From NABlindVets at aol.com Fri Jan 21 00:37:10 2011 From: NABlindVets at aol.com (NABlindVets at aol.com) Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:37:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Blindvet-talk] Dwights campaign for the blind! Message-ID: <8d33b.775f901a.3a6a2f36@aol.com> Dear Fellow Vets and Colleagues, I am participating in the 2011 National Federation of the Blind Race for Independence, and I need your help. Did you ever think a blind person could drive a car without sighted assistance? During 2011, we are building a car that I will be able to drive. Don't worry, you won't see me on the road just yet. But I do want to emphasize the urgent need to make technology accessible to the average blind user and prove how easy it is to do it if we try. While our progress through the decades has been tremendous, I have been thinking about what life will be like for blind people in the future. Will blind people live in a world of opportunity? If I do nothing, less than half of all of the blind children attending school in the United States today will earn a diploma. Less than three in ten will get a job, and only one in ten blind children will even be able to read when they grow up. This is why I am writing to you. I too am making a donation, as I would not ask you to do what I am not willing to do myself. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause by making your tax-deductible donation online using the link below. If you would prefer, you can send your contribution to the address listed below. Whatever you can give will help--it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. To make a donation online, visit my personal page at _www.raceforindependence.org/goto/Dwight_ (http://www.raceforindependence.org/goto/Dwight) To send a donation, make all checks payable to NFB Imagination Fund, noting support for Dwight Sayer, and mail them to 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. Please share this email with your friends and networks. Thanks again for all your help. Dwight Best Regards, Dwight D. Sayer MV Transportation, Inc. Community Relations Manager 259 Regal Downs Circle Winter Garden, Florida 34787 Office and Fax (707) 430-0324 Cell (321) 948-1466 Dwight D. Sayer National President, The National Association of Blind Veterans A Division of the NFB Email - presidentnabv at aol.com or president at nabv.org Web Site - _www.nabv.org_ (http://www.nabv.org/) From NABlindVets at aol.com Sat Jan 22 17:12:56 2011 From: NABlindVets at aol.com (NABlindVets at aol.com) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:12:56 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Blindvet-talk] National Association of Blind Veterans National Meeting! Message-ID: <11ecf7.6fdf2859.3a6c6a17@aol.com> Attention!! The NABV national meeting to be held this summer at the NFB national convention in Orlando at the Rosen Shinglecreek Hotel will be heldas follow. NABV National Meeting is on Sunday July 3, 2011 from 7PM to 10 PM . Watch our web site _www.nabv.org_ (http://www.nabv.org) for the meeting room announcement which will come in June. Happy New Year ! Dwight Dwight D. Sayer National President, The National Association of Blind Veterans A Division of the NFB Email - presidentnabv at aol.com or president at nabv.org Web Site - _www.nabv.org_ (http://www.nabv.org/) From NABlindVets at aol.com Sat Jan 22 17:29:09 2011 From: NABlindVets at aol.com (NABlindVets at aol.com) Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:29:09 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Blindvet-talk] NABV Wounded Warrior Raffle Message-ID: <11f90d.46d30e27.3a6c6de5@aol.com> Attention Veterans and Colleagues, The NABV is now offering raffle tickets at a cost of $5 each. The winning ticket will win $2000 on July 8, at the national convention. Proceeds from this raffle will go to sponsor a wounded warrior attending our 2012 National Convention . Proceeds from our last convention raffle are sponsoring a wounded warriors attendance at this years convention in Orlando. Please assist us in achieving this goal so a fellow veteran can witness what we the blind veterans are doing and accomplishing with the vlindness skills and positive attitudes learned from the training and influence of the NFB. We are also offering NABV license plates for the front of your or your families vehicles for a cost of $10 per plate. To obtain raffle tickets or a license plate send your check to Dwight Sayer,259 Regal Downs Circle , Winter Garden, Florida 34787 Thank you in advance for your generous support. Dwight Dwight D. Sayer National President, The National Association of Blind Veterans A Division of the NFB Email - presidentnabv at aol.com or president at nabv.org Web Site - _www.nabv.org_ (http://www.nabv.org/) From MisterAdvocate at aol.com Sun Jan 30 18:46:06 2011 From: MisterAdvocate at aol.com (MisterAdvocate at aol.com) Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:46:06 EST Subject: [Blindvet-talk] =?iso-8859-1?q?Coverage_for_Blind_Driver_Challeng?