[Blindtlk] NFB training centers

Thu Nov 13 18:51:14 UTC 2008

For me, the right place was BLIND, Inc.  That center was where I sharpened my skolls and prepare to attend college and for the rest of my life.  I had never lived in snow, so of course, I had to get used to that.  I was able to sharpen and develop my skills in Braille, cane travel, computers, home management, and so much else.  At the end of this month, it will be thirteen years since I graduated from the center.  I didn't set any records while I was there, but I sure made a better person out of myself, or at least I hope.  Now, I am married with three children, I work and go to school at a beautiful university in a small town, and I do almost anything I wish.  I thank God, my family, and the National Federation of the Blind, for helping to make me the person I am today.  I tell everyone that NFB TRAINING CENTERS ARE THE WAY TO GO.  

Kasondra Payne

-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Foret jr <rforetjr at comcast.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 3:54 AM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] NFB training centers

Joseph, that message of yours is not worth $2.00; instead, it's worth all of
 $2.00 million or more!!!  In my humble opinion, you could not have done a
 better job.  IN fact, you all but wrote my reply for me.  Of course, in my
 case, it would be The Louisiana Center For The Blind:
www.lcb-ruston.com
 but otherwise, pretty much ditto the whole way through.  You know Joseph,
 you could make a Monitor article out of that if you wanted.  In fact, if I'm
 not mistaken, the past few monitors have articles in them related to just
 exactly this subject.  I believe that in this issue, (The November issue)
 there's an item on the discovery method of learning.

 Sincerely,
 The Constantly BAREFOOTED Ray
 Phone:
 985-360-3375
 e-mail:
 rforetjratcomcastdotnet
 Skype Name:
 barefootedray

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
 To: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List"
 <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
 Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 3:17 AM
 Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] NFB training centers

 Funny thing about that, the law says that you can in fact go anywhere you
 wish.  That said, if you have managed to convince them to any of our
 centers, I wouldn't pass it up.

 I am an alum of the Colorado Center, like many on this list.  I can tell
 you honestly that the CCB did not teach me all of the things I learned
 while I was in Colorado, but the experience put me in the right places at
 the right times to leave the center a far stronger individual than I
 arrived.

 When I first went to the CCB, I was a cluttered, disorganized "high
 partial" who depended extensively upon my vision (which I already had
 accepted as mostly useless).  I had accepted the label of blind, and I
 used a cane, though not well.  I couldn't cook, didn't really clean up
 after myself, and was afraid to cross streets in sunlight.  Busy streets
 made me nervous even at night when I can see better.  I didn't know
 Braille, and I had never really used tools other than for fixing computers
 before.

 I came back from the CCB still cluttered and disorganized (it'll take more
 than eight months to change that in my case!), but I now know how to clean
 up after myself.  I can cook well enough to feed myself, and the food I
 make is good, if simple.  I can do and have done basic home repairs on my
 own, and I know that I can use the tools in a shop safely.

 While I never got near the record for Braille speed, I did set the record
 for fastest Braille reader who had never known Braille as an adult--165
 words per minute.  Closer to 250 if I can predict the words as on a warm
 read or a Homerian epic or something.  (How many times would I have to
 read "wine dark sea" before I began to read the phrase automatically?)  I
 can say with certainty that I've since lost almost all of that speed
 because I have not had the opportunity to practice in three month
 stretches over the course of graduate school.  But you know, I can still
 feel the dots, if more slowly now, and I know my contractions--I can get
 it back, any time I am ready.

 And then there are travel skills.  I've got some of the best you'll find
 anywhere.  Some blind people wield their canes with big, heavy-handed,
 clumsy movements.  I use very light, highly controlled movements in a
 style that is uniquely my own, developed because the way taught by Brent
 and Eric hurt my hand at first.  Eric Woods showed me how to attend to
 distant sounds and track information available from sometimes several
 blocks away.  I had a natural talent for direction-tracking, and very
 sharp ears once I began learning what to listen for, but the rest was
 learned.  Combined with problem-solving skills I learned years ago and a
 few basic tips, it's not really a boast that I'm one of the best travelers
 to come out of any training center.

 Just about everything I did is achievable by any blind person who really
 wants it badly enough.  There's nothing really that special about me.  It
 is a testament to the NFB that a guy who is pretty clever can go from
 virtually no skills to mastery level performance in just eight months.
 Most state-run centers would have told me 40 words per minute was all an
 adult Braille learner could do or that there were just some intersections
 that aren't safe to cross or that one thing or another just wasn't
 practical.

 At the CCB, the usual answer to the impractical thing was, "Okay.  That's
 gonna be hard, but okay.  How much are you willing to invest to make it
 happen?"  My answer was whatever it took.  I won't lie to you, it took a
 lot.  But I put the effort in, and look what I got for it!

 I believe that what a person will get out of the Colorado Center for the
 Blind is a function of what they put in to it.  The thing is, you'll
 always get more out than you put in.

 Just my $2.  It used to be just my two cents, but with inflation and the
 state of the financial markets, you know...

 Joseph

 On Fri, Nov 07, 2008 at 02:59:44PM -0600, Gary Wunder wrote:
 > I can't give you any information about which of the three training
 > centers is the best, but I think one of the things you need to check out
 > initially is whether your state has a policy about students attending an
 > NFB training center, and if so, whether it is equally open to any of the
 > three. In Missouri we have tried to get the state agency to allow
 > complete freedom of choice, but they have elected to contract with only
 > one NFB training center, that being the Colorado Center for the Blind. We
 > had an independent hearing appealing the decision to contract with only
 > one NFB Center, but we lost. The logic of the agency seems to be that
 > there would be a real denial of choice if a student didn't have an NFB
 > Center as an option, but that there is no need for any of their consumers
 > to have more than one and that it is unreasonable for consumers to expect
 > that they can simply go anywhere they wish.
 >
 >
 > _______________________________________________
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 > blindtlk at nfbnet.org
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