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</style> </head> <body> <div id="header"> <h1 class="title">The Braille Monitor,
April 2025</h1> </div> <h1 id="braille-monitor">BRAILLE MONITOR</h1> <p>Vol. 68,
No. 4 April 2025</p> <p><em>Chris Danielsen, Editor</em></p> <p>Distributed by
email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the</p> <p>NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND</p> <p>Mark Riccobono, President</p> <p>telephone:
410-659-9314</p> <p>email address: <a href="mailto:nfb@nfb.org">nfb@nfb.org</a></p>
<p>website address: <a href="http://www.nfb.org">http://www.nfb.org</a></p>
<p>NFBnet.org: <a href="http://www.nfbnet.org">http://www.nfbnet.org</a></p>
<p>NFB-NEWSLINE<sup>®</sup> information: 866-504-7300</p> <p>NFB Radio Network:
<a
href="https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/nfbrn">https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/nfbrn</a></p>
<p>Like us on Facebook: <a
href="http://Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind">Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind</a></p>
<p>Follow us on X: @NFB_Voice</p> <p>Follow us on Mastodon: @nationsblind@nfb.social</p>
<p>Watch and share our videos: <a
href="http://YouTube.com/NationsBlind">YouTube.com/NationsBlind</a></p> <p>Letters
to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and orders for NFB
literature should be sent to the national office. Articles for the <em>Monitor</em>
and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national office or may be emailed
to <a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</a>.</p> <p><em>Monitor</em>
subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year. Members are invited,
and nonmembers are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be
made payable to <strong>National Federation of the Blind</strong> and sent to:</p>
<p>National Federation of the Blind</p> <p>200 East Wells Street <em>at Jernigan
Place</em><br /> Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998</p> <p><strong>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.</strong></p> <p><em>ISSN 0006-8829</em></p> <p>© 2025
by the National Federation of the Blind</p> <p>Each issue is recorded on a thumb
drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio
edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS
machine has two slots—the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the
retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the
headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective
rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in
one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again.
(Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the
digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted,
the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you
remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again,
reading should resume at the point you stopped.</p> <p>You can transfer the
recording of each issue from the thumb drive to your computer or preserve it on
the thumb drive. However, because thumb drives can be used hundreds of times, we
would appreciate their return in order to stretch our funding. Please use the
return envelope enclosed with the drive when you return the device.</p> <p>Vol.
68, No. 4 April 2025</p> <h2 id="contents"> Contents</h2> <p>Convention Bulletin
2025</p> <p>A Correction and a Legislative Update</p> <p>by Chris Danielsen</p>
<p>The Lawsuit That Could Kill Section 504</p> <p>by Chris Danielsen</p> <p>National
Federation of the Blind Comments on Reduction in Force at Department of Education,
Office of Civil Rights</p> <p>The Role of the Department of Education in Specialized
Teacher Training and Beyond</p> <p>by Amy Parker</p> <p>Louis Braille: More
Anniversaries Ahead</p> <p>by Philippa Campsie</p> <p>The Power of Audio
Description</p> <p>by Corey Grandstaff</p> <p>From No Blind Life to Rockin’
the Blind Life</p> <p>by Charles Tate</p> <p><em>The Courtesy Rules of Blindness</em></p>
<p>Blind Enough</p> <p>by Renée Valdez</p> <p>Raising Expectations for the
Blind of the World</p> <p>by Nicholas Hoekstra</p> <p>Blindness Beyond Borders</p>
<p>by Abdi Ali-Mumin</p> <p>How Do We Make Real and Lasting Changes for the Blind:
A Discussion That Needs Your Input</p> <p>by Gary Wunder</p> <p>The Intersection
of Law and Love</p> <p>An Address Delivered by Marc Maurer</p> <p>iCanConnect
Helps Bridge the Communication Gap for Individuals with Combined Vision and Hearing
Loss</p> <p>by Perkins School for the Blind</p> <p>NFB Kids Camp: Tons of Fun!</p>
<p>by Harriet Go</p> <h2 id="convention-bulletin-2025">Convention Bulletin 2025</h2>
<p>The 2025 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in
New Orleans, Louisiana, this summer. Start planning your trip now.</p> <blockquote>
<p>Tuesday, July 8 through Sunday, July 13</p> <p>The Marriott New Orleans and
the Sheraton New Orleans</p> </blockquote> <p>As our headquarters hotel, the
Marriott will host convention breakouts, general sessions, and the banquet. Right
across Canal Street, the Sheraton serves as our overflow hotel and will be home
to the exhibit hall and Independence Market.</p> <p>If this will be your first
convention or if you need a refresher, check out our <em>First Timer’s
Guide</em> at <a
href="https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/first-timers-guide">https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/first-timers-guide</a>.</p>
<h3 id="convention-season-schedule-and-deadlines">Convention Season Schedule and
Deadlines</h3> <p>The following are important dates to know as you prepare to
attend convention.</p> <ul> <li><p>January 1 Hotel Reservations Open</p></li>
<li><p>March 1 Registration Opens</p></li> <li><p>April 15 Agenda Submissions
Deadline for Session Coordinators</p></li> <li><p>April 15 Kenneth Jernigan
Convention Scholarship Deadline for First-Time Attendees</p></li> <li><p>May 31
Registration Closes for Convention Attendees</p></li> <li><p>May 31 Registration
Deadline for Exhibitors</p></li> <li><p>June 9 Resolutions Submission Deadline</p></li>
</ul> <h3 id="book-your-hotel">Book Your Hotel</h3> <p>Reserve your room by calling
888-236-2427 for the Marriott or 855-516-1090 for the Sheraton New Orleans. Ask
for the “National Federation of the Blind 2025 Convention” block.
Here are important things to know about the rates and booking the room:</p> <h4
id="rates-and-taxes">Rates and Taxes</h4> <p>The nightly rate for both the Marriott
and the Sheraton is $119 for singles and doubles, while triples and quads can be
booked for $129 per night. You should also anticipate the combined sales tax and
tourism support rate of 16.2 percent and note there is a hotel occupancy fee of
$3.00 per night.</p> <h4 id="deposit-and-cancellation">Deposit and Cancellation</h4>
<p>At the time you make a reservation, a deposit of the first night’s stay
is required for each room reserved. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be
charged against your card immediately, just as would be the case with a check. If
a reservation is cancelled before Sunday, June 1, 2025, half of the deposit will
be returned. Otherwise, refunds will not be made.</p> <h3 id="registration">Registration</h3>
<p>Registration for convention will open March 1. Registration will be $25 per
person plus $80 per banquet ticket. Register early because prices go up if you
register onsite in New Orleans. Registration includes the biggest event of the
year, access to the event app, and communications on the latest news and events.</p>
<h3 id="division-committee-group-meetings">Division, Committee, Group Meetings</h3>
<p>Over 200 sessions and meetings happen during convention. If you are a leader
in a division, committee, or group that will meet at convention, please don’t
wait to organize. Start planning your agenda, goals, and connections now. Stay
tuned for details from the Convention Chair, John Berggren.</p> <h3
id="request-for-door-prizes">Request for Door Prizes</h3> <p>Remember that as
usual we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals.
Prizes should be small in size but large in value. Cash, of course, is always
appropriate and welcome. We ask that prizes of all kinds have a value of at least
$25 and not include alcohol. Drawings will occur throughout the convention sessions,
and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn
at the banquet.</p> <h3 id="volunteer">Volunteer</h3> <p>Thank you to the hundreds
of volunteers who help make national convention a big success. Please consider
signing up to be a Convention Ambassador to assist in making the national convention
a welcoming and empowering experience for all our attendees or for the Independence
Market to serve as a demonstrator, storekeeper, pay-station representative, or
line marshal during the days the market is open in the Exhibit Hall.</p> <p>More
details on shifts, schedules, and signups will be available soon. Register early
to get access to all volunteer opportunities.</p> <h3 id="countdown-to-new-orleans">Countdown
to New Orleans</h3> <p>The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology;
meetings of our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; the most
stimulating and provocative program items of any meeting of the blind in the world;
the chance to renew friendships in our Federation family; and the unparalleled
opportunity to be where the real action is and where decisions are being
made—all of these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2025
National Convention. To assure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at
convention rates, make your reservations early. We plan to see you in New Orleans
in July.</p> <p>---------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Danielsen]</p> <h2
id="a-correction-and-a-legislative-update">A Correction and a Legislative Update</h2>
<p><strong>by Chris Danielsen</strong></p> <p><strong>In the article “The
2025 Washington Seminar: New President, New Congress, New Approach,” which
appeared in last month’s issue, I mistakenly designated one of our legislative
priorities as the Blind Persons Return to Work Act. The title of the legislation
is instead the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, and as mentioned at the end of
the article, it has been introduced by Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and
Congressman Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), who are its sponsor and lead co-sponsor,
respectively. Its bill number is H.R. 1175. I apologize for any confusion created
by my error.</strong></p> <p><strong>Now for an update. The Access Technology
Affordability Act (ATAA) was introduced by Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and
Mike Thompson (D-CA) on February 24, 2025. Its bill number is H.R. 1529. News of
this development came after the March issue was finalized. Here in part is what
Jesse Shirek said about both bills in a legislative update issued on February
27:</strong></p> <p>It is critical that both of these bills gain significant
cosponsor support early in the Congressional session (especially the ATAA, which
has a chance to be included in an upcoming tax package), and that’s where
you come in. We need you to contact your Representatives in the House and ask them
to cosponsor both the Blind Americans Return to Work Act and the Access Technology
Affordability Act.</p> <p>When you call or email, you might say the following:</p>
<p>“Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent of [REPRESENTATIVE
NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] to
cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 1175, and the Access
Technology Affordability Act, H.R. 1529. These bills will eliminate barriers for
blind people by instituting a two-for-one phaseout of benefits for any income
earned above the substantial gainful activity threshold in the SSDI program, and
creating a refundable tax credit for the purchase of qualified access technology
respectively. This will create a true work incentive for all blind Americans
currently on SSDI and a method for blind Americans to be able to afford the access
technology they need to obtain and maintain employment. Thanks.”</p> <p>There
are a small number of bipartisan co-sponsors for both bills at this writing, but
more are needed. So we should all start making those calls and sending those
emails!</p> <p>----------</p> <h2 id="the-lawsuit-that-could-kill-section-504">The
Lawsuit That Could Kill Section 504</h2> <p><strong>by Chris Danielsen</strong></p>
<p>In September of 2024, seventeen states, led by Texas, sued the United States
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) over a regulation that the agency
had issued in May. The other sixteen states that brought the suit are Alaska,
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. At the
time the lawsuit was filed, the 2024 election had not yet taken place, and so the
named defendant was Xavier Becerra, who was DHHS Secretary under President Joe
Biden.</p> <p>The regulation that the lawsuit challenged was issued under Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is an update of previous DHHS regulations,
and its goal is to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities in
Medicaid and other state-run healthcare programs and facilities—such as
nursing homes, hospitals, and child welfare agencies—that receive federal
funds. Among other things, the regulation says that individuals with disabilities
must receive care in the “most integrated setting” and, pursuant to
court cases, acknowledges that this requirement means that states must also avoid
putting individuals “at serious risk of institutionalization.” It
also acknowledges that, according to a recent court case decided by the Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals, gender dysphoria may be included in the legal definition
of disability in certain circumstances.</p> <p>The final rule is hundreds of pages
long, but the first two counts of the lawsuit focus on the inclusion of gender
dysphoria in the definition of disability and what the states perceive as the
unwarranted expansion of the “most integrated setting” requirement
to include the “serious risk of institutionalization.” They say
categorizing gender dysphoria as a disability violates the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) as originally written. (The definition of disability contained in the
ADA is the same as the definition used when applying the Rehabilitation Act.) The
states also claim to worry that the “serious risk” standard will
limit their flexibility and saddle them with burdensome costs. In other words,
they want flexibility to institutionalize more patients with disabilities because
they believe that community care placements will cost too much. These initial
counts therefore ask the court to invalidate the regulation, but unfortunately
the lawsuit then goes much further.</p> <p>Count III of the complaint is simply
entitled “Section 504 is unconstitutional.” This language could not
be any more straightforward. The complaining states are saying that Section 504,
a bedrock of our nation’s disability laws for over fifty years, is
now—and always has been—unconstitutional and should be struck off
our nation’s books. The complaint then goes on for approximately twenty
paragraphs spread across three pages to explain the reasoning behind this count.
A few pages later, in their demand for relief, the states ask not only for the
court to enjoin (or prohibit) DHHS from enforcing the regulation, but to
“declare Section 504 unconstitutional” and “issue permanent
injunctive relief against [DHHS] enjoining them from enforcing Section 504.”</p>
<p>The threat this poses to blind people and all Americans with disabilities,
including students at all education levels, cannot be overstated. If the court
were to declare Section 504 unconstitutional and block DHHS from enforcing it,
all other federal agencies would be prohibited from enforcing it as well, and
states would no longer be bound by its requirements. Section 504 plans, which are
like Individualized Education Plans, would be a thing of the past; blind or disabled
K-12 students and their families would find their rights curtailed or eliminated.
