From Jennie.Herreid at business.uconn.edu Mon Jul 12 15:48:31 2010 From: Jennie.Herreid at business.uconn.edu (Jennie Herreid) Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:48:31 +0000 Subject: [Mabs] Friendly Reminder: Braille Questionnaire - Univ. of Connecticut Message-ID: <7221B7C92134764EBFF9736912799011D623@SBEXCH10STOR02.business.uconn.edu> Group, I understand that last week was a busy week for parents (and educators) of blind & visually impaired children with the national convention going on. Therefore, I am reposting my previous request to complete the university's short Braille Questionnaire: The following link is to a short academic survey designed to assess parent's attitudes towards a new technology that we hope may create a more engaging Braille reading experience for children. It also includes an accessible version for visually impaired respondents, which can be found within the cover letter. If you're a parent of a visually impaired child or have experience learning / reading Braille, please feel free to take it. You may also opt-in by providing your e-mail address for a chance to win a $25 iTunes's gift card. http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AU2S3X345 Alternatively, if you have difficulty using the survey, please feel free to contact us Monday through Friday (9 - 5 pm EST) to take it over the phone. Thank you, Jennie, Justin, Corey, and Chris Justin Rattner Research Analyst Connecticut Center For Entrepreneurship And Innovation (CCEI) University of Connecticut 222 Pitkin Street East Hartford, CT 06108 Tel: 860-728-2141 Justin.Rattner at Business.Uconn.Edu From nabs.president at gmail.com Wed Jul 14 04:25:04 2010 From: nabs.president at gmail.com (Arielle Silverman) Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:25:04 -0600 Subject: [Mabs] NABS Bulletin Additions Message-ID: Hi all, Thanks to everyone who helped out with our NABS activities at convention! I will be sending out a bulletin early next week reporting on convention, and then will resume my first-Monday-of-the-month schedule in September. If you have events you'd like announced in the next bulletin, please send announcements to me by Sunday, July 18. Thanks! Arielle -- Arielle Silverman President, National Association of Blind Students Phone: 602-502-2255 Email: nabs.president at gmail.com Website: www.nabslink.org From nabs.president at gmail.com Tue Jul 20 01:49:18 2010 From: nabs.president at gmail.com (Arielle Silverman) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:49:18 -0600 Subject: [Mabs] NABS July Bulletin! Message-ID: National Association of Blind Students >From the Desk of the President July 19, 2010 In This Bulletin: 1. Convetnntioneport! 2. State Division Announcements 1. Convention Report! As usual, we had a busy, productive, and fun NFB national convention, this time in Dallas, Texas, on July 3-8. As always we heard many informative and energizing speeches during our general sessions and the banquet. If you weren't at convention, or even if you were, you'll be able to read the presidential report, banquet address, resolutions, and other convention highlights in the August-September issue of the Braille Monitor. Details should be in the next NABS bulletin. NABS had some exciting activities as well. On Saturday afternoon, the NABS board put on high school and college readiness discussions for youth, and on Saturday night, we had a student hospitality night at convention for the first time in many years. Several students dropped in to hang out with us, some of whom were first-time convention attendees, and we hope to continue the student hospitality social at future conventions. On Sunday evening, we held our annual business meeting where we learned about new developments in access to academic materials, including the popular Blackboard Learn platform, and heard from two enthusiastic NABS members about the contribution the NFB has made in their lives. At the end of the meeting, we held elections for two of our board positions, and Meghan Whalen and Darian Smith were elected to serve an additional two-year term on the board. Personally, I enjoyed meeting some of our new members, and I hope that you will continue to be active in NABS and your local NFB affiliate. If you just joined NABS at this last convention and want to stay connected, I'd encourage you to find the NABS chapter in your state, if there is one. There's a list of NABS state chapters, and contacts for states that don't have NABS chapters yet, at www.nabslink.org You can either fan National Association of Blind Students on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or keep reading the monthly bulletins to find out about upcoming student conference calls and our next in-person meeting at Washington Seminar. Finally, if you aren't on our email discussion list and would