[Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, July 2015
Brian Buhrow
buhrow at lothlorien.nfbcal.org
Tue Jun 30 23:25:15 PDT 2015
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
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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
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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 José, 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 Española 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 Española Education Association, EEA. In 1978, after the EEA
had negotiated an agreement with the Española 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 Niños
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 Niños 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 Niños 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 Niños 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
(<www.aisquared.com>), 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 <www.icanconnect.org>,
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
<http://www.etnplus.com/US/7/en/instruments.app>. Alternatively, the reader
can phone Barclays's Equity and Fund Structured Market Solutions hotline at
(212) 528-7990 or send an email to <etndesk at barclays.com>.
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 <www.nfbtravel.org>.
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. <http://www.aroundmeapp.com>
2. <http://www.onemedical.com/blog/live-well/gluten-free-apps/>
3. <http://tinyurl.com/nbl9hnm>.
----------
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 sauté 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: Sauté 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
<http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/the_finger_test_to_check_the_doneness_
of_meat/>.
----------
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: <Valya.80> or email me at:
<valenta.80 at mail.ru>.
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
<cindyq12345 at sbcglobal.net>.
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
<christine at in-sightful.com>, by phone at (808) 747-1006, or by visiting
<http://www.in-sightful.com/orderpage.html> 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
<info at theblindperspective.com> with the word "subscribe" in the subject
line, and we will add you to the email list. Feel free to go to
<www.theblindperspective.com> 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 <m12hoare at gmail.com>.
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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.
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