Furthermore, blind individuals (including blind postsecondary students and state
and federal workers), as well as the Federation and other advocacy organizations,
would no longer be able to bring lawsuits to enforce the law’s antidiscrimination
mandate. And because the Rehabilitation Act is linked with the ADA and other civil
rights statutes in several ways, the lawsuit could result in even greater damage
to protections for the blind and our rights.</p> <p>The lawsuit is in limbo
following the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. A new president’s
administration can review, change, or even revoke regulations made by the prior
administration or decline to defend all or part of them in court. Almost immediately
after President Trump’s inauguration, he issued an executive order that
purports to remove all federal protections for people with gender dysphoria. For
the time being, the complaining states say they are willing to hold off on further
pursuing the case to see how this policy shift plays out. So the lawsuit, now
known as <em>Texas v. Kennedy</em> since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the new DHHS
secretary, is technically paused and may or may not be made irrelevant. But the
lawsuit has not been dismissed, which would be the best outcome given the serious
threat that it poses to section 504. That is why the National Federation of the
Blind and other advocates are acting.</p> <p>On February 13, 2025, we issued an
alert that urged our members in the states that brought the suit to contact their
attorneys general, the elected officials who serve as the states’ lawyers,
and ask them to withdraw from the lawsuit or, in the case of Texas, to voluntarily
move to dismiss it. Our affiliates went to work, as did other advocates. By the
time President Riccobono, along with our Advocacy and Policy team and General
Counsel Eve Hill, conducted a Zoom meeting to update affiliate leaders on the
lawsuit and other issues on March 11, our activism was making national news, with
stories appearing in the <em>Washington Post</em> and <em>USA Today</em>. Prior
to that, local media in Montana and Iowa had also covered the litigation.</p>
<p>To date, the lawsuit has not been dismissed, and no state has withdrawn from
it. In response to the public-relations nightmare they created for themselves,
however, some of the states have loudly and heatedly denied that they seek to kill
Section 504 and have even gone so far as to claim that the Federation and other
disability advocates are lying about the lawsuit, or at least exaggerating its
potential impact. A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told
Helena’s KTVH that “bad faith actors are deliberately misconstruing
this lawsuit nine months after it was filed to frighten parents into believing
that the Attorneys General put Section 504 in jeopardy. That is categorically
false.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird similarly protested: “This
lawsuit puts the full force of seventeen states behind ending the woke, Biden-Harris
mandate that sexualizes kids. We are protecting Section 504 accommodations for
students who need it.” Significantly, however, Texas attorney General Ken
Paxton, a firebrand known for controversial statements and litigation tactics,
has remained quiet, refusing to comment to reporters or respond to advocates.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the pontification and attempted placation by some politicians,
the language of the complaint has not changed and flatly contradicts all the
assurances that are designed to try and get us to pipe down. If Texas and company
really do not want to kill Section 504, then they can dismiss their lawsuit or,
at the very least, amend their legal complaint to remove Count III. So far, they
have done neither. They did purport to “clarify” their intentions
in a February 21 joint status report to the court, but this does nothing to alter
the underlying complaint. A status report is not a pleading. It is the states,
and not the Federation or other disability advocates, who are being disingenuous
about the possible effects of the lawsuit as written. The National Federation of
the Blind is merely taking the states at their word, which is only fitting since
their legal representatives, who being attorneys swore an oath to be honest with
our nation’s courts, signed the complaint.</p> <p>Here is the bottom line:
dropping the lawsuit entirely is the only way to fully protect Section 504. That
is why President Riccobono wrote Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the following
letter on March 4, with similar letters going to the other sixteen state attorneys
general:</p> <p>Dear Attorney General Paxton: </p> <p>The National Federation
of the Blind urges you to consider the full importance of Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”) and the benefit it has
for Texans with disabilities, and to immediately move to dismiss <em>Texas
v. Kennedy</em>. </p> <p>The stated goal of <em>Texas v. Kennedy</em> is
to severely limit Section 504 by applying it only to those programs, services,
and activities directly funded by and through the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(“the Rehab Act”). The parties’ status report dated February
21, 2025, reads in pertinent part: “Plaintiffs clarify that they have never
moved—and do not plan to move—the Court to declare or enjoin Section
504. . . as unconstitutional on its face. Plaintiffs have not sought and do not
seek to enjoin the disbursement of funds from the Department on the basis that
the statute is unconstitutional,” however, we note that at the time of this
writing, Plaintiffs have not chosen to amend pages 37 and 42 of their complaint
which read: “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional,” and
“Demand for Relief . . . d. Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794,
unconstitutional; e. Issue permanent injunctive relief against [the Department of
Health and Human Services] enjoining them from enforcing Section 504.” </p>
<p>Section 504 protects people with disabilities from discrimination by federal
agencies and recipients of federal funding in public education, work readiness
programs, healthcare, elections, the court system, and more. In brief, it is not
at all overstating the point to say that if Section 504 is found unconstitutional,
we will ensure that a generation of people with disabilities will be less educated,
less employable, and less able to participate fully in all aspects of life.</p>
<p>The United States has long recognized a disabled person’s value as a
student, employee, and a member of the public. Reducing Section 504 would constitute
a sea-change, excluding people with disabilities from education, employment, and
civic life. Disabled students, teachers, and parents would lose access to course
content and educational accommodations. Teachers, utility workers, farmers, office
workers, county administrators, attorneys, judges, and other workers with disabilities
would lose access to the government-funded software, websites, and other information
vital to maintaining their employment. People with disabilities who seek to be
involved in civic life, be it through joining municipal boards, exercising their
right to vote, or even just crossing the street, would all be negatively impacted
by the suspension of Section 504. Put another way, limiting Section 504 in the
manner proposed would guarantee countless people with disabilities would stay
home, be unable to work, and be forced to subsist solely on government benefits.</p>
<p>The National Federation of the Blind is the transformative membership and
advocacy organization of blind Americans, and our goal is complete integration of
the blind into society. The Federation has spent a large portion of its 84-year
history combating discrimination and low expectations. We believe that all Americans
can and should be afforded the opportunity to work, learn, and participate in
community life. Accordingly, we believe that disabled Americans have the right to
receive the education, training, and opportunity required to lead productive lives.
We do not believe that people with disabilities should be forced by the government
to leave school, lose work, or stay on public benefits.</p> <p>We appreciate the
need for effective and responsible governance. However, truncating a disabled
person’s opportunity to participate fully in society runs contrary to your
state’s true interests. We urge you to immediately move to dismiss <em>Texas
v. Kennedy</em> and the dismantling of Section 504.<br />  <br />
Sincerely, <br /> Mark A. Riccobono, President <br /> National Federation
of the Blind</p> <p>The parties will report next to the Federal District Court
for the Northern District of Texas, where Judge James Wesley Hendrix is presiding
over the case, about the status of the litigation on April 21. In the meantime,
advocates in Texas and the thirty-three other states not involved in the lawsuit
should write to Texas Attorney General Paxton and urge him to dismiss the lawsuit.
Advocates in the other sixteen states should contact their own state attorney
general and urge them to withdraw from the lawsuit. You can learn more about the
details of the lawsuit and access a list of state attorneys general with their
contact information on the following web page hosted by the Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund: <a
href="https://dredf.org/protect-504">https://dredf.org/protect-504</a>. The
<em>Braille Monitor</em> will continue to follow developments in the litigation
and report what we learn.</p> <p>----------</p> <h2
id="national-federation-of-the-blind-comments-on-reduction-in-force-at-department-of-education-office-of-civil-rights-urges-administration-to-reconsider-action">National
Federation of the Blind Comments on Reduction in Force at Department of Education,
Office of Civil Rights <em>Urges Administration to Reconsider Action</em></h2>
<p><strong>From the Editor: On Tuesday, March 11, news outlets reported a dramatic
reduction in force, which is federal government-speak for mass layoffs or firings,
at the United States Department of Education. The news reports and information
that the Federation was able to acquire from other sources confirmed that the
department’s Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act and other laws and regulations protecting blind students,
was hit particularly hard. On March 12, we issued the following statement of
concern:</strong></p> <p>The National Federation of the Blind, which advances the
lives of its members and all blind people in the United States, issued the following
statement regarding the announcement of a dramatic reduction in force at the United
States Department of Education, specifically its Office of Civil Rights.</p>
<p>Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
“The National Federation of the Blind is gravely concerned about the
devastating reductions in force affecting the Department of Education Office of
Civil Rights (OCR) and the closing of many of its field offices, since OCR is
responsible for protecting the rights of blind and disabled students at all
educational levels. Thousands of blind students and their families are left without
any assurance of how their rights will be protected. We stand ready to work with
policymakers to improve our education system, but we vigorously oppose actions
that undermine the safeguards that have opened doors for generations of blind
students. We urge Secretary McMahon and the administration to reconsider dismantling
OCR and to collaborate with the blind and others with disabilities to ensure that
continuity is maintained for the protections and services on which so many blind
students rely.”</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Amy Parker]</p>
<h2 id="the-role-of-the-department-of-education-in-specialized-teacher-training-and-beyond">The
Role of the Department of Education in Specialized Teacher Training and Beyond</h2>
<p><strong>by Amy Parker</strong></p> <p><strong>From the Editor: Dr. Amy Parker
is the Coordinator of the Orientation and Mobility (O&M) program at
Portland State University. She collaborates with Dr. Holly Lawson to prepare
teachers of blind and low-vision students and O&M students for Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii. In this article, she describes
the critical role that the United States Department of Education (DOE) plays in
supporting the training of teachers of blind, low-vision, and deafblind students.
Her observations are critically relevant as our government considers dismantling
the DOE and shifting its programs and responsibilities to other entities or
eliminating them entirely. Here is what Dr. Parker says:</strong></p> <p>The United
States Department of Education has played a significant role in my life personally
and professionally. In 2006, I was selected along with twenty-four other fellows
to pursue doctorates in special education with a focus on meeting the needs of
students who are blind, have low vision or are deafblind. A consortium of universities
collaborated, each to host its own doctoral scholars, to prepare us to work in
higher education and other leadership roles. This grant was one of many that were
awarded because Congress recognized there were severe teacher shortages in regular
and special education. The teacher shortage was not only impacting schools, it
was compounded by the challenge of not having sufficient faculty members to lead
teacher preparation programs, particularly in the field of special education (Smith
& Montrosse, 2012). The fellowship that I received, like all personnel
preparation grant monies, required a service obligation for graduates to work in
public education to serve the needs of American schools and universities. For
every year of funding received, two years of service had to be documented by the
graduate’s employers to fulfill the agreement of the award.</p> <p>My family
and I moved from Georgia to Texas for my doctoral studies so that I could study
with faculty who had deep expertise in how to serve children with low-incidence
disabilities. Since graduation, I have worked at universities to design curriculum,
often collaboratively with practicing teachers and family members to create
educational videos and resources to prepare future teachers as well as to support
teachers who are already working in classrooms every day. Now as an associate
professor, managing a program at a university, I am writing and receiving personnel
preparation grants to support my master’s students financially as they
choose to take on the challenge and the calling of teaching students who are blind,
have low vision, or are deafblind. My students are often already working in the
field of special education full time; many are early to mid-career teachers,
supporting families while taking on the challenge of graduate school to deepen
their expertise and to meet the needs of students whom local educational systems
are not well-equipped to serve. My students who receive these grants are from red
and blue states—anywhere in the world where American students are
learning—including teachers who serve on US military bases.</p> <p>It is
important to understand that the personnel preparation grants that are administered
by the US DOE require that 65 percent of the funds go to support our scholars,
covering some or all of their tuition and fees. Only 8 percent of the grant goes
towards the university’s overhead costs. Other components of the grant go
to hiring local supervisors to mentor teachers, again supporting local personnel
to prepare teachers to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable students and
families. The US DOE, staffed by people who have often been in classrooms and have
their doctorates, provides technical support as we teach students, tracking and
reporting our outcomes, providing us guidance for using research and best practices
to maximize our efforts.</p> <p>Along with all fifty states and US territories,
millions of American children are critically dependent on the US Department of
Education for support. This support takes shape in the technical assistance,
infrastructure, and grant funding to state entities, including universities, who
prepare teachers and related services personnel such as speech and language
pathologists, physical therapists, sign language interpreters, and orientation
and mobility specialists. These personnel provide direct support to students within
states, supporting local schools in serving children with disabilities and the
families of those students.</p> <p>It is a false narrative to say that the effort
to dismantle and destroy the US DOE is about giving the responsibility of education
back to the states. States are already responsible for educating children within
their borders. At the federal level, the Department is a conduit for support,
information, and guidance across a vastly diverse and populated country. Many
states do not have the capacity or resources to prepare personnel, especially
personnel who serve children with rare disabilities.</p> <p>The US DOE was created
by law (Section 102, Public Law 96-88) to implement laws (the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1975, the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Educational
Sciences Reform Act of 2002) for the good of the American people. There are millions
of children and families who will be impacted by the efforts to dissolve the US
DOE, and the students do not have the legal right to represent themselves in this
ideological attack. The word “equity,” which is now viewed as
inflammatory, is one of our most treasured values that has been enshrined in our
laws. I urge us to recognize the key role that the US DOE provides to all of our
educational systems and to uphold the laws that are implemented by this agency.</p>
<h3 id="reference">Reference:</h3> <p>Smith, D. D., & Montrosse, B. E. (2012).
Special Education Doctoral Programs: A 10-Year Comparison of the Suppliers of
Leadership Personnel. Teacher Education and Special Education, 35(2), 101-113.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406412444455</p> <p>----------</p> <h2
id="louis-braille-more-anniversaries-ahead">Louis Braille: More Anniversaries
Ahead</h2> <p><strong>by Philippa Campsie</strong></p> <p><strong>From the Editor:
Philippa Campsie is a Toronto-based researcher studying the people and events
surrounding the invention of Braille in France in the early nineteenth century.
In 2016-17, she was given access to the papers of Charles Barbier at the Association
Valentin Haüy and in the archives of the National Institute for Blind Youth
in Paris, the latter being the school where Louis Braille studied and later taught.
In 2021, she published her findings in <em>Disability Studies Quarterly</em>. That
article is available at <a
href="https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/7499/5947">https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/7499/5947</a>.