like to correspond with other NABS members, you can join by going to http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org State Division Announcements: >From New Mexico: We are selling mugs with pictures on them of different sceens of our state and they cost $10 per mug. Please contact me via email if people are interested in these mugs. I hope to eventually send out discriptions of each mug we have and are selling and those in a brochure we are using. Also we are selling T-shirts with the Whozit logo on the left brest and the text message acrynym for too good to be forgotten ?2G2B4G,? just above the whozit, and the Louis Braille coin on the back of the shirt. We are selling them for buy one get one half off. The price is $10 for one shirt and $15 for two. We are selling 2XL for $12. Sizes range from small to 2XL. If you or anyone has any questions, please email me at nmabs.president at gmail.com. Thank you, Tara From California: Please see attached flyer. -- Arielle Silverman President, National Association of Blind Students Phone: 602-502-2255 Email: nabs.president at gmail.com Website: www.nabslink.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: official_call_to_action_seminar_flyer.doc Type: application/msword Size: 34816 bytes Desc: not available URL: From gwunder at earthlink.net Tue Jul 20 13:41:41 2010 From: gwunder at earthlink.net (Gary Wunder) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:41:41 -0500 Subject: [Mabs] NABS July Bulletin! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On the way to KC in ten minutes for the Baby Mikaela case and will look at them first thing and let you know. Sorry, I thought I did this - bad me. We'll clear this before the morning is done. Warmly, Gary -----Original Message----- From: mabs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:mabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle Silverman Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 8:49 PM To: arizona-students at nfbnet.org; cabs-talk at nfbnet.org; cabs at nfbnet.org; fabs at nfbnet.org; gabs at nfbnet.org; iabs-talk at nfbnet.org; kabs at nfbnet.org; nfbkabs at nfbnet.org; nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org; la-students at nfbnet.org; mi-abs at nfbnet.org; mn-abs at nfbnet.org; mabs at nfbnet.org; nabs-l at nfbnet.org; nebraska-students at nfbnet.org; new-hampshire-students at nfbnet.org; njabs-talk at nfbnet.org; ncabs at nfbnet.org; oabs at nfbnet.org; tabs at nfbnet.org; uabs at nfbnet.org; vabs at nfbnet.org Subject: [Mabs] NABS July Bulletin! National Association of Blind Students >From the Desk of the President July 19, 2010 In This Bulletin: 1. Convetnntioneport! 2. State Division Announcements 1. Convention Report! As usual, we had a busy, productive, and fun NFB national convention, this time in Dallas, Texas, on July 3-8. As always we heard many informative and energizing speeches during our general sessions and the banquet. If you weren't at convention, or even if you were, you'll be able to read the presidential report, banquet address, resolutions, and other convention highlights in the August-September issue of the Braille Monitor. Details should be in the next NABS bulletin. NABS had some exciting activities as well. On Saturday afternoon, the NABS board put on high school and college readiness discussions for youth, and on Saturday night, we had a student hospitality night at convention for the first time in many years. Several students dropped in to hang out with us, some of whom were first-time convention attendees, and we hope to continue the student hospitality social at future conventions. On Sunday evening, we held our annual business meeting where we learned about new developments in access to academic materials, including the popular Blackboard Learn platform, and heard from two enthusiastic NABS members about the contribution the NFB has made in their lives. At the end of the meeting, we held elections for two of our board positions, and Meghan Whalen and Darian Smith were elected to serve an additional two-year term on the board. Personally, I enjoyed meeting some of our new members, and I hope that you will continue to be active in NABS and your local NFB affiliate. If you just joined NABS at this last convention and want to stay connected, I'd encourage you to find the NABS chapter in your state, if there is one. There's a list of NABS state chapters, and contacts for states that don't have NABS chapters yet, at www.nabslink.org You can either fan National Association of Blind Students on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or keep reading the monthly bulletins to find out about upcoming student conference calls and our next in-person meeting at Washington Seminar. Finally, if you aren't on our email discussion list and would like to correspond with other