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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN>Hi, Listers:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN>Below please find the article that appeared in today's Lawrence Journal-World.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN>To each and every one of you, I also want to offer a strong Thank You! for doing your part to make this convention a success. See the article below.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN>Susan Tabor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='border:none;padding:0in'><span lang=EN>LJWorld.com<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><h2><span lang=EN>Annual event addresses issues for the blind<o:p></o:p></span></h2><h2><span lang=EN>By Joe Preiner<o:p></o:p></span></h2><h2><span lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></span></h2><p class=date><span lang=EN>November 14, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>Members of the Kansas community gathered in Lawrence this weekend for the state convention for the blind. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>The yearly event through the National Federation of the Blind attracted a number of area residents for a weekend filled with education and activity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>About 60 people congregated at the Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive, Saturday to take in the messages various speakers had to deliver. The presentations ranged from the educational to the inspirational to the political, with injustices addressed and resolutions offered.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>Robert Fuller, the local NFB chapter treasurer, said the local chapter distributes information about the blind to the community, a necessity considering the rarity of blindness. Fuller, whose son is blind, said blindness affects about a quarter of 1 percent of the national population. Even small efforts to inform people about the difficulties the blind face can benefit the nonseeing community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>“It's about blind people being independent,” Fuller said. “It’s not always about getting the world to accommodate blind people.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>Donna Wood, the state affiliate president, said the event presented an opportunity for members of the blind community to escape the feeling of isolation that can often accompany blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>“It gives us the support,” Wood said. “The ability to get together like this to share experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings, it eliminates part of that isolation at least for a little while.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>Membership with the NFB is not limited to the blind, though Wood said blind people comprised the majority of the group. She stressed education as an important part of the federation’s mission.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>“We try to dispel the myths and misconceptions about blindness,” she said. “It’s an absolutely important part of what we do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>Along with working to educate the community about blindness, the NFB, the nation’s largest organization for the blind, also helps the blind receive an education. Wood said the state affiliate offered five academic scholarships to legally blind people entering the college, vocational or technical school ranks in Kansas. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>The convention’s activities are scheduled to continue through this afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN>For more information about the National Federation of the Blind and scholarship opportunities, visit <a href="http://www.nfb.org">nfb.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><b><span lang=EN>Originally published at:</span></b><span lang=EN> http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/nov/14/event-educates-residents-blind-people/<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>