She has presented her research at the American Printing House for the Blind and
at an online conference for the International Council on English Braille. She has
also participated in podcasts created by the BBC and the Disability History
Association and is working on a book about Charles Barbier and Louis Braille. She
has generously contributed this article to the <em>Braille Monitor</em> as an
expression of gratitude for the posting by the Jacobus tenBroek Library of Louis
Braille’s 1829 book. Her research contains insights that enhance, and in
some cases correct, what we believe we know about Louis Braille and his development
of the Braille code. In the National Federation of the Blind, we celebrate Braille
at every opportunity, and this article makes us aware of some of the milestones
in its history that might otherwise go unnoticed. Here is the article:</strong></p>
<p>The year 2025 is celebrated in France as the anniversary of the invention of
Braille. In the United States, 2024 was designated as the anniversary year, allowing
for two full years of celebration.</p> <p>Mind you, these years represent only
the <em>beginning</em> of the adventure that is Braille. There are many other
milestones that call for celebration.</p> <h3 id="what-happened-in-1824-1825">What
Happened in 1824-1825?</h3> <p>Louis Braille turned sixteen in January 1825. He
had been at the Institution for Blind Youth in Paris for six years and had spent
more than three of those years experimenting with a form of raised-point writing
developed specifically for the blind by Charles Barbier, adopted by the school in
1821. The groundbreaking concept came with something equally precious—the
tools that Louis used to create his own method. Barbier donated dozens of sets of
these tools to the students.</p> <p>Barbier’s method had been adopted mainly
because it was easy to learn and allowed the students to take notes—something
that had not been possible for them when raised print letters were used at the
school. That was a huge advance for the students’ education, but the method
took up a lot of space, and it did not include symbols for mathematics or music.</p>
<p>Although it is often said that Barbier’s method was phonetic, it existed
from the beginning in an alphabetical form. Letters between Barbier and the director
of the school indicate that students used the alphabetical form. Of course they
did. They knew the alphabet, and they knew how to spell. Why would they bother to
<em>unlearn</em> what they already knew in order to use phonetic spelling? And
why would the school, which promoted conventional literacy, have allowed—let
alone <em>encouraged</em>—them to do so?</p> <p>In Louis Braille’s
experiments with Barbier’s code, the eureka moment must have been the point
at which Louis realized that dots represented a binary form of communication. Like
modern computer code, each position could be zero or one, off or on. The lack of
a dot in a certain position was as significant as the presence of a dot. This
insight is at the heart of the Braille code, every bit as crucial as the six-dot
cell. This year’s celebration marks this fundamental achievement.</p> <h3
id="the-first-publication-of-braille">The First Publication of Braille</h3> <p>It
took Louis another four years to work out the details and get his ideas into print
with the publication of his book, whose English title is <em>Procedure for Writing
Words, Music, and Plain-Song Using Dots for the Use of the Blind and Made Available
to Them</em>. Thanks to the National Federation of the Blind, the result can be
seen online with French transcription and English translation at <a
href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/braille/thefirstpublicationofthebraillecode.html">https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/braille/thefirstpublicationofthebraillecode.html</a>.
That publication was a huge step forward, and we should mark the occasion in
2029.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the first publication had one drawback—the use
of dashes in numbers, punctuation, and musical notation. The dashes were hard to
create and hard to decipher.</p> <p>And here’s where we see another aspect
of Louis Braille’s genius. <em>He didn’t give up.</em> Where others
might have considered the task of eliminating the dashes too daunting, Braille
stayed the course. He spent eight more years creating a dot-only method, the basis
of the universal system we have today.</p> <h3 id="the-1837-publication-breaks-new-ground">The
1837 Publication Breaks New Ground</h3> <p>Unfortunately, the 1837 edition of his
<em>Procedure</em> is not (yet) available online. Although it is called a
“second edition,” it is a wholly different publication and a testament
to Braille’s ingenuity in the way he managed to use six dots for everything
that needed to be expressed. I hope that the 1837 edition can be posted online
well before the 2037 celebrations get under way.</p> <p>The “second
edition” is also noteworthy for features that were not in the 1829 publication.
For example, it demonstrates the use of Braille in Latin, German, Italian, Spanish,
and English. The book used the Lord’s Prayer in these five languages to
show that the method could be multilingual. In this way, Louis himself opened the
path to international adoption, years before the rest of the world began to pay
attention.</p> <p>In the 1837 publication, Louis, who was by now twenty-eight
years old, also introduced a new approach to abbreviation. The 1829 edition had
included a version of speed writing that Braille called “stenographic,”
but the 1837 edition offers a slightly different approach. Louis writes, “One
should put only the letters strictly necessary for the pronunciation of words.”
This sounds like a phonetic form of writing; in fact, Braille’s abbreviations
went beyond phonetic spelling to tightly condensed words. For example, he suggests
eliminating vowels that follow consonants, turning the French word <em>verité</em>
(truth) into <em><u>vrt</u></em>.</p> <p>As for Braille’s 1837 method for
music notation, it was so successful that when a new director banned the use of
Braille at the Paris school where Louis was now a teacher, Braille music notation
still had to be used, because there was no workable alternative. Students were in
the strange situation of having to use raised lettering for lyrics along with
Braille notation for the music itself.</p> <h3 id="a-victory-for-the-braille-method">A
Victory for the Braille Method</h3> <p>The official ban lasted four years. In
1844, when the grand new school building was officially opened, Braille was there
to see his method demonstrated and reintroduced. Of course, most of the students
had been using it in secret all along, because there was no other way for them to
write notes. But we can still celebrate the victory of Braille over prejudice in
2044.</p> <p>A final anniversary will be 2052, two hundred years since the death
of Louis Braille. In 1952, his remains were transferred from the graveyard in his
hometown of Coupvray and taken to the Panthéon in Paris, to be interred with
France’s greatest statesmen, scientists, artists, and writers. He belongs
in their company. The year 1852 also saw the first institutional adoption of
Braille outside France—in Lausanne, Switzerland. A mere fifteen years after
publication of the definitive edition of his work, Braille’s method was
beginning to spread internationally.</p> <p>Those are the main anniversaries within
the lifetime of Louis Braille. The adoption of Braille around the world offers
many other years to celebrate—in many cases, a different year for each
country.</p> <h3 id="brailles-journey-from-insight-to-practical-success">Braille’s
Journey from Insight to Practical Success</h3> <p>We need to recognize that the
invention of Braille was not a one-time event, a single burst of inspiration by
a sixteen-year-old that led to a new form of writing once and for all. We like
our heroes to be young and their achievements to be spectacular. Louis Braille’s
genius, however, was to persist in the face of early problems with his invention
and resistance to the use of his code. That is what we should celebrate, this year
and in 2029, 2037, 2044, and 2052.</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Corey
Grandstaff]</p> <h2 id="the-power-of-audio-description">The Power of Audio
Description</h2> <p><strong>by Corey Grandstaff</strong></p> <p><strong>From the
Editor: Corey Grandstaff is the treasurer of our Washington affiliate and works
as the associate director of Transition and Residential Programs at the Washington
State School for the Blind. He also has his own business providing independent
living skills training to older blind adults. He lives in Vancouver, Washington,
with his wife Arabia. Corey’s work, business, and Federation duties might
not seem to leave a lot of spare time, but apparently he finds some to enjoy TV
and movies. He says the following about how his appreciation of audio description,
which is the narration of visual elements of TV programs and movies for blind and
low-vision viewers, has evolved since his childhood:</strong></p> <p>I remember
one of the first times I experienced audio description (AD) as a child. I hated
it! I am not sure if it had to do with the quality of the AD or if it was that,
for the first time, I got to know each detail of the particular movie. It was the
film <em>Old Yeller</em>, and it was one of the Descriptive Video Service (DVS)
tapes that you could order by mail at the time. I remember crying every time I
watched that movie and wishing the AD had not filled me in during each scene
because of how sad the movie was. I also remember theaters offering AD when I went
to movies with my friends in high school or college and feeling that I was not
“normal” when I wore the headphones to hear it.</p> <p>Fast forward
to now, when I am in my mid-thirties, and I rarely watch a movie or television
show that is not audio-described. I even find myself going back to television
shows or movies that were favorites of mine as a kid, because as I watch them with
AD now, I realize how much I miss them. As a child, I was completely comfortable
listening to films or TV shows and applying my own interpretation to what I heard.
As an adult, I finally feel fully engaged with these movies and shows because of
the enhancement that AD brings to experiencing them.</p> <p>Take just one example:
among my favorite movies as a teen were the films of <em>The Godfather Trilogy.</em>
In fall of 2024, I went back and watched all three movies with audio description.
I have a much deeper appreciation for the trilogy and love the movies even more
than I used to as a teen. In addition, for the first time, I knew what the characters
were saying when they spoke in Italian, as the audio description also included
reading of the English subtitles.</p> <p>Another example of the power of audio
description is the time that I viewed the Rose Parade with live, real-time audio
description. I remember sitting down with my family as a child to watch this annual
New Year’s Day event live and having a basic idea of what each float was
but no clue as to the details of its appearance or how intricate those details or
designs were. Watching the Rose Parade for the first time with audio description
gave me a much deeper appreciation for the talent and creativity that went into
each float. I never realized how providing audio description of a live event could
be life-changing.</p> <p>This leaves me asking: why did it take me so long to
embrace the power of audio description? Is it that when I was a child, you had to
go to certain theaters or buy special DVS video tapes to access it, whereas now
most movie theaters are required to have AD equipment and I can tune my TV to
popular streaming services such as Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and
Netflix and they have AD for much of their programming? Or is it that as an adult
I do not feel the stigma that I did as a child because I do not care if others
see me as different or weird because I wear headphones at the movie theater? Or
is it because the quality of audio description has improved since I was younger?</p>
<p>For me, it is a bit of all three: having the ability to turn on my TV to the
streaming services I use to access AD, not caring how people look at me, and
knowing the quality of AD has improved over the years. I will say it is disappointing
when popular channels, such as Starz, have no programming that is audio-described.
When I notice AD is not available, it leaves me uninterested in watching the series
or movie or in paying for the service.</p> <p>So, what are my hopes for the future
of audio description? The streaming services I listed above have made great advances
in what AD they provide, but it is still frustrating when you go to watch a show
and it is not audio-described. An even more frustrating experience is when seasons
three through six are audio-described, but seasons one and two are not. And then
as I mentioned, there are some networks that offer no audio description. So, my
hope for the future is that every show can offer AD, that more live events offer
live AD, and that the quality and consistency of audio description continues to
improve. The work that we must do in advocating for audio description is far from
over. However, at least from my perspective, the value that audio description adds
is just one example of how providing access can change the lives of blind people
and help us to live the lives we want every day.</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO
CAPTION: Charles Tate]</p> <h2 id="from-no-blind-life-to-rockin-the-blind-life">From
No Blind Life to Rockin’ the Blind Life</h2> <p><strong>by Charles
Tate</strong></p> <p><strong>From the Editor: Charles Tate is a leader in the
National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas. Like many others, he had exposure
to the National Federation of the Blind long before he chose to join our movement.
Here, he writes about the moment when he knew for sure that our organization was
for him and about how his life has changed since then. By the way, the speech he
references in his story is the 2003 banquet address “The Rest of Reality,”
and you can read it in the August/September 2003 <em>Braille Monitor</em> archived
on our website, <a href="htttps://nfb.org">htttps://nfb.org</a>. Here is
Charles’s story:</strong></p> <p>Hello, my name is Charles. I was born
blind. Growing up in a small town in rural Arkansas, I went to public school with
no connections to a blind community or other blind people. I didn’t know
what it meant to be blind, so I either told people I was legally blind, visually
impaired, or just faked it. I got pretty good at faking it over the years.</p>
<p>In 2003, I went to a rehabilitation center for the blind in Kentucky to learn
some skills for independent living and computer skills. During this time, the
National Federation of the Blind was holding its national convention in Louisville,
and the center where I was staying gave us cab vouchers to attend a few days of
the event. I had never heard of the NFB before this and had no idea what to expect,
but I was blown away by all the confident blind people advocating for and educating
about blindness issues. It was an amazing experience, but being seventeen and a
busy student, I didn’t join at the time. However, hearing President
Maurer’s reading of a speech about waiting stayed in my mind forever.</p>
<p>Years later, not in a very good place, when I turned thirty and started losing
more of the vision I had, I became reclusive, staying in my house constantly and
feeling depressed. I even drank too much just to get through the day. I decided
to give the National Federation of the Blind a try. After sending an email to the
president of my state affiliate and receiving a very fast response, I was connected
with the At-Large Chapter of Arkansas.</p> <p>In 2023, my blind-at-heart wife,
Rikki, and I registered for the NFB National Convention in Houston. We made some
mistakes, like not staying at the convention hotel, but we attended many general
sessions. One day, while walking through the hotel, I stopped to let some folks
pass by. I saw a family with two children, both with the shortest canes I had ever
seen and the biggest smiles on their faces.</p> <p>There was something about those
few moments of watching those kids. My mind started doing flips, my eyes teared
up, and my heart started beating fast. I thought I was going to have a panic
attack, but looking back, I think it was the realization that I could be as happy
and as confident as those two little children. As many mistakes as we made on that
trip and with so many decisions we wish we could have made differently, that
particular path, going to whatever session or back to the room, was the path I
was meant to walk on that day. That moment was my breaking point. I decided I had
enough, and it was time to stand up. After that experience, I came home, dusted
off my cane, and now I can honestly say I’m proud to be a blind person and
a member of the National Federation of the Blind. That family, and especially
those two kids, will never know this, but that moment will stick with me forever.
Thank you for that; it’s something I hold close to my heart.</p> <p>Everyone
says the same thing about me: since the Federation found me, my outlook on life,
confidence, and overall sense of happiness have improved. My fifteen-year-old
daughter, Sady, who has optic atrophy like me, is a proud member of the Federation
and is eager to learn and contribute in any way she can. Sady will be attending
her first national convention this year in New Orleans. I’ve told her this
story and can’t wait for her to have her own eye-opening moment like mine.
