reducing estate settlement costs NFB programs are dynamic: . Making the study of science and math a real possibility for blind children . Providing hope and training for seniors losing vision . Promoting state and local programs to help blind people become first- class citizens . Educating the public about blind people's true potential . Advancing technology helpful to the blind . Creating a state-of-the-art library on blindness . Training and inspiring professionals working with the blind . Providing critical information to parents of blind children . Mentoring blind job seekers Your gift makes you a partner in the NFB dream. For further information or assistance, contact the NFB. ---------- The Secret to Winning a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship by Patti S. Gregory-Chang From the Editor: Patti Chang is the chairman of one of the most important committees of the National Federation of the Blind. She and her committee are charged with advertising our scholarship program and choosing thirty students who evidence academic success, leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to helping others. Here is Patti's announcement about the 2016 scholarship program: Each July at our national convention the National Federation of the Blind gives a broad array of scholarships to recognize achievement by blind scholars. We offer thirty scholarships, and all are substantial and prestigious enough to warrant any student's time to complete and compete. Our $12,000 Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship is the largest. The NFB Scholarship Program is our investment in the future of blind people who demonstrate scholastic aptitude, leadership, and service. I encourage every blind college student to apply. I am sometimes asked what the secret is to winning an NFB scholarship. I am going to tell you the secret. First of all, applicants must meet the eligibility requirements to receive a scholarship. All applicants for these scholarships must be legally blind; must reside in one of our fifty states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico; must be pursuing or planning to pursue a full-time postsecondary course of study in a degree program at an accredited United States institution in the fall academic year; and, if chosen as a finalist, must participate in the entire NFB national convention and in all scheduled scholarship activities. Many think the key to becoming a winner is a high grade point average. Others believe it is based on participation in extracurricular activities. Still others think it is one's level of commitment to the NFB. While grade point average is important because it demonstrates the ability to learn and be successful academically, it is not the only attribute that influences the scholarship committee. Participation in extracurricular activities is important in portraying oneself as a well-rounded person; it is not sufficient in itself to justify a scholarship award. Committed members of the organization recognize the attributes that are important to committee members when determining who wins a scholarship. The scholarship program is a tremendous tool for us to develop future leaders of the National Federation of the Blind, but scholarship awards are not restricted to members of the organization. The National Federation of the Blind is an organization dedicated to creating opportunity for all blind people. Recipients of NFB scholarships need not be members of the National Federation of the Blind. Many of our past winners were not even aware of the NFB before they applied for our scholarships. When you check the lists of past winners, you will see that students of all ages and in widely differing fields have won over the years. The class of 2015 included students entering their freshman year, as well as older students who were nearly ready to write their PhD dissertations. Past winners are working toward credentials for employment in diverse fields. There is truly only one way to win an NFB scholarship: that is to apply. Each November the new, updated scholarship application forms are posted on the Web at , along with important information about the contest, links to information on past winners, and a page of frequently asked questions. The application form for 2016 is already online. It will remain up until March 31. The process can be initiated with an online application, which we prefer, or students can ask for a print application by contacting our scholarship office at or by calling (410) 659-9314, ext. 2415. A complete application consists of the official application form and a student essay, plus these supporting documents: student transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and proof of legal blindness. The student must also complete an interview with the president of the applicant's state of residence or the state where he or she will be attending school. High school seniors must also include a copy of the results of their ACT, SAT, or other college entrance exams. Unfortunately, some applications are incomplete, so the committee is unable to consider them fairly. Applicants must ensure that all of the required information and supporting documentation have been received by our scholarship office either online by midnight EST, March 31, or by mail postmarked by March 31. Students should carefully consider who can do the best job of writing their letters of reference. Letters should support the application by being full of facts and observations that will help the members of the committee see the applicant as a smart, active student and citizen. Students can write their essays using word-processing software. They should remember to use the spell checker (or a human proofreader) before uploading, printing, or copying and pasting it into the online application form. In an effective essay the applicant will talk about his or her life in a way that gives the committee insight into him or her. The essay