NABS members, you can join by going to http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org State Division Announcements: >From New Mexico: We are selling mugs with pictures on them of different sceens of our state and they cost $10 per mug. Please contact me via email if people are interested in these mugs. I hope to eventually send out discriptions of each mug we have and are selling and those in a brochure we are using. Also we are selling T-shirts with the Whozit logo on the left brest and the text message acrynym for too good to be forgotten "2G2B4G," just above the whozit, and the Louis Braille coin on the back of the shirt. We are selling them for buy one get one half off. The price is $10 for one shirt and $15 for two. We are selling 2XL for $12. Sizes range from small to 2XL. If you or anyone has any questions, please email me at nmabs.president at gmail.com. Thank you, Tara From California: Please see attached flyer. -- Arielle Silverman President, National Association of Blind Students Phone: 602-502-2255 Email: nabs.president at gmail.com Website: www.nabslink.org From gwunder at earthlink.net Tue Jul 20 13:42:47 2010 From: gwunder at earthlink.net (Gary Wunder) Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:42:47 -0500 Subject: [Mabs] NABS July Bulletin! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Replied to wrong message friend - sorry. -----Original Message----- From: mabs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:mabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle Silverman Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 8:49 PM To: arizona-students at nfbnet.org; cabs-talk at nfbnet.org; cabs at nfbnet.org; fabs at nfbnet.org; gabs at nfbnet.org; iabs-talk at nfbnet.org; kabs at nfbnet.org; nfbkabs at nfbnet.org; nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org; la-students at nfbnet.org; mi-abs at nfbnet.org; mn-abs at nfbnet.org; mabs at nfbnet.org; nabs-l at nfbnet.org; nebraska-students at nfbnet.org; new-hampshire-students at nfbnet.org; njabs-talk at nfbnet.org; ncabs at nfbnet.org; oabs at nfbnet.org; tabs at nfbnet.org; uabs at nfbnet.org; vabs at nfbnet.org Subject: [Mabs] NABS July Bulletin! National Association of Blind Students >From the Desk of the President July 19, 2010 In This Bulletin: 1. Convetnntioneport! 2. State Division Announcements 1. Convention Report! As usual, we had a busy, productive, and fun NFB national convention, this time in Dallas, Texas, on July 3-8. As always we heard many informative and energizing speeches during our general sessions and the banquet. If you weren't at convention, or even if you were, you'll be able to read the presidential report, banquet address, resolutions, and other convention highlights in the August-September issue of the Braille Monitor. Details should be in the next NABS bulletin. NABS had some exciting activities as well. On Saturday afternoon, the NABS board put on high school and college readiness discussions for youth, and on Saturday night, we had a student hospitality night at convention for the first time in many years. Several students dropped in to hang out with us, some of whom were first-time convention attendees, and we hope to continue the student hospitality social at future conventions. On Sunday evening, we held our annual business meeting where we learned about new developments in access to academic materials, including the popular Blackboard Learn platform, and heard from two enthusiastic NABS members about the contribution the NFB has made in their lives. At the end of the meeting, we held elections for two of our board positions, and Meghan Whalen and Darian Smith were elected to serve an additional two-year term on the board. Personally, I enjoyed meeting some of our new members, and I hope that you will continue to be active in NABS and your local NFB affiliate. If you just joined NABS at this last convention and want to stay connected, I'd encourage you to find the NABS chapter in your state, if there is one. There's a list of NABS state chapters, and contacts for states that don't have NABS chapters yet, at www.nabslink.org You can either fan National Association of Blind Students on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or keep reading the monthly bulletins to find out about upcoming student conference calls and our next in-person meeting at Washington Seminar. Finally, if you aren't on our email discussion list and would like to correspond with other NABS members, you can join by going to http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org State Division Announcements: >From New Mexico: We are selling mugs with pictures on them of different sceens of our state and they cost $10 per mug. Please contact me via email if people are interested in these mugs. I hope to eventually send out