I think it has taken her a bit to get used to a more confident and independent
father.</p> <p>We get out in our community and throughout the state advocating
for and educating about blindness. We set up at festivals and fairs, give talks
about blindness, and speak on the <em>Courtesy Rules of Blindness</em> to help
inform the public and recruit new members. We are excited to talk about the great
work of the Federation and anxious to see what the future holds for our state.</p>
<p>Since becoming a member in 2023, I have been elected treasurer of the At-Large
Chapter and first vice president of the Arkansas affiliate and selected as a member
of the 2024-2025 Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service cohort.</p> <p>Another
thing that has helped me on this journey is the guidance and patience of some of
the best people, from the top down. I’ve met many affiliate presidents and
most of the wonderful people employed at our national HQ in Baltimore, Maryland.
My leadership journey has been one of the most rewarding programs I have ever been
in, allowing me to learn from the best. We as members need to remember to appreciate
all of our leaders more. The Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service program has
been such an amazing experience. Our group of sixteen has such amazing ideas and
minds. I have learned so much already and am excited to dive into more.</p>
<p>----------</p> <h2 id="the-courtesy-rules-of-blindness"><em>The Courtesy Rules
of Blindness</em></h2> <p><strong>From the Editor: The National Federation of the
Blind has distributed and hosted on its website some version of this document for
many years. It was last revised in 2019, with the topics reorganized in a way that
ties them to the spelling of the word “courtesy.” You can find the
document and print it out to give to members of the public at Blind Equality
Achievement Month events or in other settings at <a
href="https://nfb.org/programs-services/meet-blind-month/courtesy-rules-blindness">https://nfb.org/programs-services/meet-blind-month/courtesy-rules-blindness</a>.
Here is the full text:</strong></p> <p>I am a blind person. Please say hello and
get to know me! I want people to feel comfortable around me. Here are some simple
tips.</p> <p>Cane—My cane (or guide dog) is my independent travel aid. If
you think I might need help, please just ask me.</p> <p>Ordinary—Blind
people are ordinary. It feels awkward if you think I am amazing when I accomplish
ordinary tasks like walking or tying my shoes. I also like ordinary things and
have ordinary hobbies. It is okay to be amazed if I do something really exceptional.</p>
<p>Understand—I may not recognize your voice if I don’t know you
well. Please say, “Hi, it is Sue.”</p> <p>Remember—I may have
some sight, but use nonvisual techniques and tools like a cane because it works
best for me. Sometimes people think I am “faking” because I see a
little, but I am just picking techniques that are most efficient and safe in light
of my vision.</p> <p>Talk—Please talk to me rather than a companion, and
there is no need to speak up so just use your normal speaking voice and talk with
me like you would with other people.</p> <p>Experience—I probably have
years of experience using nonvisual techniques to live my life. Feel free to ask
me how I do something, or how best you can assist me, if help is needed.</p>
<p>See—It’s ok to still use words such as see and look. I will talk
with you like everyone else, although I may not be able to make direct eye
contact.</p> <p>Yield—In all 50 states, the law requires drivers to yield
the right of way when they see my extended white cane or guide dog. Only the blind
may legally carry white canes. I listen to traffic patterns to know when to cross
streets and to keep a straight line when moving around.</p> <p>Thanks for reading
about me. I look forward to getting to know you! For more information about the
<em>Courtesy Rules of Blindness,</em> gifts, bequests, programs for the blind, or
other matters concerning blindness or the blind, contact the local chapter in your
area or contact <a href="mailto:nfb@nfb.org">nfb@nfb.org</a> or
410-659-9314. </p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Renée Valdez]</p>
<h2 id="blind-enough">Blind Enough</h2> <p><strong>by Renée Valdez</strong></p>
<p><strong>From the Editor: It has become obvious to me over the years through
conversations with my Federation family that acceptance of blindness is probably
more often a journey than a destination. It can be the most challenging for the
majority of blind people who still have some eyesight, but even those of us who
are totally blind often experience moments when we wish that our situation was
different or that other people could better understand our reality. On the other
hand, we also have moments when we are tired of explaining that reality to others
and wish simply to be left alone. In this short article, Renée Valdez, who
is a member of the current Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service cohort, reflects
on her own conflicting feelings on her level of eyesight, how others perceive it,
and her thoughts about how to react or not react to the questions she perceives
others to be asking. Here is what she has to say:</strong></p> <p>I find it
entertaining that, when I walk on a crowded sidewalk in Old Town Alexandria
[Virginia] or the busy Tyson’s Corner Mall, my white cane causes people to
jump in all directions, giving me plenty of room to pass! It’s like Moses
and the Red Sea! Sometimes, someone will say, “Excuse me.” Sometimes
they will pass me, oblivious to my tapping. And sometimes, especially when there
aren’t many people to hide between or behind, they might press themselves
up against a wall and stay very still and quiet, so I won’t know they are
there! True story! They don’t know I have enough vision to see them standing
there.</p> <p>In my experience as a blind person, about twelve years, I have found
that blindness can be a funny thing. Sighted society is under the impression that
a person is either blind or not. Either one can see or not see. If only life were
that simple. The truth is what blind people actually “see” is as
personal and unique as the individual. And to make it even more interesting, for
some blind people, what they can see changes given certain personal or environmental
factors, like stress, lack of sleep, sunlight or shade, shadows, or glare.</p>
<p>This can be very frustrating for a novice blind person! People who have been
living with blindness for most or all of their lives appear not to sweat this
small stuff. Getting from point A to B for a seasoned blind person is as routine
as that same task for a sighted person. The only difference is that the blind
person might have a guide dog or a white cane leading the way. It was easier for
me in the beginning, when I first lost my eyesight and could see nothing at all.
At that time, I was completely devastated by my new challenge of blindness. I was
fortunate to be under the care and research study of the National Eye Institute,
National Institutes of Health. The doctors and other medical staff worked so
diligently to get my eyesight back.</p> <p>I remember the first time I could see
that there were two fingers right in front of my face. They belonged to Daryll,
the technician working with me at the Eye Institute, who was doing the routine
exam to determine if my vision had changed. Prior to this, I couldn’t see
a bulldozer in front of me, but that day, I was able to see Daryll’s big
fingers! After such a long time of not being able to see anything, suddenly the
veil that had obscured my vision had begun to develop small openings, windows to
the outside world. We all (Daryll, my NIH doctors, and I) thought it would be a
miracle if I ever regained any sight at all.</p> <p>In the months that followed,
my eyesight fluctuated from total obscurity to slits of what would become
“enough eyesight to get me in trouble,” but usually somewhere in
between. A new normal.</p> <p>Now that my eyesight is such that I can see some
things in certain situations, it becomes interesting. It is all about that long
white cane. When I don’t use my white cane out in public, I take small and
tentative steps, and sometimes, if I approach stairs, or a curb, or anything in
the dim light of dusk or the bright light of day, I stop, feel around with my
hands and feet, and then take the step. It slows me down, it is unsafe, and it
makes me look ancient! So, I use my white cane most of the time when I venture
out in public. Picture this: I’m walking through Barnes & Noble Bookstore
headed straight back to the Starbucks, my white cane swishing side to side in
front of me. I order my delicious Quad Grande Americano, pay, and navigate to my
seat, where I will be for the next several hours. I fold up my cane, take out my
laptop, put on my high-magnification reading glasses, and start checking my email.
WHAT? I can tell that the couple sitting across from me, who are now staring at
me, are wondering “How is this blind woman, whom we just witnessed walk in
with the white cane, able to see the computer?” And when I take out my
journal and start writing, it almost seems too much for them to fathom. This is
counterintuitive! White cane equals blind person. Sighted brain says, “Ok.
I compute.” Blind person equals writing in a journal with a pen. Sighted
brain says, “Abort! Abort! Do not comprehend!”</p> <p>It pushes
against a sighted reality to see a “blind” person typing on a
keyboard, writing in a journal, or taking pictures of the landscape, all hobbies
I totally love. This is because society has a rigid idea of what it means to be
blind.</p> <p>Now, here is the kicker. I feel a certain way about this scenario
I have just described. I’m not completely sure how to define this feeling.
Guilt? Am I <em>blind enough</em> to be considered blind? To you, that might seem
a fairly innocuous question. To me, it is laden with shame and anger and denial.</p>
<p>As I am sitting at my table in Barnes & Noble, sipping on my Grande Americano,
writing in my journal about that very moment in time, I look up at the couple
staring at me, and I smile. What else is there to do? Must I explain to them that
I really am blind, but I have enough eyesight to be able to write in my journal,
with the help of high-magnification reading glasses, something I absolutely love
to do and am grateful to be able to do again because of the doctors at the NIH?
Must I explain to them the nuances of what I can and cannot see given the amount
of light or the quality of light or the level of stress in my life or a relapse
of my illness, all of which can cause fluctuations in what I am able to see in
any given moment?</p> <p>Instead, I smile and continue to write, and check my
email, and take pictures of the landscape. It suddenly occurs to me that I can be
gracious and understanding when others cannot comprehend the conundrum of my
eyesight; at one time in my own life, I was that person. I am grateful that I have
enough eyesight to see the handsome face of the man I love, my fur baby MJ, and
the smiles of the family and friends I so cherish, and for me, that is enough.</p>
<p>----------</p> <h2 id="plan-for-the-future">Plan for the Future</h2> <p>“What
if I was never blind? In April 2013 I received a diagnosis of Stargardt Disease.
I often felt adrift, uncertain of how to chart a course towards a fulfilling life.
At that time, I was employed at McDonald’s and had temporarily paused my
undergraduate studies. If I hadn’t received that diagnosis, my life might
have followed a completely different trajectory. I would have continued working
at McDonald’s, feeling stuck and uncertain about my future, but without
the guidance and support that I found through the National Federation of the Blind,
I might have struggled to navigate the challenges of vision loss. Instead, that
diagnosis became a turning point for me by forcing me to confront my circumstances
and seek out resources and communities that could help me thrive despite
my blindness. The NFB helped me realize that my vision loss didn’t
have to define me or limit my aspirations. By believing in my abilities, by
entrusting me with leadership positions, and through intensive mentorship, the
Federation changed my life. My community helped me excel beyond where I would be
if I were sighted.</p> <p>Mentorship is what has brought me to this point in life
thus far. Without my mentors I am not sure where I would be right now. I just hope
I can pay it forward someday.” - Dustin</p> <p>Blind children and adults
are making powerful strides to live the lives we want every day across the United
States, but we need to continue helping blind people like Dustin. For more than
eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the
dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With support from
individuals like you, we can continue to provide powerful programs and critical
resources now and for decades to come. We hope you will plan to be a part of our
enduring movement by including the National Federation of the Blind in your
charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is easier than you think.</p>
<p>With your help, the NFB will continue to:</p> <ul> <li><p>Give blind children
the gift of literacy through Braille.</p></li> <li><p>Mentor young people
like Dustin.</p></li> <li><p>Promote independent travel by providing free long
white canes to blind people in need.</p></li> <li><p>Develop dynamic educational
projects and programs to show blind youth that science and math careers are within
their reach.</p></li> <li><p>Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines
to provide blind people the essential information necessary to be actively involved
in their communities.</p></li> <li><p>Offer aids and appliances that help seniors
who are losing vision maintain their independence.</p></li> </ul> <p>Below are
just a few of the many tax-deductible ways you can show your support of the National
Federation of the Blind.</p> <h3 id="lyft-round-up">LYFT Round Up</h3> <p>By
visiting the menu, choosing Donate, and selecting the National Federation of the
Blind, you commit to giving to the National Federation of the Blind with each
ride.</p> <h3 id="vehicle-donation-program">Vehicle Donation Program</h3> <p>We
accept donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational
vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements
to pick up your donation. We can also answer any questions you have.</p> <h3
id="general-donation">General Donation</h3> <p>General donations help support the
ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they
want. You can call 410-659-9314, extension 2430, to give by phone. Give online
with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit our online
contribution page at: <a href="https://nfb.org/donate"><u>https://nfb.org/donate</u></a>.</p>
<h3 id="pre-authorized-contribution">Pre-Authorized Contribution</h3> <p>Through
the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of
the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by
direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card.
To enroll, call 877-NFB-2PAC, or fill out our PAC Donation Form <a
href="https://www.nfb.org/pac"><u>https://www.nfb.org/pac</u></a>.</p> <h3
id="plan-to-leave-a-legacy">Plan to Leave a Legacy</h3> <p>The National Federation
of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the
generosity and imagination of members and special friends who have chosen to leave
a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. You can join the Dream
Makers Circle in a myriad of ways.</p> <h4 id="percentage-or-fixed-sum-of-assets">Percentage
or Fixed Sum of Assets</h4> <p>You can specify that a percentage or a fixed sum
of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your
will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other
accounts.</p> <h4 id="payable-on-death-pod-account">Payable on Death (POD)
Account</h4> <p>You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary
on a Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking
or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to leave
a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime and you can
change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease.</p> <h4 id="will-or-trust">Will
or Trust</h4> <p>If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the
National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary.</p> <p>Visit our Planned
Giving webpage (<a
href="https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving"><u>https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving</u></a>)
or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information.</p> <h3
id="in-2024-our-supporters-helped-the-nfb">In 2024 our supporters helped the
NFB:</h3> <ul> <li><p>Host three career fairs connecting blind job seekers with
potential employers.</p></li> <li><p>Send 261 Braille Santa and Winter Celebration
letters to blind children, encouraging excitement for Braille literacy.</p></li>
<li><p>Distribute over six thousand canes to blind people across the United States,
empowering them to travel safely and independently throughout their communities.</p></li>
<li><p>Deliver more than five hundred newspapers and magazines to more than 130,000
subscribers with print disabilities free of charge.</p></li> <li><p>Give over
seven hundred fifty Braille-writing slates and styluses free of charge to blind
users.</p></li> <li><p>Mentor 222 blind youth during our NFB Braille Enrichment
for Literacy and Learning® Academy.</p></li> <li><p>Award thirty scholarships
each in the amount of $8,000 to blind students.</p></li> </ul> <p>Just imagine
what we will do this year and, with your help, what can be accomplished for years
to come. Together with love, hope, determination, and your support, we will continue
to transform dreams into reality.</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Nicholas
Hoekstra]</p> <h2 id="raising-expectations-for-the-blind-of-the-world">Raising
Expectations for the Blind of the World</h2> <p><strong>by Nicholas Hoekstra</strong></p>
<p><strong>From the Editor: Nicholas (Nick) Hoekstra lives with his wife and
two-year-old daughter in Lawrence, Kansas, where he is finishing a PhD in special
education. The focus of his research is on how artificial intelligence can support
individuals with disabilities. Among his other interests, he is an avid martial
artist and tries to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in sports
whenever possible. He won a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship in 2004.