should cover the ways in which one lives successfully as a blind person and describe one's personal goals for the future. Information about positions of leadership is especially helpful. Committee members give the essay a great deal of attention. The NFB scholarship committee is comprised of dedicated, successful blind people, who will review all applications and select the top thirty applicants for the scholarship class of 2016. Note that students submit just one application to the program; the scholarship committee will choose the thirty finalists from all applications received. These thirty scholarship finalists will be notified of their selection by telephone no later than June 1. Finally, during the annual convention held June 30 through July 5, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, the scholarship committee will decide which award will be presented to each winner. Attending and participating in the entire NFB national convention is one of the requirements to become an NFB scholarship winner. Of course attending the convention is also a significant part of the prize. The National Federation of the Blind's national convention is the largest gathering of blind people to occur anywhere in the world each year, with 2,500 or more people registered. Those chosen as scholarship finalists will have the opportunity to network with other blind students, to exchange information and ideas, and to meet and talk with hundreds of blind people who are successfully functioning in many occupations and professions. Our past winners often comment that the money was quickly spent, but the contacts they made and the information they gathered at convention have continued to make their lives richer than they had ever imagined. Often students apply more than one year before winning a scholarship, so applicants are encouraged to reapply. The NFB may award three or more scholarships to men and women who have already received one Federation scholarship in the past if their scholarship and leadership merit another award. Individuals receiving a second NFB national scholarship are recognized as tenBroek Fellows. The secret, if there is one, to winning an NFB scholarship is to read carefully the application on our website, and then provide all of the required information and supporting documentation before the deadline of March 31. However, I actually maintain that there is no secret. The only way to win an NFB scholarship is to apply. ---------- Class Action Lawsuit Against Redbox Has Proposed Settlement From the Editor: As a service to our readers, the Braille Monitor from time to time publishes class action settlements so that those who wish to object to them or those who may benefit are made aware of them. Below is a summary notice of the proposed settlement of the class action lawsuit against Redbox, the popular video and video game rental kiosk company. Included is contact information for the law firm handling it and a link to the full notice describing the settlement. We have not done the editing that the Braille Monitor normally does to ensure compliance with the NFB Style Guide and the Chicago Manual of Style. SUMMARY NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT Jahoda, et al. v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, No. 2:14-cv-01278-LPL (W.D. Pa.) ____________________________________________________________________________ _ ATTENTION: ALL LEGALLY BLIND INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED, WILL ATTEMPT, OR HAVE BEEN DETERRED FROM ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS RENTAL SERVICES AVAILABLE AT REDBOX KIOSKS IN all 50 states and the District of Columbia except California YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT DESCRIBED BELOW READ THIS NOTICE AND INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY This notice is to inform you about the proposed settlement that would resolve the class action lawsuit Jahoda, et al. v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC, Case No. 2:14-cv-01278-LPL (W.D. Pa.). The lawsuit asserts that Redbox violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. ? 12101 et seq., by offering video and video game rental services at self-service, touchscreen Kiosks that are not fully accessible to, and usable by, blind individuals. Redbox believes that the Kiosks are compliant with the ADA and denies all liability. The settlement, which must be approved by the Court, would resolve the lawsuit. CLASS: Solely for purposes of effectuating this settlement, the Court has certified a settlement class of all legally blind individuals who have attempted, will attempt, or have been deterred from attempting to use Redbox Kiosks in all 50 states and the District of Columbia except California (because of a separate settlement in California) (the "Class"). PROPOSED SETTLEMENT: The settlement requires Redbox to modify at least one of its Kiosks at each retail location where kiosks are located in all 50 states except California so that they are fully accessible to, and usable by, blind individuals. The modifications will include the addition of a standard headphone jack which will provide access to audio instructions regarding how to call a specially-trained Redbox customer service representative who will remotely assist the consumer. The settlement imposes certain other requirements, which are set forth in detail in the Settlement Agreement. All Class members will be bound by the terms of the settlement relating to the accessibility of Redbox Kiosks in all 50 states and the District of Columbia except California if the settlement is approved by the Court. The District Court has appointed Carlson Lynch Sweet & Kilpela, LLP, as class counsel to represent the named plaintiffs and the interests of the absent class members. Class Representatives will receive the following single Plaintiff incentive payment: $2,500 to Robert Jahoda and $2,500 to April Nguyen. Class Counsel will be paid $397,000 for all attorneys' fees and litigation costs and expenses. OBJECTIONS: Class members can object to the proposed settlement by filing a written objection by March 15, 2016 either in person or by first- class mail to: Clerk of the Court, U.S. District Court 700 Grant Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 All written objections must include: (i) the name of this litigation; (ii) Class member's full name, address, and telephone number; and (iii) specific reasons for objecting and evidence or legal authority in support thereof. FAIRNESS HEARING: The Court will hold a hearing in this case on April 27, 2016 at 10 A.M. in Courtroom 7B to consider whether to approve the Settlement. Class members may appear at the Fairness Hearing by filing a Notice of Intention to Appear with the Court, postmarked no later than March 15, 2016. FURTHER INFORMATION: This is only a summary of the litigation, claims asserted, Settlement and related matters. A Full Notice describing the Settlement is available online at . IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, ADDRESS ALL INQUIRIES TO CLASS COUNSEL: Benjamin J. Sweet, Esquire, bsweet at carlsonlynch.com, Carlson Lynch Sweet & Kilpela, LLP, 1133 Penn Avenue, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, www.carlsonlynch.com, or at 1-800-467-5241. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR REDBOX'S COUNSEL. ---------- Recipes This month's recipes come from the members of the NFB of Wisconsin. Dump Cake by Chad Nelson Ingredients: 1 box yellow or white cake mix 1 stick butter, melted 1 can pie filling, (apple, cherry, or blueberry works best). Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium mixing bowl mix together melted butter and box of cake mix, making sure cake mix is well blended with the butter. Grease bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch pan thoroughly. Firmly pat cake mixture into bottom of pan. Pour pie filling evenly over top of crust, bake at 350 for approximately twenty-five to thirty minutes. ---------- Crock Pot Beer Brats by Chad Nelson Ingredients: 1 24-ounce can of beer 1 package brats Sauerkraut (if desired). Method: Pour beer into crock pot, place brats into beer, and cook on high for six hours or medium for eight hours. Add sauerkraut one hour before serving, or if desired heat separate on stovetop. Serve with raw onion and potato salad. ---------- Best Baked Beans Ever! by Chad Nelson Ingredients: 2 28-ounce cans of beans 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp mustard 3/4 cup ketchup 4-5 sliced natural casing hot dogs Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together ketchup, mustard, beans, hot dogs, and brown sugar in medium casserole dish. Bake one and a half to two hours. Serve with potato salad and beer brats. ---------- Chorizo [pork sausage] Vegetable Soup by Ericka Short Ingredients: 1 box of chicken broth 1 pound of chorizo-best if it is what your butcher makes at your grocery store 1 to 2 cups of cooked rice 1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies-do not drain 1 large or 2 smaller green peppers chopped 1 onion either sliced or diced, whichever you prefer. Pick your favorite variety. 1 can of whole kernel corn drained, or 1 bag of frozen corn, thawed 1 can sliced black olives Dash of following spices: nutmeg, paprika, cinnamon, and cilantro, or preferred herbs Note: You definitely can experiment with things like mushrooms, carrots, and other vegetables if you like. This is a basic recipe. Before you do so, try the original. Method: In a large soup kettle, break up your chorizo and brown. Sometimes it is easier to roll the chorizo into little balls than to have it look like hamburger bites. This ensures things are cooked evenly. Do not drain grease. While chorizo browns, chop vegetables. When your meat has browned completely, pour broth in with meat. Turn heat to high, bring to boil. Let boil for two minutes and stir. Make sure the seasonings from the meat are mixed with the chicken broth. Add vegetables. Turn down heat to medium high. Pour in diced tomatoes with chilies. Stir. In about five minutes add spices, then turn down to medium or medium low and let simmer. You can also add cooked rice if it is not fully cooked like wild or brown rice. Let sit and simmer for half an hour to forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rice in last ten minutes if you didn't add it earlier. There is no real timing to this, and as with most soups it tastes better the longer it sits. I suggest you make it the night before. This is a nice alternative to chili when the weather turns colder. Makes at least eight servings. ---------- [PHOTO CAPTION: Bill Meeker and Cheryl Orgas] Autumn Cranberry Pie by Bill Meeker and Cheryl Orgas Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup melted butter 1 1/2 cups sugar, separated 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon almond extract 2 cups fresh, whole cranberries 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, butter, one cup sugar, eggs, and almond extract in a bowl. Mix well. Spoon into a greased ten-inch pie plate. Combine cranberries, walnuts and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl; mix well. Spoon into pie plate on top of crust mix. Bake for thirty- five minutes. Do not overbake, crust should be like a moist cookie. ---------- Berry Crumble by Bill Meeker and Cheryl Orgas Ingredients: 2 cups blueberries 2 cups raspberries 3/4 cup flour 2/3 cup light brown sugar 1 stick butter Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put berries in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl combine flour and sugar. Remove three tablespoons of flour mixture and gently toss with berries. Place berries in an 8-inch square pan. To make topping, add melted butter to remaining flour mixture, combine well. Crumble little bits of topping over berries. Bake until berries just start to bubble, about 35 to 40 minutes. ---------- Chicken Enchilada Soup by Bill Meeker and Cheryl Orgas Ingredients: 1 pound cooked chicken breast, shredded 1 10-ounce package frozen corn 1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, smashed 1 4-ounce can green chilies 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce 1 14-ounce can chicken broth 2 cups water 1 bay leaf 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons cilantro 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon black pepper Salt to taste Garnish: 2 tablespoons olive oil 7 corn tortillas Mexican blend shredded cheese sour cream lime juice (optional) Method: Place your chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker, then put in all other ingredients. My slow cooker is a three-quart, and the soup fills it to the rim. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Garnish: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush tortillas with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake ten to fifteen minutes. Take them out of the oven; when cool enough to handle, crumble them over your soup. Or if you're like me and want to save time, Tostitos tortilla chips work just as well. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, and lime juice. ---------- Monitor Miniatures News from the Federation Family Amazon Smile: Help increase donations to the National Federation of the Blind by signing up on Smile.Amazon.com and identifying the National Federation of the Blind as the charity you would like to receive the donation. We will receive 5 percent of every purchase made at Smile.Amazon.com. More information can be found at . For an Amazon customer to identify a charity: go to Smile.Amazon.com, type in "National Federation of the Blind, Inc.," find your charity's name in the list and click select button. The National Federation of the Blind, Inc. is the first charity listed when searching using this name; if you search using National Federation of the Blind, we are the forth charity in the list since many of the state affiliates have registered and are in the list under National Federation of the Blind. In order for us to get a percentage, you need to be logged into and shop at . If you shop at Amazon.com (instead of Smile.Amazon.com), no donation is made. Products, reviews, and prices are the same between Amazon.com and Smile.Amazon.com for those products sold through both sites; sometimes Smile.Amazon.com will not have a product that can be found on Amazon.com. At-Large Chapter Gives Another Reason to be Thankful: What's cooking in Oregon? Well, Thanksgiving dinner for an individual who may not have had anything to cook. However, the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon At-Large Chapter is not only thankful this year, but giving as well. They sponsored a family by providing $100 toward their Thanksgiving dinner. The individual we helped is blind and currently unemployed. She lives with her daughter and two granddaughters. She was a former vendor in the Business Enterprise Program and moved to Tennessee to care for her father. After his passing she moved back to Oregon, only to find out her husband was ill. She cared for him for two years before his passing. She then decided to take some college courses to brush up on her skills. She said, "I could never stop thinking about the Business Enterprise Program and how happy it made me." She loves cooking, being creative, and customer service. She trained for the last nine months to get her license renewed in the Oregon BEP and is now awaiting an opening. NFBO At-Large Chapter members are thankful that their fundraisers were successful this year and allowed them to sponsor a family for Thanksgiving. They plan on sponsoring a family next year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 'Tis the season to give back, after all. New Functions in the KNFB Reader: The KNFB Reader app for the Android platform is now available. In addition, both versions (Android and iOS) are now integrated with the popular file storage, sharing, and collaboration platform, Dropbox. When users scan a document with the KNFB Reader, it can be instantly saved in a Dropbox folder tied to the user's account. Users can even retrieve documents from Dropbox after they are deleted from their smart phone or other device. For more information go to . Chapter Expands Membership and Gets Creative in its Assignments: The week after hosting the NFB Indiana State Convention in South Bend, the NFB Michiana Chapter added seven new official members, expanding our membership roll from eight to fifteen. We also added two new members to the board-and instead of making these at-large positions, we are grooming these two new ladies to play specific roles on our board that previously were not defined. The other three board positions remain in the hands of those who held them prior to November 2015, but all positions will be up for election this coming August. The NFB Michiana board consists of: president, Matthew Yeater; vice president and acting treasurer, Kane Brolin; secretary, Jeanette Shown; marketing coordinator-in-training/new board member, Edie Leemreis; digital information outreach coordinator-in-training/new board member, Daphne Tinder-O'Brien. Elected: At the 2015 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania the following officers and board members were elected: president, James Antonacci; first vice president, Lynn Heitz; second vice president, Connie Schwarzfeld; secretary, Harriet Go; treasurer, Antoinette Whaley; and board members Emily Angelcyk, Liliya Asadullina, and Denice Brown. Pen Pal Wanted: Kathy Alverson would like Braille or cassette pen pals. Her interests include TV, bowling, swimming, going for walks, and meeting new people. You may write to her at 545 Public Ave., Apt. 425, Beloit, WI 53511. In Brief Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity. 2015 Advent Booklet Now Available: Message of Hope is a Unity outreach program. Funded solely by