= =?iso-8859-1?q?e=AE?= Message-ID: In a message dated 1/30/2011 10:59:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, flmom2006 at gmail.com writes: Here's an article from the Daytona Beach News journal! I think it's very good. Technology helps blind driver lead lap - Racing Sunday, January 30, 2011 No driver racing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona could have elicited louder screams from one group of fans than Mark Riccobono. Unknown to thousands of race fans pouring into the Speedway on Saturday morning, Riccobono became a hero to 400 members of the National Federation of the Blind. They were there from all over the country for one reason only -- to witness Riccobono become the first blind driver to take the wheel in a solo trip on the track. Several federation members compared his demonstration to the first United States space flight in 1961. "He's our Alan Shepard," said GaryWunder, editor of the Braille Monitor, the federation magazine. "We've been looking forward to this for a long time." For the blind, driving a car represents freedom and independence, things other drivers often take for granted. The federation challenged the nation's universities to take the challenge of developing non-visual technology that would allow a blind person to drive independently. One team accepted, a group of students at Virginia Tech, working under the direction of Dennis Hong, director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory. The equipment was placed in a Ford Escape Hybrid. Riccobono directs technology, research and education for the Federation's Jernigan Institute in Baltimore. To get behind the wheel, he put on gloves that send vibrating signals along his fingers to tell him when to turn and sat on a cushion that vibrated along his legs to tell him when to brake or accelerate. He drove the inside horseshoe on the track and in a tactical demonstration, dodged several boxes thrown in front of his vehicle and passed a van. The long-term implications of the technology were simply mind-boggling for many cheering in the bleachers. "This means a lot more to us than just the driving," Wunder said. "If we can get all the information that's necessary to drive, what other things will we be able to do?" "It's incredible," said Randy Phifer, of Overland Park, Kansas, a federation member listening to the play-by-play over the infield speakers. "I told my fellow parishioners at home that I'd be back to pick them up," Phifer joked. For college student Mika Baugh of Indiana, it was "pretty neat." Owning and driving her own car would mean she "wouldn't have to wait for the bus in the freezing cold. "You can't even imagine what blind and sighted people will be able to do with this technology someday," she said. Sabrina Deaton, president of the Daytona Beach chapter of the federation, lost her ability to drive almost 11 years ago, a victim of macular degeneration. Driving was "one of the most difficult things to give up," she said. "It was giving up my independence." The ability to drive opens up opportunities for education and employment, she said. "And, just to be able to hop into the car and take a Sunday drive." If the research pace continues, Riccobono said the technology could be available for general use in just five years. Federation officials said they couldn't estimate how much the technology would cost. Riccobono said other challenges remain, especially convincing sighted drivers that it would be safe to share the road with blind drivers. 0Share31Email5 _Copyright ? 2011 The Daytona Beach News-Journal_ (http://www.news-journalonline.com/help/copyright.html) Sherri Brun, NFBF Secretary and Newsline? Coordinator Vice-president NFB Greater Orlando Chapter E-mail: _flmom2006 at gmail.com_ (mailto:flmom2006 at gmail.com) _www.nfbnewsline.org_ (http://www.nfbnewsline.org/) _http://www.nfbflorida.org_ (http://www.nfbflorida.org/) _http://nfbfgoc.org_ (http://nfbfgoc.org/) "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon From MisterAdvocate at aol.com Mon Jan 31 19:57:31 2011 From: MisterAdvocate at aol.com (MisterAdvocate at aol.com) Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:57:31 EST Subject: [Blindvet-talk] Dwights Nascar Ride Message-ID: <21215.14cb584c.3a786e2b@aol.com> Take a look at a really cool ride. _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUZsAKJ3Rw_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUZsAKJ3Rw) Blind Vets Do It Better! Dwight