Here is what he says about his work with blind and disabled people around the
world:</strong></p> <p>“We didn’t ask you to visit the school to
teach English. There is nothing you could teach the students in a single day. We
just wanted the students to meet you.”</p> <p>In 2008, while working as an
assistant language teacher in Japan, I was asked to spend a day volunteering at
the local mogakko, or school for the blind. I agreed immediately and then spent
the next several evenings frantically preparing English lessons that incorporated
tactile materials, music, and movement. As a blind individual myself, I felt acute
pressure to prepare English lessons that would engage the students, despite the
fact I had no formal training as a teacher of the blind.</p> <p>When the day for
me to visit the mogakko arrived, the head teacher led me from classroom to classroom,
visiting students that ranged in ages from elementary school to high school. I
spent the following six hours answering questions—“Do you have a
girlfriend?” “What is your favorite Japanese food?”—and
using my limited Japanese, combined with the students’ limited English, to
talk about my experiences living in Japan and their own hopes for the future. The
lessons I had so carefully prepared were forgotten.</p> <p>When I apologized to
the head teacher for not having taught any English, she waved my concerns away.
“These students are taught that they have very few options for their lives.
They can become massage therapists or musicians. We wanted the students to see
that you are a blind adult who is traveling the world and living an independent
life. You are an example of a blind person who has made his own choices, and I
wanted the students to know that they can do the same.”</p> <p>That
interaction—among many others during my nearly four years living in
Japan—changed the course of my life. Having grown up in the United States,
I took for granted the education I received. I was always taught that I could do
whatever I put my mind to; that my disability was not the characteristic that
defined me. This is not often the case for the estimated 240 million children with
disabilities around the world, many of whom still do not have the chance to attend
school in the first place. I decided, from that point forward, that I would dedicate
my career to the improvement of education for individuals with disabilities
globally, in whatever small way I could.</p> <p>Over the past ten years, I have
had some amazing opportunities to work with people from around the world on projects
that advance the right of education for people with disabilities. In 2016, for
example, I became the capacity-building focal point for the Accessible Books
Consortium. This project of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
helps implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for
Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled. The treaty,
in a nutshell, is a commitment by countries to allow for exceptions in their
copyright laws that permit the production of books in accessible formats and the
sharing of these accessible books with other countries that have ratified the
treaty. If a library in the UK has already produced an accessible copy of, for
example, Harry Potter, they could share this book with a library in the United
States. The real impact of the treaty, though, is on small organizations of the
blind that have limited resources. Under the Marrakesh Treaty, an association of
the blind in Ecuador can request an audiobook from Argentina and thus save the
small Ecuadorian association valuable time and money.</p> <p>In my role as
capacity-building focal point, I worked with organizations of the blind from around
the world to finance projects that allowed them to receive training on how to
produce books in digitally accessible formats. Typically, the projects also came
with financing so that these organizations could use their recent training to
produce a number of local textbooks for elementary or high school courses. During
this time, I met with dynamic leaders of the blind from Argentina, Bangladesh,
India, Mexico, and Nepal, among so many others. These were men and women who fought
tirelessly for a better future, holding their organizations together with what
funding they could find from local and international donors. In every case, I was
astounded at the resiliency of these organizations that survived, often with very
limited resources, to promote the rights of the blind. It made me appreciate how
we, as blind individuals, are united in a singular fight for our right to education,
work, and respect, no matter where we live. It also made me so proud to be a member
of this global community.</p> <p>While producing books in accessible formats is
one important aspect of educational inclusion, I had always wanted to work more
closely with teachers and schools on the education of students with disabilities.
I found my calling working with projects financed by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). For the past several years, I have collaborated
on the implementation of projects throughout Latin America, Africa, and Southeast
Asia, ensuring that the work of USAID has been inclusive of students with
disabilities. Every project is different. In some cases, I have supported individuals
with disabilities as they attend college for the first time. In other instances,
I have trained local partner organizations on accessibility standards, classroom
accommodations, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In Liberia, my team
supported a teacher-training institute in establishing its first Braille department,
where future teachers began learning to read and write Braille, while in El Salvador
I provided training to teacher trainers on the inclusion of students with disabilities
in low-resource classrooms.</p> <p>People often do not understand exactly what it
is I do when I say I work in international development, and in recent months I
have been referred to as “evil,” “criminal,” or a
“waste of money.” This rhetoric—for rhetoric is what it
is—is disheartening and dangerous. Even more, though, it devalues the lives
of the people from around the world who we have worked to support. By saying that
the work of USAID—or other aid organizations—is a waste of resources,
we are also saying that the lives of those men, women, and children we have cared
for are no longer valuable, simply because they were not born in our communities.
This includes thousands of students with disabilities globally who are even now
losing educational opportunities. Even more concerning is that, when we stop
recognizing the value of people with disabilities in other countries, it’s
a very short time before we’ll stop recognizing the value of people with
disabilities at home.</p> <p>I have wanted to share my experiences in an article
for the <em>Monitor</em> for years, but it never felt like the right moment...
until now. If there is one thing I’ve witnessed while working on projects
in over twenty-five countries, it is that we, as individuals with disabilities,
can only succeed when we work together. When we work together, we change the world.
Unfortunately, the United States is increasingly backing out of any international
collaboration. In the end, the people who will suffer most are our brothers and
sisters with disabilities, because we are always the people who suffer most when
decision-makers refuse to see beyond our borders or their own misconceptions.</p>
<p>In 2016, President Mark Riccobono shared the following sentiment in an opening
address to the World Blind Union: “We invite our brothers and sisters from
around the world to our home to share with us the ideas, insights, innovations,
and dreams that come from your unique perspectives. We also share with you our
progress along with our desire to continue to test the limits and raise expectations
for the blind anywhere in the world.” I write this article not because I
want recognition for any of the work I have done, but because I want to help others
in our community understand what it is when we talk about USAID, international
development, or foreign aid. There is a lot of false information being shared,
and it creates a smoke-screen that hides the true work that we do. The majority
of individuals who work in international development share President Riccobono’s
wish to learn from the unique perspectives of a global community and, if possible,
work together to improve the lives of everyone.</p> <p>I encourage each of you to
remember that we are a global community, and—even while we fight to improve
the conditions of people with disabilities in the United States—we must
never stop lending a hand to our international family.</p> <p>----------</p> <h2
id="blindness-beyond-borders">Blindness Beyond Borders</h2> <p><strong>by Abdi
Ali-Mumin</strong></p> <p><strong>From the Editor: Abdi Ali-Mumin is an orientation
and mobility (O&M) instructor who holds the National Orientation and Mobility
Certification (NOMC) from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board
(NBPCB). He lives in Colorado, where he has his own business teaching cane travel.
Here is what he says about the challenges and rewards of teaching blind people
across the globe:</strong></p> <p>I was born and raised in sunny San Diego,
California, to Somali immigrant parents who fled the brutal civil war in 1991.
Both my parents were shot during the war and arrived in the United States without
speaking a word of English. Despite these hardships, they did everything they
could to give us a good life. My childhood was like any other American
kid’s—I played sports, got into trouble with my brothers, and loved
nothing more than spending time outside.</p> <p>When I was a teenager, my family
moved to Denver, Colorado, a city I would later realize had one of the best training
centers for blind people. Later in life, I was diagnosed with glaucoma, which
contributed to my blindness.</p> <p>For four years, I resisted using a cane. I
either relied on family members or just took my chances. When I fell due to my
lack of depth perception, I’d laugh it off, pretend I was doing push-ups,
or act like I meant to run into that stop sign. But at twenty-two, I finally had
enough. That’s when I walked through the doors of the Colorado Center for
the Blind (CCB).</p> <h3 id="the-moment-that-changed-everything">The Moment That
Changed Everything</h3> <p>CCB wasn’t just a training program—it
was a wake-up call. Before I arrived, I had convinced myself that blindness meant
limitations. I believed I would never have a career, a wife, or a family. I thought
my mother would never be able to look at me with pride. But from my first day at
CCB, all of that changed.</p> <p>I wasn’t coddled. I wasn’t given
excuses. If I wasn’t at the door by 8:00 a.m., there were consequences. It
didn’t matter if I missed the bus or overslept. Being blind wasn’t
an excuse for low expectations.</p> <p>At first, the demands seemed impossible.
I didn’t even know how to turn on an oven, yet I was told I’d be
cooking for six people within a month. But I did it. I learned Braille thanks to
my incredibly patient instructors. I learned to navigate technology without randomly
tapping my phone for forty-five minutes, hoping I’d eventually hit the
right icon. But most importantly, the day I received my first NFB long white cane,
everything changed. I felt hope. I felt unstoppable.</p> <h3 id="paying-it-forward">Paying
It Forward</h3> <p>That moment shaped my future. Today, I am an orientation and
mobility instructor, a career I’ve had since 2020. And I love my students.
There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing their triumphant smiles when
they finally locate that elusive coffee shop or confidently navigate a grocery
store alone.</p> <p>But my journey didn’t stop in the United States. My
passion has taken me across the world, where I’ve witnessed firsthand how
different cultures view blindness. We are incredibly fortunate to have the National
Federation of the Blind because, in many parts of the world, the stigma of blindness
is overwhelming. I’ve been to places where people believe blindness is a
curse from their ancestors or a punishment from God. In some countries, blind
people are shunned, harmed, or even killed. And yet, in every place I’ve
traveled—from Kenya to Uganda to South Africa—I’ve found one
common thread: the hunger for hope.</p> <h3
id="the-challenges-of-teaching-orientation-and-mobility-abroad">The Challenges of
Teaching Orientation and Mobility Abroad</h3> <p>Teaching O&M in developing
countries is a unique challenge. In the United States, I can explain concepts like
textured sidewalks, curbs, and crosswalk signals with confidence because they
exist. But in places like Kenya, Uganda, or South Africa, these foundational
elements are often missing.</p> <p>One of the biggest barriers is language. Many
students I’ve worked with have never heard of the terms I use to describe
tactile feedback, echolocation, or intersection analysis. Translating these concepts
into their native languages while demonstrating them physically takes patience
and creativity.</p> <p>Then there’s the infrastructure—or rather,
the lack of it. Many roads are unpaved, and sidewalks are either nonexistent or
riddled with obstacles. Teaching a student how to distinguish between smooth
pavement and rough asphalt is difficult when everything is just dirt, gravel, or
broken concrete. Crosswalks? Rare. Traffic laws? Optional. The fear my students
experience when crossing a street is completely justified—many drivers
don’t stop, and there are no audible signals to rely on. Every intersection
becomes an exercise in controlled risk.</p> <h3
id="the-cane-debate-nfb-long-white-cane-vs.-ambutech-canes">The Cane Debate: NFB
Long White Cane vs. Ambutech Canes</h3> <p>In the US, the NFB long white cane is
the gold standard. Its lightweight fiberglass construction and metal tip provide
superior tactile feedback, allowing users to detect subtle changes in
terrain—smooth cement, rugged asphalt, uneven bricks. With this cane, I
can feel the difference between a curb and a ramp, or a sidewalk and a driveway.</p>
<p>But in more rural or underdeveloped areas, the NFB cane takes a beating.
Fiberglass simply isn’t durable enough to survive the harsh conditions of
unpaved roads, jagged rocks, and daily exposure to rough handling. Many blind
individuals in these areas use Ambutech canes, which are heavier and sturdier,
sacrificing some of the detailed tactile feedback in exchange for longevity.</p>
<h3 id="lessons-from-kenya-uganda-and-south-africa">Lessons from Kenya, Uganda,
and South Africa</h3> <p>In Nairobi, Kenya, I experienced a major culture shock.
As soon as I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, I was met with
well-meaning but misguided “helpers” who couldn’t believe a
blind person could travel alone. The streets were chaotic—honking cars,
motorcycles weaving through traffic, and no real traffic rules. Teaching O&M
in such an environment required adapting techniques to help students navigate pure
unpredictability.</p> <p>Uganda had its own unique challenges. Many of my students
there had never received any formal O&M training. They relied on memory, trial
and error, or assistance from family members. One student, using a tree branch as
a cane, told me, “This is all I’ve ever known.” When he
received a real cane, he held it like a sacred object, naming it as if it were a
pet.</p> <p>South Africa was a different experience altogether. The beaches of
Cape Town were breathtaking—golden sand stretching for miles, with the
sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Sitting by the water, eating freshly
caught fish grilled to perfection, was an absolute pleasure. But beyond the beauty,
I witnessed an eagerness to learn. The students, teachers, and parents I met at
a local school for the blind were eager to embrace independence, proving that
blindness does not limit potential—it is society’s perception that
does.</p> <h3 id="the-global-fight-for-independence">The Global Fight for
Independence</h3> <p>The fight for independence does not stop at our borders. The
National Federation of the Blind philosophy—that blind people can live the
lives they want—needs to be shared everywhere. More people need to take up
the opportunity to volunteer, to spread this message across the world, because
independence is not a privilege—it is a right.</p> <p>If you have the chance
to travel and teach, do it. If you can donate a cane, do it. If you can simply
talk to someone in another country about the power of independence, do it. Blind
people across the globe are waiting for someone to believe in them the way the
National Federation of the Blind believed in me. So let’s show the world
what we already know: Blindness is not what holds us back—low expectations
do.</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Gary Wunder]</p> <h2
id="how-do-we-make-real-and-lasting-changes-for-the-blind-a-discussion-that-needs-your-input">How
Do We Make Real and Lasting Changes for the Blind: A Discussion That Needs Your
Input</h2> <p><strong>by Gary Wunder</strong></p> <p>For a long time, we in the
National Federation of the Blind have been thinking about change—the changes
we have made, the changes we want to make in the future, and, more recently, how
we preserve those changes and determine whether they are real or only perceived.