donations, Message of Hope shares the assurance of God's love and grace by providing free spiritual materials to those in need. Unity extends support to individuals in various care settings and to those experiencing hardship. Message of Hope also serves persons with blindness or visual impairments, offering free spiritual resources in Braille, on CD, in digital format, and an online Braille library. The 2015 Unity Advent booklet is now available online. Visit to download your copy. Computers for the Blind: Computers for the Blind (CFTB) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization located in Richardson, Texas. We receive donations of no-longer-needed computers from businesses and individuals. Our volunteers wipe the hard drives clean, refurbish the computers, and install the assistive technology that make them accessible to persons who are blind or have low vision. We ship these computers throughout the United States to persons who cannot afford a new computer and the expensive assistive technology. Depending on donations, we ship Pentium 4 or Dual-Core two GHz computers. The minimum configuration that is shipped is: . 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB hard drive . sound card, speakers, broadband network card . keyboard and mouse . For those with low vision: seventeen- to twenty-one inch LCD monitor . For people who are blind: fifteen- to twenty-three inch LCD monitor Software: . NVDA Screen Reader, . JAWS for Windows demo version screen reader . Licensed version of MAGic without speech (screen magnification) . Talking Typing Teacher demo version, MarvelSoft . Windows 7 Professional operating system, Microsoft Security Essentials, Internet Explorer, Windows Live Mail 2012 . Just Write Checks . Firefox . Chrome Internet browser . Open Office Spreadsheet and PowerPoint . 388 Electronic Books . Jarte word processor . Various help files: PC setup instructions, tutorials, and FAQ articles Consumer Fees: . Desktop computer with monitor -$110 . Laptop computer-$160 Optional add-ons available through the manufacturer . MAGic with Speech, MAGic keyboard, two software upgrades $199, Freedom Scientific . JAWS screen reader $716, Freedom Scientific . Talking Typing Teacher for Windows (TTT) $50, MarvelSoft Descriptive movies are available on loan in VHS and DVD formats for a $25 lifetime membership. Titles can be found at To order a computer or movie, contact us by phone at (214) 340-6328, by email at , or visit our website at Prescription Labeling Expanded: ScripTalk audible prescription labels are now available nationwide at all local Rite Aid and Walmart pharmacies, as well as at several national mail-order pharmacies. Rite Aid and certain mail-order pharmacies also offer large print and Braille prescription labels. Be aware that you may have to educate your local Rite Aid or Walmart pharmacist that their employer is actually offering accessible prescription labels. These companies are very large, and it can take time for local pharmacists to become aware of new company initiatives. If you are a Walmart customer and your local pharmacist is not yet familiar with the availability of accessible prescription labels, just tell the pharmacist to "Search for ScripTalk on The WIRE." The pharmacist will know to search Walmart's internal communication system to find instructions on how to get ScripTalk implemented locally. If you are a Rite Aid customer and your local pharmacist is not yet familiar with accessible labels, ask the pharmacist to call their corporate support number for more information, or you can also call EnVision America for assistance at (800) 890-1180. Accessible prescription labels are also available through mail order from the following national mail-order pharmacies: 1. CVS.com Home Delivery supplies audible prescription labels. 2. CVS/Caremark PBM Mail Order supplies audible, large print, and Braille prescription labels. 3. Humana Mail Order supplies audible and Braille prescription labels. 4. Rite Aid Mail Order supplies audible, large print, and Braille prescription labels. 5. United Healthcare/OptumRx Mail Order supplies audible prescription labels. 6. Walmart Mail Order supplies audible prescription labels. Camp Siloam 2016: The Gospel Association for the Blind is pleased to announce our fourteenth Bible Camping session. Camp will take place from Saturday, May 21 through Saturday, May 28, 2016, at the Golden Cross Ranch in New Caney, Texas. The morning Bible teacher for the week is Brother Bruce Coonce. The evening services will be conducted by Brother George Gray as well as a guest preacher. The theme for the week of camp is "For Such a Time as This." Some of the activities planned for the week are a shopping trip; two Christian films (to be announced); swimming throughout the week; a special meeting for camp ladies; a trip to a local carnival; horseback riding; and riding the zipline, to name just a few. We also look forward to two talent nights, two hayrides, and a closing campfire. We hope you will come and enjoy the tremendous food, terrific fellowship, and a top-notch fun-packed week! A $25 deposit is required for ALL campers; however, if you are a first-time camper, your remaining cost for the week of camp and transportation will be covered by the Gospel Association for the Blind. Send check or money order to: The G A B, PO Box 1162, Bunnell, FL 32110. You will then receive a camp application, which you need to complete, as well as a medical form for your doctor. These forms are to be returned to the GAB by Friday, April 8, 2016. For further information you may call the GAB at (386) 586-5885 or email Camp Director George Gray at . We encourage you to visit our website for photos and more info on past camping sessions, as well as a host of other information on blind programs, etc. We look forward to having you with us for an exciting, fun-packed week of camp! ---------- NFB Pledge I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.