[Ct-nfb] [Ctabs] December Meeting of the Waterbury Area Chapter

Sat Nov 26 17:29:12 UTC 2016

thank your Nathaniel for thinking of us older adults. My low vision 
group is make up of seniors. we could use more mobility instruction. if 
things were not so tight money wise in Ct. government, i would ask BESB 
to send an instructor to my group. thanks again for thinking of us.
Eileen Torow

On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 10:58 PM, Nathanael T. Wales via CT-NFB wrote:

Gary,

I am heartened to see our Waterbury Chapter growing and so quickly 
advocating with their local elected officials.  It’s an example to us, 
and I hope we can do everything we can to stand with them and offer them 
the sort of training in advocacy that you, Justin, Jim, I, and so many 
others on this list have been so fortunate to have had.  If there is 
something I can do, please let me know.  Though my professional career 
has been almost exclusively in water resources—dams and river flow, 
water quality, and flood and erosion damage management—I did take a 
couple of elective classes in college (more years ago than I may be cool 
admitting) in traffic design and the sort of planning that city 
officials may be doing.  After college and for a few years afterwards I 
served as the NFB chapter president in Sacramento, California, and our 
chapter advocated on this and similar issues with a fairly practical, 
balanced, and reasonable philosophy (well, I’d like to think).

I’d point out to all of us on a broader note, whether we live in central 
Connecticut, New Haven as Jim does, Fairfield as I do with a couple of 
seemingly strategically-placed accessible traffic signals (like along 
the Post Road at an intersection with a very small cross street), or 
Hartford that we’d also ought to think about having a say with our 
elected officials to change the fact that “…people in their 60s 70s and 
80s. Those people often don't get mobility training.”  It is 
unconscionable that BESB is not replacing its retiring O&M instructor 
and now has only two for the entire state, likely because of a lack of 
state funding.  How much more effective could tax dollars be spent if 
they were redirected from audible traffic signals to proper cane travel 
training, such as hiring a good O&M instructor?  Ah, redirecting tax 
dollars from transportation to BESB would make a bureaucrat’s head 
explode.  But, hey, that could be amusing; blowing up the system seems 
to be in style…  In all seriousness, we really do need to advocate that 
adult services at BESB, including O&M, be given full resources and 
funded properly and BESB not be complacent and blame the big bad, well 
really bad, state budget; it truly is, I think, a critical legislative 
priority on which we should all be advocating.

My best wishes to our new colleagues in Waterbury.  Again, if I may be 
of assistance I’d be glad to do what I can.

Nathanael Wales, Treasurer
National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut

From: CT-NFB [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gary Allen 
via CT-NFB
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 8:28 PM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Cc: Gary Allen
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] [Ctabs] December Meeting of the Waterbury Area 
Chapter

I see your point of view Justin when teaching people to cross the street 
audible signals can be a hindrance. The majority of blind and low vision 
people are people in their 60s 70s and 80s. Those people often don't get 
mobility training. It is important to have audible crosswalks to allow 
those people to cross the street safely. Blind people are not the only 
ones that benefit from audible crosswalks. Children people with other 
disabilities, and People who are texting and walking or talking on the 
phone also benefit from Audibles crosswalks.

Gary Allen.
So it is not just the blind that benefit from audible crosswalks.

On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 8:00 PM Jim McCollum via CT-NFB 
<ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hello. 

We have some audible traffic signals in the New Haven area, but not very 
many. I use them when I can, but when I can't, I rely on the mobility 
skills I learned in 1983. I'm not against audible signals, but it is 
essential, in my opinion, to know how to travel safely without them. 

Jim McCollum
Legislative Co-ordinator

National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut

j.mccollum64 at comcast.net <mailto:j.mccollum64 at comcast.net>

860-581-0430

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 21, 2016, at 7:20 PM, Mary Silverberg via CT-NFB 
<ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

All,
As a partially sighted person, I rely on audible signals when crossing 
complex intersections. I do not view this as a crutch to dependancy. 
When  the Town of West Hartford began the installation of these signals 
when replacing older equipment, several of us with a variety of 
disabilities went out with the Town engineers and the installers to  
optimize the volume with time of day and  length of time to cross. I 
welcome these signals in every larger city in which  I must navigate.
Mary Silverberg

On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 6:07 PM, bob morrissey via CT-NFB 
<ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Hey Justin,

Why do you feel so opposed to audible cross walks?   Is it a dependency 
issue when the function is not working?

As a partially sighted person, I find an audible signal very helpful 
when crossing a busy intersection.

But, I'm open minded and willing to hear your thoughts.

Thanks.

Bob Morrissey
203-272-3278 <tel:203-272-3278>

From: CT-NFB [mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org 
<mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> ] On Behalf Of Justin Salisbury via 
CT-NFB
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 4:42 PM
To: Connecticut Association of Blind Students
Cc: Justin Salisbury; 'ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> '
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] [Ctabs] December Meeting of the Waterbury Area 
Chapter

Hi Lucia,

Thanks for sending this out! I’m so glad to see that our Waterbury 
Chapter is already speaking out against the custodialism that yields 
audible crosswalk signals. If we didn’t have the Waterbury Chapter 
working on this, Waterbury could become as bad as Honolulu, with audible 
crosswalk signals almost everywhere. It really gets in the way of 
teaching my students how to cross streets safely. I’m working on a 
research article for the orientation and mobility profession on exactly 
why the implementation of audible crosswalk signals are bad for blind 
people. It’s too bad that I haven’t published it already because it 
could be great support for the Chapter’s argument.

Good luck, and please let me know how I can help!

Justin

Justin M. Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, NCUEB
Opportunity Ambassador
National Federation of the Blind
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu <mailto:President at Alumni.ECU.edu>
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury 
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury>   

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

William Butler Yeats

From: Ctabs [mailto:ctabs-bounces at nfbnet.org 
<mailto:ctabs-bounces at nfbnet.org> ] On Behalf Of llee--- via Ctabs
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 10:40 AM
To: NFB of CT list serve <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> 
>; CTABS List serv <ctabs at nfbnet.org <mailto:ctabs at nfbnet.org> >
Cc: llee at nfbct.org <mailto:llee at nfbct.org>
Subject: [Ctabs] December Meeting of the Waterbury Area Chapter

Help Us Build Our Future
Attend Meetings of Our New Waterbury Chapter!

The National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut (NFB of CT) invites 
you to join our new Waterbury Chapter. We hold our meetings at the Silas 
Bronson Library, 267 Grand Street, on the Second Saturday of each month.

On December 10th, our meeting will concern audible crosswalk signals in 
the City of Waterbury. Our State Representative Gerry Reyes, several 
Aldermen and a City Engineer will attend our meeting to discuss this 
issue. Plan to attend this important meeting!

To learn that you are greater than what most sighted people believe they 
see, meet us at the Silas Bronson Library on Saturday December 10th from 
noon to 2:00 PM.

For further questions, please contact Josefina Martinez at 203-578-6471 
<tel:203-578-6471> , or call our community outreach office at 
860-289-1971 <tel:860-289-1971> .

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