The changes we focus on affect blind people and typically require shifts in societal
behavior. Our hope is that these changes will evolve beyond mere actions and that
they will influence people’s thoughts, emotions, and core beliefs.</p>
<p>Let’s start with some fundamental questions about change. How does it
begin? I believe it starts when one or more people recognize something in their
lives that they want to be different. A dialogue follows in which they work together
to clearly define the problem and explore strategies and solutions. Is the problem
rooted in people’s actions, institutional barriers, or both? If so, who
are the key players? Will solving the problem require exposing the behavior of a
few, prompting public condemnation of those individuals or institutions? Or is
the issue shaped by widely held attitudes that must be changed on a broader
scale?</p> <p>Once we identify the problem, how do we present it to those whose
help we need? This may include those directly affected and those who—whether
they realize it or not—are part of the problem. After communicating the
issue, do we need different approaches for explaining potential solutions? There
may be multiple ways to address the problem, so before meaningful action can begin,
we must decide which path to pursue. Then, we must consider strategy:</p> <ul>
<li><blockquote> <p>Can this change be achieved through persuasion or incentives?</p>
</blockquote></li> <li><blockquote> <p>Does it require a legal mandate?</p>
</blockquote></li> <li><blockquote> <p>If so, should we push for change at the
local, state, or national level?</p> </blockquote></li> </ul> <h3
id="a-real-world-example-the-model-white-cane-law">A Real-World Example: The Model
White Cane Law</h3> <p>Consider, for example, the issues that led to the creation
of the model White Cane Law. Blind people were frequently denied access to public
accommodations—sometimes because of our canes but more often because of
our guide dogs. What could be done? If we were to secure our right to move freely,
legislation seemed necessary. But should it be a federal or state law?</p> <p>The
assumption is often that a federal law is preferable because it applies nationwide.
However, there are times when a state-by-state approach is more practical. This
was the case with the model White Cane Law. Jacobus tenBroek drafted a proposal
and encouraged state affiliates to advocate for its passage in their home states.
Over time, as various legislatures debated and refined the proposal, a common
framework emerged: the law would guarantee blind people the right to access public
spaces with a cane, a dog, or even the assistance of a sighted guide. It would
protect our right to rent housing, ensuring landlords could not use flimsy
excuses—such as a lack of first-floor availability—to deny us. It
would affirm our right to ride buses, stay in hotels, and shop wherever we
pleased.</p> <p>In Missouri, where I live, it took us eight attempts to pass the
model White Cane Bill. Frustrated by the difficulty of enacting a law that I was
sure should not have been controversial, I once vented my frustrations to a couple
of legislative friends. They interrupted me with a lesson in civics:</p> <p>“No
matter how good your cause, young sir, the truth is that we can’t give you
anything without taking something away from someone else. It may be entirely
justified for you to have the rights you seek, but rights don’t just appear
out of thin air. When we give you the right to rent a hotel room, we deny the
hotel owner the right to refuse you. The same is true for all the accommodations
you see as natural and just. Now, I think we will pass your bill, but don’t
assume that rights can simply be handed out freely. Every law is a trade-off, and
that must always be part of our consideration.”</p> <p>Eventually, Missouri
passed the White Cane Law in 1977. However, laws are not self-enforcing. The only
reason this law has remained meaningful is that blind people are willing to stand
up for our rights and ensure they are upheld.</p> <h3
id="changing-behavior-vs.-changing-beliefs">Changing Behavior vs. Changing
Beliefs</h3> <p>This brings us to a deeper question: does passing a law actually
change the attitudes of those who once discriminated against us? In some cases,
yes. The mere existence of the law may prompt people to reconsider their actions
when they encounter a blind person. But I believe there is a significant difference
between changing behavior—what people say and do—and changing what
they truly believe.</p> <p>I see this article as the first in a series exploring
how societal change happens. We may examine different laws and how they came to
be, but beyond the historical enlightenment lies the tougher question: when have
we only modified behavior, and when have we transformed the underlying attitudes
that made the law necessary in the first place?</p> <p>A logical extension of this
discussion is this: How do people form their beliefs, and why are they often so
reluctant to change them? To what extent is this resistance rooted in the
“hardware” of our brains, and how much of it comes from the discomfort
of questioning what we think we know?</p> <p>This may be the subject of the next
article in this series. Alternatively, the next article may examine another piece
of legislation, defining the problem, the strategy, the outcome we expected, and
the reality we have found. But this conversation will only have meaning if you
participate. Your letters and articles will shape the discussion. The goal is not
to create a monologue but to foster an ongoing dialogue—one that challenges
all of us to think critically about how real and lasting change occurs. If you
find this conversation relevant, immerse yourself in it. Write to me at <a
href="mailto:gwunder@nfb.org">gwunder@nfb.org</a> or call at 573-268-4245. To
borrow a phrase from the late President Johnson, “Come, let us reason
together.”</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer]</p> <h2
id="the-intersection-of-law-and-love">The Intersection of Law and Love</h2>
<p><strong>An Address Delivered by Marc Maurer<br /> at the Banquet of the Annual
Convention of the National Federation of the Blind<br /> Dallas, Texas<br /> July
5, 2012</strong></p> <p><strong>From the Editor: Gary Wunder’s article
about how we make change put me in mind of this banquet speech by our Immediate
Past President Dr. Marc Maurer. It expounds on the theme that the promulgation
and enforcement of laws are necessary but not sufficient to make the kind of change
we want to see in society. Here is what he said:</strong></p> <p>We in the National
Federation of the Blind have known for well over half a century that the task
before us is to alter the status quo both for the blind and for the society in
which we live. We can achieve equality only if we believe in our fundamental worth,
and if we take steps to ensure that the society of which we are a part shares this
belief.</p> <p>If a group of disenfranchised individuals wishes to be accepted as
part of the broader culture, at least in some respects, it must come to be admired,
and certain representatives of that group must themselves behave in such a way
that they also can be the subject of admiration. Théophile Gautier, the French
writer, has said, “To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to
love with the mind.” Thus, admiration denotes love. However, an added
element of this admiration is a tension, an uneasiness, an apprehension that the
person or organization being admired may present a challenge, a demand for altered
patterns of thought or behavior, a threat to the status quo.</p> <p>In 1532
Niccolò Machiavelli said, “It is desirable to be both loved and feared,
but it is difficult to achieve both, and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is
much safer to be feared than loved.” He was speaking of the political
processes required for governing a kingdom, and a substantial element of his
argument was intended to avoid revolution. Such sentiments may be true to maintain
the status quo, but pursuing a true equality—altering the fabric of society
to accept disenfranchised groups—demands a different set of principles.
Rather than relying on fear, this attempt at a recognition of human capacity and
value requires the exact opposite—a reversal of the Machiavellian creed—a
reliance not on fear but on love.</p> <p>The United States became a nation by
declaration of the Continental Congress, which stated that the establishment of
our country was based upon “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s
God.” This would seem to be a very powerful combination, but it did not
prohibit slavery, and the Constitution (which was written eleven years later) was
itself insufficient, at the time of its adoption, to do so. Much of the argument
about human equality which arose from the debate over slavery in the United States
was founded upon natural law. No consistent uniform agreement exists about the
meaning of natural law, but three bases for it recur. These are a comprehension
of justice given meaning by experience and the nature of human beings, the
development of custom over time, and the inspiration of God. The English philosopher
John Locke wrote that “Man being born . . . with a title to perfect freedom,
and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature
. . . hath by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his
life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men, but to
judge of and punish the breaches of that law . . . .” Thus, according to
Locke, human beings are not merely governed and controlled by law, but we participate
in the creation and implementation of it. A variant of the Locke assertion was
incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
These documents, which are bedrocks of American law, derive their authority from
“the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” or from the people
who, according to Locke, derive their authority from the law of nature.</p> <p>What
are the natural characteristics of human understanding and behavior that underlie
and support natural law? What in the essence of God creates obligation? What is
the substance that makes people believe in fairness, justice, or equality? Among
the characteristics that naturally occur in humanity are many that we know from
personal experience—fear, greed, apathy, cowardice. However, the ones we
admire have other names—courage, generosity, faith, love. No one of us can
summon at will each of the characteristics in this second group, but all of us
have known them at times, and most of us admire those who seek them.</p> <p>Recently,
Pope Benedict XVI wrote an encyclical entitled “Deus Caritas Est”—God
is love. The common characteristic between the laws of nature and of nature’s
God is arguably the experience of love. Although the law possesses many characteristics
worth criticizing, its fundamental source of power may be its reliance upon and
its wish to express the experience of love. That law and love have anything whatever
to do with each other is not often expressed. However the interesting parts of
law deal with the nature of justice and the wish to ensure equality for all. This
idea has a persistent appeal which cannot easily be justified by arguments in
other realms. How the appeal is interpreted changes with time and circumstance,
but the fundamental nature of the appeal remains strong. It must find its source
in the human heart.</p> <p>Many will offer the opinion that society is governed
by aggression or a competitive spirit and not by generosity. In 1859, Charles
Darwin wrote <em>On the Origin of Species</em>, which has been interpreted
to mean that the fit survive while others die—that the principle governing
social interaction or growth is competition for scarce resources—a person
can win only if that person is bigger, faster, meaner, or more intelligent than
all others in the competition. However, in 1776, Adam Smith wrote the <em>Wealth
of Nations</em>. His book recommended that recognition be given to the value of
the nation based upon the productive capacity of its people and the ability they
possessed to cooperate with one another in creating products that are the basis
for wealth. Modern game theory has supported the argument that cooperative endeavor
to reach a goal is more productive than selfishness.</p> <p>From the time of the
beginning of the National Federation of the Blind, we have been seeking equality
of opportunity. Many have believed that we, who are a minority, must gain equality
by obtaining it from somebody else—by demanding that we be given this right
by sighted people who are in possession of our equality and have been denying it
to us. However, if justice incorporates the notion of love, we cannot get it solely
by insisting that it be ours—though this may be a necessary element. Nobody
gets love by demanding it. It comes to those who behave in such a way that they
can interact with others in a loving spirit. It comes to those who are willing to
give it to others. This means that we are not separated from the equality we seek.
We are not controlled by others. We participate in the mechanism of gaining our
own freedom. We are worthy of admiration, and we, along with others, have come to
recognize this truth. We welcome our colleagues and friends who have joined us in
celebrating the accomplishments of the blind. For those less perceptive, we have
a message and a challenge. We have the ability to inspire respect and sometimes
emotions beyond respect. We will participate in the creation of our own freedom,
and we will not let anybody forget who we are.</p> <p>How easy is it to admire
blind people? Some blind folk make it more difficult than it would be without
them. An article dated April 29, 2008, which appeared in the <em>National
Law Journal</em> tells the story of a blind lawyer charged with fraud for
paying himself and his friends more than $6 million from a health insurance company
while the company was becoming bankrupt. The story says in part:</p> <p><em>A
federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that Barry Scheur, a managed care executive
who is an attorney and is blind, is competent to stand trial in the government’s
case that alleges fraud and conspiracy in the management of a now-defunct health
insurer.</em></p> <p><em>Scheur, a Yale Law School graduate and former partner at
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, along with two other former executives are
charged with unlawfully paying themselves $6.1 million and misleading the Louisiana
Department of Insurance into believing that the insurer . . . was operating in
the black.</em></p> <p><em>Scheur’s attorney, James A. Brown . . . had
argued that Scheur was unable to read and comprehend the financial statements that
are the heart of the government’s case. “He has been totally blind
since birth,” Brown said. “He is not in a position to assimilate
these financial documents.”</em></p> <p>This is what the <em>National
Law Journal </em>reported, and although the press sometimes exaggerates, I
have reason to believe that this story is accurate. Before the case went to trial,
a lawyer for Barry Scheur called to ask that the National Federation of the Blind
intervene to persuade the judge that his client, because of his blindness, did
not have enough on the ball to understand the documents. Can you believe it? Some
lawyer wanted me on behalf of you to say that blind people (even those trained at
the Yale Law School) are incompetent to understand documents. What insufferable
gall! Any executive working under my direction who expresses the sentiment that
the executive cannot comprehend documents essential to the business will have an
exceedingly short tenure. Blindness and intelligence are not coextensive. I have
met some dumb blind people, but blindness didn’t make them that way. The
Barry Scheur argument is an unvarnished flimflam. The outrage is intensified by
the sheer idiocy of the attempt. Those who lie should at least try to make the
stories they tell plausible. Barry Scheur has been convicted. Perhaps his experience
of the law does not remind him of love. If it does, it will be the sort known as
“tough love.”</p> <p>It may be worth reporting that at a dinner I
was hosting some years ago, Jim Gashel (then, our director of governmental affairs
and now, our corporate secretary) invited Barry Scheur to step outside to settle
an argument they were having. Although I prevented the brawl, I think Jim Gashel
would have acquitted himself well if he had been permitted to address himself to
the argument with his fists.</p> <p>A phenomenon reappearing in the United States
from time to time is currently denominated “Dining in the Dark.”
