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<DIV>Hello Everyone -<BR><BR>Donna pulled the article to fix a couple of typos.
The link will not be available until the article gets re-approved. However, she
was<BR>able to send me a word doc which I have copied and pasted for you. So
sorry for the confusion! Enjoy the article!<BR><BR>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both">Lenora J. Marten, President<BR>FOPBC/NFBF-Parents
Division<BR>NFB-Jacksonville Chapter Secretary<BR><A
href="mailto:fopbc@aol.com">fopbc@aol.com</A> <BR>904-777-5976 /
904-229-9554<BR><A href="http://www.nfbflorida.org/parents"
target=_blank>www.nfbflorida.org/parents</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><A name=OLE_LINK38></A><A name=OLE_LINK33></A><A
name=OLE_LINK30></A><A name=OLE_LINK29><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK30"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK33"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK38"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT
size=3 face="Times New Roman">Ad: If it was up to you to teach legally blind
children, would you insist that they use their remaining vision as much as
possible, even if it meant that they were functionally illiterate and one day
they would walk in front of a truck with their young child? Or, would you want
to give them the tools and awareness to become successful adults who could
function independently and safely? The answer may seem obvious, but thousands of
</FONT></B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK38"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK33"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK30"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK29"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">America</B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK38"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK33"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK30"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK29"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">'s blind kids are being forced to settle
for a substandard education, leading to lives of dependence with little chance
for employment and unnecessary danger. </B>Jody Ianuzzi is a Major in the Civil
Air Patrol and a martial arts instructor. Along with her friend Debbby Bracket,
who holds a master's in early childhood education, she is changing what it means
to be blind.<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"></B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK29"></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK30"></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK33"></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK38"></SPAN>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></B> </DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><A name=OLE_LINK36></A><A name=OLE_LINK31></A><A
name=OLE_LINK20></A><A name=OLE_LINK19><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK31"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK36"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT
size=3 face="Times New Roman">Braille Literacy: Friends and Mentors, a
</FONT></B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK36"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK31"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Florida</B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK36"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK31"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK20"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">
Story</B></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK19"></SPAN><SPAN
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<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">By Donna W. Hill</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Word count: 4448</FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">When </FONT><A name=OLE_LINK39></A><A
name=OLE_LINK18></A><A name=OLE_LINK17><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK18"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK39"><FONT
size=3 face="Times New Roman">Jody </FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A><A
name=OLE_LINK35></A><A name=OLE_LINK34><SPAN
style="mso-bookmar: OLE_LINK35"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK39"><SPAN
style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK18"><SPAN style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK17"><FONT
size=3 face="Times New Roman">Ianuzzi
</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">(56,
Jensen Beach Florida), graduated from high school, she was reading at a third
grade level. Setting aside for the moment the obvious question of how any
American school could graduate someone with such substandard literacy skills,
let's fast forward to what she's achieved since. If you get to know Jody even
just a little, you will quickly learn that she values the advice of twentieth
century world leader Mahatma Gandhi. Her e-mails end with, "WE MUST BE THE
CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD" </FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">A Major in the Air force Auxiliary/Civil Air Patrol, Jody
is a Mission Qualified Radio Operator. She is also a judo instructor and has a
third degree black belt in judo as well as a second degree black belt in
ju-jitsu. A mother of two with one grandchild, Jody also helps her husband Tom
with his computer security business and has completed several years of college.
</FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">With a lot of hard work and under less than ideal
circumstances, Jody had to make up the deficit that her school was unwilling to
address. As a mentor, she is providing to others the support, encouragement and
role model that she was expected to do without. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">The problem was that what Jody needed was something that
her parents and teachers didn't want to give her, because it would have
committed an unforgivable act – it would have made her "look blind." In fact,
Jody is blind. She has been legally blind since birth due to Retinopathy of
Prematurity (ROP), having no vision in her left eye and only seeing hand motion
with the right. As a child, she had enough vision to painstakingly and slowly
read print. So, despite her medical diagnosis, the school didn't teach her
Braille. Not understanding how limited her sight really was, they expected her
to function as a sighted person. She had to teach herself Braille and other
non-visual skills as an adult.</FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">"We all know how much easier it is,"=2 0says Debby
Bracket who holds a masters degree in early childhood education," to learn
things when we are young!"</FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Debby (52, Stuart, Florida,) met Jody on an e-mail list
for ROP, when she and her husband Bob were trying to determine if they could
successfully adopt and parent a blind child. Winona, now thirteen, came into all
of their lives when she was three and a half. She and her family have benefited
from Jody's experience. </FONT></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">"After several years of chatting on line," says Debby,
currently the office manager for her husband's landscaping company and a
substitute teacher in Florida's Martin County, "we met in person, and have been
fast friends since. First and foremost, she is a dear friend. Secondly, she is a
mentor for Winona. It has been invaluable to have someone I could turn to at any
time with questions, especially when20I didn't think the school was
correct."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">"When
we moved to Florida," recalls Jody who was living in New Hampshire when the two
met on the ROP list, "Debby was still in Miami. They moved here to my area about
7 years ago. Our husbands both have their own businesses and we share so much in
common. I hope I am a good example to Winona to show her that she can grow up
and have a family and do the same things everyone else does in life."<BR
style="PAGE-BREAK-BEFORE: always; mso-special-character: line-break"
clear=all></SPAN></DIV><BR></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="bd55a57231b7e79a738d19c4f881622e"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/><B>A bad credit score is 600 & below. Checking won't affect your score. <A HREF=http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823322x1201398723/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=JulyBadfooterNO62>See now!</A></B></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>