Those who conduct these events bring sighted people together to enjoy a meal served
in a darkened room. Sometimes blind people are invited to participate. In some
formulations of the event, the blind people serve as escorts and waiters. In some
events the blind people join the sighted at table to talk with sighted diners
about the experience of being blind and to serve as role models. Often a considerable
quantity of wine is served with much commentary about avoiding accidents such as
spilling the wine, spreading the food across the table, and becoming overfamiliar
in the dark with other diners. Sometimes dinner is served in a lighted space, but
the diners are blindfolded. This permits sighted people to peek and waiters to
serve who are not required to learn anything about managing without light.</p>
<p>The notion of blindfolding sighted people so that they can learn about blindness
is not new, and it is frequently a harmless novelty, although comments about
alterations in the senses or sensibilities of blind people are repeated. Some
folks tell us that we enjoy our dinners more than sighted people do because the
lack of the visual sense enhances our taste buds. Occasionally, Dining in the Dark
is actually intended to expose diners to the experience of blindness. However,
frequently the name is associated with fundraising conducted for the purpose of
persuading sighted people that they should contribute money to research programs
involving the search for cures for ailments that cause blindness. When the objective
is to encourage sighted people to know about blindness, and when the instruction
is competent, the experience can be positive. When exploitation of the fear of
blindness becomes the primary motivation, harm is the result.</p> <p>The<em> Tampa
Bay Times </em>reported on March 10, 2010, that a foundation dealing with
blindness conducted Dining in the Dark to raise $100,000. Did the sighted participants
learn that blind people are normal, that the experience of being blind need not
be scary, and that the blind have value? Not exactly. The <em>Tampa Bay
Times</em> said, “For those assembled, a half hour in the dark was a
humbling, and bumbling, reminder of the magnitude of the gift of sight.”
One of the participants who spoke to the assembled gathering is the mother of two
children who have been diagnosed with an eye condition which will probably cause
blindness in the future. Her message was the tragedy of blindness and the urgency
of raising money for research to prevent it. She would agree wholeheartedly with
the adjectives humbling and bumbling used by the <em>Tampa Bay Times</em>.
She does not want her children to spend a lifetime with no choice except bumbling
humility.</p> <p>Although the occurrence of blindness can be a tragedy, it need
not be. However, nobody in the room offered this point of view, spoke of the
productivity of blind people, or recounted the dramatically positive experiences
many of us have had. This mother came to the event, participated in it, and departed
believing that the future for her children contains nothing but tragic pain.</p>
<p>One of our members, Nijat Worley, who is at this banquet tonight, and who
decided to be a part of the Dining in the Dark experience in Los Angeles, was told
that he was prohibited from bringing his cane into the dining facility where the
event was taking place. Apparently, he (a blind person) might look too normal or
too competent to fit the distorted image that the fundraisers had in mind. They
did not want our member to share the spotlight with them. They did not want a
blind person to be admired. They wanted all the admiration for themselves and
their so-called expertise in the subject of blindness. I did not ask Nijat Worley
whether he intended to teach these people about the law. Those who deny blind
people the opportunity to participate fully in a public event using their travel
aids are violating nondiscrimination principles of the law. Dining in the Dark
may want us to believe that our primary value consists in frightening people into
digging into their wallets, but we know better. The value we possess is sufficient
to inspire admiration. For those who do not recognize this truth, we have a message
and a challenge. Our rights and our lives have as much value as theirs, and we
will never let them forget who we are.</p> <p>On March 6, 2012, <em>Forbes</em> magazine
printed an editorial claiming that hiring disabled workers would place an
unconscionable burden upon employers. Of course,<em> Forbes </em>did
not review the history of employment of such workers. When the National Federation
of the Blind was formed in 1940, almost no blind people were at work. Currently
the estimate is that perhaps as many as 30 percent of the blind who are seeking
employment are working. However, this same statistic was often quoted in the early
1970s. Have the employment opportunities for the blind not improved in the last
forty years?</p> <p>In the 1950s, through action in Congress and the courts, the
National Federation of the Blind caused federal employment to become available to
the blind. In the 1950s and 1960s Federation principles were first applied to
rehabilitation programs, which dramatically improved placement rates for blind
job seekers in competitive employment. In 1973 the Rehabilitation Act contained
nondiscrimination provisions dealing with certain types of employment for the
first time, and in 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act expanded coverage of
the law to the employment of disabled workers. If the law has any power to modify
human behavior, these nondiscrimination provisions should have changed employment
prospects for the blind. However, the 70 percent unemployment rate remains the
estimate today.</p> <p>In an attempt to create a positive environment for the
employment of disabled workers, the United States Department of Labor has recently
issued a proposed rule to require that 7 percent of the workforce for those who
are serving as contractors for the federal government must be selected from among
the disabled, and 2 percent of the workforce must be selected from workers with
severe disabilities. The editorial writer at <em>Forbes </em>magazine
is outraged. He begins with the proposition that any requirement to hire disabled
workers might simply be an added cost of doing business. The message of the
editorialist is that disabled employees cannot be expected to be productive.
Consequently, being required to hire them is just one more cost of being a federal
contractor. However, the real outrage expressed in the article—the unbelievable
imposition on business contained in the Labor Department proposed rule—is
that the Labor Department is not willing to accept having “the handicapped”
serve in make-work jobs for the purpose of satisfying the regulatory scheme. The
Department of Labor expects these “handicapped” workers to be employed
at all wage levels “to make sure the handicapped are evenly apportioned
throughout an organization.”</p> <p>I can just imagine the thought processes
involved with this editorial writer and his friends as they contemplate the
implications of the regulation. As I imagine the conversation it would probably
go something like this:</p> <p>“How awful! Employers are going to have to
have some of them in the front office. If they would just stay in the low-paid
dead-end jobs that make up the cost of doing business with the federal government,
where they belong, the handicapped might be tolerable, but they want to come right
into the front office suite. They’ll probably bring their white canes,
their blind dogs, their wheelchairs, their crutches! They’ll look funny;
they’ll mess up the décor. How awful!”</p>
<p>Although<em> Forbes </em>magazine believes that hiring disabled people
is bad for business, what is the basis for this assertion? Perhaps they should
try it before they reject the proposition out of hand. They say they don’t
like hiring the handicapped, but how can they tell? They have never tried it to
find out.</p> <p>The irony is that major employers have used the work of blind
people (and those with other disabilities) without hiring the people whose work
has benefited them. For example, in the early 1970s, a sheltered workshop in
Evansville, Indiana, had a contract to produce material for the Whirlpool Corporation.
Tens of thousands of items were made effectively and competently for Whirlpool by
blind people. However, Whirlpool did not pay them. Instead it employed the workshop
to make the products. The sighted managers of the workshop, being given executive-scale
salaries, paid some of the employees less than the federal minimum wage. Whirlpool
got the work cheap, and the blind helped make the workshop bosses rich.</p>
<p>However, that was forty years ago. Does the exploitation continue today? As
members of the National Federation of the Blind know, we have been trying to get
Congress to pass legislation prohibiting payment of subminimum wages. Managers of
sheltered workshops have been telling us that conditions are better today than
they were in the past. Are they telling the truth? Although a number of blind
people working in workshops receive wages substantially above the minimum guaranteed
by federal law, this law does not apply to sheltered employment. When we asked
the Department of Labor to give us detailed information about the payments being
made to disabled workers, we received documents telling us that in 2011—less
than one year ago—a person described as an “employee” in a
workshop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was receiving wage payments of seven cents an
hour.</p> <p>What is the effect of these nondiscrimination laws about
which<em> Forbes </em>magazine makes such great complaint? Are disabled
Americans becoming employed in positions of authority in which they can make policy
decisions? How many people with disabilities are now serving as judges? How much
effort has been made to encourage individuals with disabilities to be a part of
the legal profession? When the National Conference of Bar Examiners encounters a
blind candidate seeking to take the bar exam, what kind of welcome do they offer?
When the Law School Admission Council learns that blind people want to apply for
law school, to use their Web site, or to take the law school admission test, what
do the officials do to make these things happen?</p> <p>The number of disabled
people serving in the judiciary is tiny; the behavior of the National Conference
of Bar Examiners regarding applications from blind law school graduates is
obstructionist; and the Law School Admission Council has effectively taken the
position that no blind person need apply. However, they can’t lock us out
forever. Because of our work, the Law School Admission Council has changed many
of its practices; and in the confrontations with the National Conference of Bar
Examiners, we have won overwhelmingly. The arguments are not yet complete, but we
never give up. Sometimes we lose a skirmish; occasionally we lose a battle; but
we never lose the war—because it is never over until we win.</p> <p>The
lawyers are supposed to enforce the law, including nondiscrimination law. However,
many of them (and many of the judges before whom they appear) know nothing whatever
about disability, the capacity of disabled people, or disability discrimination.
When the cases involving blind people seeking employment are brought before the
courts, is it any wonder that well over 90 percent of them are lost? What other
reasons are there that nondiscrimination law is often ineffective for the blind?
Try the attitudes in <em>Forbes</em> magazine. They do not want us in the front
office, but we have a measure of control over the question of what we are and what
we will become. Part of the time we help to create the law, and when we have
created it, we help to ensure that it is enforced.</p> <p>Disenfranchised groups
that wish to become a part of the broader community must come to be admired, but
admiration requires respect. Danger must be an element of becoming the subject of
admiration, and we are creating it. We know our value, and we will never let them
forget who we are.</p> <p>Although some places do not welcome the blind, and
although some people do not value the methods we use for gaining information, some
do. A story dated January 16, 2012, from the<em> Los Angeles Times</em> says,
in part: “In South Africa, restaurant chain Wimpy is welcoming blind
customers—by serving them burgers with words in Braille spelled out on
their buns with sesame seeds.” Wimpy’s is using Braille for advertising
purposes to promote its corporate image, to let people know that Braille menus
are available in its stores, and to attract potential customers. Several blind
organizations have been encouraged to let their members know about Wimpy’s
Braille program, and it is estimated that eight hundred thousand blind people have
learned about the Braille messages. Although Wimpy’s is advertising itself,
it is also advertising us—saying that we are welcome, proclaiming its
incorporation of Braille into its programs, and encouraging us and others to know
that blind people will be a part of the ordinary commerce provided by Wimpy’s.</p>
<p>Another place where blind people are welcomed is at the Raley Field baseball
stadium in Sacramento, California, home of the River Cats, a farm team for the
Oakland A’s. Tiffany Manosh, one of our leaders from Sacramento, California,
who is also with us at this banquet tonight, says:</p> <p><em>On September 10,
2011, . . . the River Cats, [who had] won the Southern Division, were in the
playoffs. ... It was an event I will never forget. ... A member of the [River
City] chapter had arranged for me to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch of the
game. ... As I walked out to the mound with a member from the River Cats organization,
she asked me how she could assist me. I asked her to just walk with me to the
mound and then line me up so I was straight in line with the catcher. The P.A.
announcer announced to the sold-out crowd on hand that tonight’s Ceremonial
First Pitch was from the National Federation of the Blind and then announced my
name. With my cane in my left hand and the ball in my right, I threw the ball to
the catcher. It made it all the way to the catcher but hit the ground as it reached
the catcher. After I threw the ball, the catcher then walked out to the mound and
handed me the ball I threw to him. What an amazing evening, and to top it off the
River Cats won the game.</em></p> <p>Being admired by the announcer and by the
members of her chapter, Tiffany Manosh participated in a sport she loves—on
her own behalf and on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind. She was not
told to wait for another day or another year; she was not told that she was not
good enough to share the experience; instead, she was invited onto the pitcher’s
mound to celebrate her team and her joy in its accomplishments, and she has the
baseball to prove it.</p> <p>Love is a word with many variations in meaning. One
of them involves romance. A study reported in<em> USA Today</em> for
January 17, 2010, declares that researchers have discovered that blind men prefer
thin-waisted women. These researchers admit that sighted men also like thin-waisted
women, but blind men don’t think they have to be as thin-waisted as sighted
men do. The research began with the proposition that a preference for thin-waisted
women is generated from the experience of sighted men looking at women. Because
blind men could not appreciate this visual examination, it was supposed that they
did not share this preference. The research shows that blind men like women who
have waists that are thin, but not quite as thin as those preferred by sighted
men.</p> <p>Now, I ask you, is this preference based upon the method of evaluation?
The sighted men had to look, but the blind men got to touch. In pondering the
enormously significant findings of this study, I find myself reflecting that those
who believe that the best way to appreciate characteristics of women is by long-range
visual examination lack a certain measure of experience. More ways of knowing
exist than the visual. The value gained in other ways may be no less important
than learning by sight.</p> <p>Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, who founded the National
Federation of the Blind in 1940, was a lawyer and a constitutional scholar as well
as a college professor and a social activist leader. His writings helped to change
the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, and his
book <em>Prejudice, War and the Constitution,</em> won the Woodrow Wilson
Award in 1955 for the best book on government and democracy published in that
year. Dr. tenBroek, who was totally blind, began his studies at the University of
California in 1930. During the years that followed he earned five college degrees
and was granted other honorary diplomas.</p> <p>Henry Wedler (often known as Hoby)
is currently a PhD candidate at the University of California, Davis, in organic
chemistry. He, a blind man and a leader in the National Federation of the Blind,
was recently honored for his leadership at a ceremony in the White House. He was
named a Champion of Change “for leading education and employment efforts
in science, technology, engineering and math for Americans with disabilities.”</p>
<p>The scholarship of blind people is, of course, not limited to these two examples,
but they span a period of more than three-quarters of a century, and they are
indicative of the intellectual capacity possessed by the blind. However, 45 percent
of blind high school students graduate—55 percent do not. Why is the number
so small? Only 10 percent of blind students in grade school and high school are
reading Braille—90 percent are not. Why is the number so small? Are blind
students in high school encouraged to excel? Does the Department of Education
encourage school systems to teach Braille? When administrators in the school
systems refuse to teach Braille, is this done because they don’t trust the
reading medium, they don’t trust teachers of the blind, they don’t
trust blind students, or they have hidden motives that create a disparate
discriminatory impact upon the blind?</p> <p>Henry Miller (Hank) is a blind student
in Oceanport, New Jersey. His mother, Holly Miller, has become a member of the
National Federation of the Blind, and she has learned that the potential for her
son is greater than she had previously believed. Although Henry Miller has a small
amount of residual vision, and although he can use this vision for a brief period
to read print, his ability to read in this way is severely limited. His mother
asked that he be taught Braille.</p> <p>Amendments, which became law in 1997, to
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act declare that a blind student has
a right to learn Braille. The implementing regulations for this statute contain
the same declaration. However, often the teachers and the administrators want to
avoid this requirement, and they have been given a measure of comfort by the
Department of Education.</p> <p>The education plan for each student is expected
to be developed exclusively for that student. This requirement of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act has meant that the team of experts in the school
district assesses the needs of the student and determines what the student will
get. The decision made for students who want Braille is often that they do not
get it because the assessment of the team is that the student doesn’t need
it. Although the team is supposed to make its assessment for the best interests
of the student, it frequently makes its decision for the perceived best interest
of the school system, which does not want to go to the trouble to teach Braille.</p>
<p>Henry Miller’s mom came to me some time ago to ask that the National
Federation of the Blind help in the effort to get Braille instruction for her son.
She had originally asked for Braille instruction when her boy was in the second
grade, at the time when learning to read is among the most important lessons that
can be had in school. When Holly Miller asked for this help, it was clear that
her frustration level was intense, and I wondered why. Because the Millers were
living in New Jersey, this request seemed to me to be one that would require fairly
nominal effort. I had been told that the education for blind students in New Jersey
was excellent, and I was aware that the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and
Visually Impaired could be called upon to provide assistance in evaluating the
needs of blind students. The director of this commission for the blind is himself
a blind person, and he had previously declared himself to be a member of the
National Federation of the Blind. Undoubtedly, I thought, there has been some
administrative snarl that must be addressed to get education in Braille for this
blind boy.</p> <p>But the Commission for the Blind had decided to join with the
school district to refuse to teach Braille to a blind student. The decision was
made in characteristically bureaucratic language. An evaluator of Henry Miller,
not from the school district but from the Commission for the Blind, said,
“Braille and print are equally valuable as media for reading and writing.
However, a best practice approach encourages reading and writing methods that are
least restrictive for the student.” The consequence of this so-called
evaluation is: no Braille—because Braille is too restrictive. Henry Miller
must hold a print book within two inches of his eyes to read it; he cannot read
for more than five minutes; he can read print only if it is large and distinct;
and his reading demands enormous amounts of energy so that requiring him to do it
in print causes extreme weariness. Yet, the Commission for the Blind in New Jersey
said that he may not have Braille because it is too restrictive. The evaluator
said he must read print. The evaluator from the Commission for the Blind demanded
of him that he do the impossible. What kind of a person would make such a demand?</p>
<p>The decision of the Commission for the Blind was made to protect the right of
the student to the statutorily-guaranteed free and appropriate public education.
In order to provide Henry Miller an appropriate public education, they said that
he, a blind student, may not have Braille. Consequently, the arguments continued.
We hired a lawyer for Holly Miller, a bright aggressive woman in Dan Goldstein’s
firm named Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum. We demanded Braille. After three years of
argument, negotiation, demands, refusals, and bureaucratic red tape, the trial
before the administrative law judge finally occurred. The proceedings lasted nine
days, and the decision of the judge is more than sixty pages long. The decision
of the judge says that Henry Miller gets Braille—not just a little bit but
enough to try to reverse the disadvantages of being denied this training for more
than three years.</p> <p>Will Henry Miller be able to earn a college diploma, and
will he receive an advanced degree? Will the Commission for the Blind tell him
that education at the university level is for somebody else but not for him? Will
he have the tools to expand the reach of his mind to the fullest extent of his
capacity? The answers to these questions are clear. He will get his education
because we have decided that he will, and nobody can keep us from helping him to
get it. No doubt, the Commission for the Blind in New Jersey does not admire Henry
Miller and his mother, but we do, and we are prepared to stand with them.</p>
<p>Law implies force; love signifies giving. How do these intersect? A law not
inspired by love is a hollow thing, and what we are seeking is substance, not a
hollow shell. What we want is to become a valued part of our society, recognized
for the worth that we possess. In order to achieve this objective, we must have
faith in ourselves, but we must also carry within us the faith that others also
can have faith in us. This requires a substantial measure of trust.</p> <p>The
nature of trust and the nature of love are similar in that they cannot be had
unless they are shared. A human being cannot be trusted unless that human being
is willing to trust others, which demands acceptance of vulnerability. If a person
or an organization is incapable of being hurt by trusting too much, that person
and that organization will be tempted to trust too little and will never know the
joy and peace that come from love. Consequently, we must be prepared to risk our
judgments, our feelings, our hope for the future. When we do, opportunity opens
before us, and we come to know the freedom that can and will be ours. We must
build and enforce the law that we need, but we must do it not just with faith in
ourselves but also with faith that others will join us.</p> <p>Our history is
filled with incidents that belittle our talent, circumscribe our opportunity, or
denigrate our judgment. Some say we can’t understand documents, some tell
us that our behavior in social situations is humbling and bumbling, some argue
that employment is beyond our physical and intellectual capacity, some assert that
we are not good enough to receive the same wages that other people get, and some
urge us to believe that our appreciation of physical beauty is altered because of
our lack of sight. Some people even tell us that our methods of learning are too
restrictive and, therefore, inferior.</p> <p>Although our past is filled with the
pain of restriction and denial, our future will be constructed according to an
expanded and inclusive standard that we will determine. It can and it will offer
equal access to information presented in forms that we can comprehend. It can and
it will incorporate employment opportunities commensurate with our innate abilities
and training. It can and it will make education available that will take advantage
of the fullest range of our talent. Our future can do these things, and it will
do these things because we have the energy, the commitment, the determination,
and the love essential to make it happen. Others have made decisions for us in
the past, but increasingly we are making them for ourselves. We must believe in
ourselves, but we must also believe in others who will come to believe in us. We
have the faith to do this, and we have those characteristics that can engender
admiration in others. We must behave in such a way that we are worthy of admiration,
but we can, and we will.</p> <p>I have met the members of the National Federation
of the Blind, and I have observed what we are. The traits that characterize our
movement are boldness, curiosity, an indomitable spirit, and an unfailing capacity
for generosity. Our judgment is not always correct, but most of the time it is.
Our trust is not always returned, but in the long run and in the ways that matter
it is. The demands upon us in intellectual capacity, imaginative spirit, and faith
in ourselves and others are enormous. But we will meet them. Because of our
determination, nothing on earth can keep us from gaining the objectives we have
set. Sometimes we stand on the pitcher’s mound, and sometimes we get our
Braille. Everything else that we need is within the capacity that makes us what
we are. The future is bright with promise; join with your fellow Federationists,
and we will bring the future to be our own!</p> <p>----------</p> <p>[PHOTO CAPTION:
Perkins School for the Blind]</p> <h2
id="icanconnect-helps-bridge-the-communication-gap-for-individuals-with-combined-vision-and-hearing-loss">iCanConnect
Helps Bridge the Communication Gap for Individuals with Combined Vision and
Hearing Loss</h2> <p><strong>by Perkins School for the Blind</strong></p>
<p><strong>From the Editor: Perkins School for the Blind is the National Outreach
Coordinator for iCanConnect. They have provided the <em>Braille Monitor</em> with
this brief article describing the program. Here is what they share:</strong></p>
<p>We've all heard the sayings, “Nothing in life is free” and
“There’s always a catch!” but sometimes, exceptions prove
the rule. The National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, also known as
iCanConnect, is one such exception, offering a truly invaluable service to people
with significant combined vision and hearing loss.</p> <p>iCanConnect is a national
program that provides free distance communication equipment—think smartphones,
tablets, computers, screen readers, Braille devices, and more—along with
comprehensive training and support to individuals who are deafblind and meet
federal eligibility guidelines. The program’s goal is to foster independence
and connection by equipping participants, like Burgon Jensen, with the tools they
need to communicate effectively with the world around them. </p> <p>Jensen,
a teacher, artist, and small business owner from Draper, Utah, lives with her
guide dog, Lucia. She’s deaf and was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a
progressive condition that led to her eventual blindness. When Jensen attended
the Helen Keller National Center in New York, she started to feel isolated. It
wasn’t easy to operate her old smartphone and it was challenging overall
for her to use it to communicate with her loved ones back home. It had a small
keyboard, so she would use the dictation function a lot, which often led to
miscommunication. It was almost impossible for Jensen to do simple tasks like
check her email or text messages. This left her feeling disconnected from her
family, friends, and the world. </p> <p>After an acquaintance referred Jensen
to iCanConnect, she applied and was accepted into the program. An iCanConnect
representative then met with her to discuss her distance communications needs and
goals. Through the program, Jensen received an iPhone, a Focus 14 portable Braille
display, and a MacBook Pro, as well as training on how to use the new equipment. </p>
<p>Reflecting on her life today, Jensen says iCanConnect has been
“life-changing,” and the equipment and training she received through
the program have made a huge difference in how she communicates. </p>
<p>“I email and text with my family and friends, I participate in social
media, and I use video chat to teach remote ASL lessons twice a week,” says
Jensen. The equipment she received through iCanConnect also helps her to be able
to run her small online business. “I can easily respond and communicate
with all of my customers, which is really important to me.”</p> <h3
id="icanconnect-eligibility-guidelines">iCanConnect Eligibility Guidelines</h3>
<p>iCanConnect participants include individuals of all ages, from those with
progressive conditions like CHARGE and Usher syndromes, to seniors experiencing
age-related vision and hearing decline. </p> <p>The iCanConnect application
process begins with verifying eligibility. Applicants must have significant combined
vision and hearing loss and meet federal income guidelines. Detailed eligibility
requirements are available on the iCanConnect website at <u>https://www.icanconnect.org</u>.
After confirming eligibility, individuals should locate their state’s
iCanConnect representative and submit an application.</p> <p>Once accepted into
the program, participants are assessed by an iCanConnect trainer to determine the
most appropriate distance communication equipment for their needs. Participants
also receive a customized training plan tailored to their specific distance
communication goals. The equipment is then ordered, installed, and the
participant’s iCanConnect trainer provides in-home or in-residence training
and support.</p> <p>The impact of iCanConnect on participants’ lives is
profound. iCanConnect has empowered them to do things like use social media, send
and receive emails and text messages, and connect with family and friends via
platforms like Zoom and FaceTime. Grandparents, adolescents, and people of all
ages and backgrounds are staying connected thanks to this innovative program.</p>
<p>Are you ready to learn more? Visit <a href="http://icanconnect.org"><u>iCanConnect.org</u></a>
or call 1-800-825-4595 to find your state program and application details, explore
available equipment options, and discover how iCanConnect is helping individuals
with vision and hearing loss overcome distance communication barriers, foster
independence, and reduce feelings of social isolation. You can follow iCanConnect
on Facebook (facebook.com/icanconnect.org), X (@iCanConnect1), and YouTube
<u>(https://www.youtube.com/@iCanConnectCampaign</u>.)</p> <p>----------</p>
<p>[PHOTO CAPTION: Harriet Go]</p> <h2 id="nfb-kids-camp-tons-of-fun">NFB Kids
Camp: Tons of Fun!</h2> <p><strong>by Harriet Go</strong></p> <p>Are you a child
between the ages of six weeks and twelve years old? Are you coming to the National
Federation of the Blind National Convention in New Orleans in July 2025? Do you
want to escape sitting in long meetings with your caregivers?</p> <p>If you answered
yes to all three of these questions, then you are in luck! During national convention
week, children six weeks through twelve years of age are invited to join in the
fun and festivities of NFB Kids Camp! NFB Kids Camp offers more than just childcare;
it is an opportunity for our blind and sighted children to meet and develop lifelong
friendships. Our week-long schedule is filled with games, crafts, stories, and
special activities designed to entertain, educate, and delight. The children are
divided into groups according to age: infants and toddlers, preschoolers and
kindergartners, and elementary-school children. Each room is equipped with a
variety of age-appropriate toys, games, and books. If you are interested in signing
up for this year’s program, please have your caregiver complete and return
the registration form online. Go to <a href="https://nfb.org/nfb-camp-registration-form">form</a>.
Pre-registration with payment on or before <strong>June 15, 2025</strong>, is
required for staffing purposes. Space is limited, so get your registration in
early!</p> <p>NFB Kids Camp will be open on July 8, 2025, and from July 10, 2025
through July 13, 2025, including the night of the banquet. <strong>NFB Kids Camp
will be closed on July 9, 2025.</strong> Please see the registration form for
exact times.</p> <p>NFB Kids Camp is organized and supervised by Harriet Go. A
certified teacher in elementary education and special education in Pennsylvania,
Harriet has over twenty years of professional teaching experience in the School
District of Philadelphia. She is also a longtime leader in the Federation.</p>
<p>If you are interested in helping out with this year’s NFB Kids Camp,
please contact Harriet Go at <a href="mailto:nfbcamp@nfb.org">nfbcamp@nfb.org</a>
to learn how you can help. We are always looking for people who have taught in an
NFB BELL® Academy as well as other volunteers. Experience working with children
is always a plus, but not necessarily required.</p> <p>----------</p> <h2
id="nfb-pledge">NFB Pledge</h2> <p>I pledge to participate actively in the efforts
of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and
security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation;
and to abide by its constitution.</p> </body> </html>