discriptions of each mug we have and are selling and those in a brochure we are using. Also we are selling T-shirts with the Whozit logo on the left brest and the text message acrynym for too good to be forgotten "2G2B4G," just above the whozit, and the Louis Braille coin on the back of the shirt. We are selling them for buy one get one half off. The price is $10 for one shirt and $15 for two. We are selling 2XL for $12. Sizes range from small to 2XL. If you or anyone has any questions, please email me at nmabs.president at gmail.com. Thank you, Tara From California: Please see attached flyer. -- Arielle Silverman President, National Association of Blind Students Phone: 602-502-2255 Email: nabs.president at gmail.com Website: www.nabslink.org From dandrews at visi.com Thu Jul 22 18:01:11 2010 From: dandrews at visi.com (David Andrews) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:01:11 -0500 Subject: [Mabs] National Federation of the Blind Successful in Returning Infant to Her Parents Message-ID: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Chris Danielsen Director of Public Relations National Federation of the Blind (410) 659-9314, extension 2330 (410) 262-1281 (Cell) cdanielsen at nfb.org National Federation of the Blind Successful in Returning Infant to Her Parents Family Reunited After Wrongful Seizure of Child Independence, Missouri (July 22, 2010): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and its Missouri affiliate announced today that they have succeeded in a legal fight to bring a two-month-old infant, Mikaela Sinnett, home to her parents, Blake Sinnett and Erika Johnson of Independence. The NFB of Missouri hired an attorney to assist the couple after Mikaela was taken from them at Centerpoint Hospital almost immediately after she was born. For fifty-seven days the couple, both of whom are blind, were allowed to visit their child in foster care but were not allowed to bring her home. The sole reason given by Missouri?s Department of Social Services was that the couple was blind and could not properly care for Mikaela without the assistance of a sighted person twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. An evidentiary hearing was scheduled for July 20, but at the last minute the state of Missouri dismissed the case against the couple. Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: ?The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that the state of Missouri has dismissed its case against Blake Sinnett and Erika Johnson and returned baby Mikaela to their care. Despite the fact that blind parents are successfully raising children across the nation, blind Americans continue to find that misconceptions and stereotypes about the capabilities of blind people too often result in hasty and unwarranted decisions to remove children from the custody of blind parents. The worst nightmare of parents everywhere?having a child taken away?is sadly part of the lives of too many blind parents. The National Federation of the Blind stands ready and willing to help state officials across the country understand how blind people use alternative techniques to care for their children. But the blind of America will not tolerate our children being taken from us.? "We were and are outraged at the action of Centerpoint Hospital and the state of Missouri," said Gary Wunder, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri. "Children's services have the job of protecting children from abuse and we have nothing but admiration for that work. Taking a child away because her parents are blind is an entirely different matter which violates state and federal law. We have gotten Mikaela back home, but we must fundamentally change a system that presumes the incompetence of blind parents and operates on a principle of guilty until proven innocent rather than the reverse. We cannot help but think that new parents who are blind in Missouri will avoid seeking medical and social services that they may need for fear that they will experience a similar ordeal. We can never give back the two months this family has lost, nor can we restore to Erika the joy of nursing her child that this separation has made impossible. What we can do is use their adversity to change the system that allowed this atrocity and educate the people who have mistakenly equated blindness with a lack of perception, intellect, and judgment." On May 21, 2010, Erika and Blake went to Centerpoint Hospital, where Erika delivered Mikaela. When trying to nurse the baby for the first time, Erika asked for assistance from a nurse when she thought something was wrong. The nurse said that the baby was turning blue and helped reposition the baby, who then began to take nourishment. The nurse assured Erika that it was common for new mothers to need some instruction and that she was doing fine. Blake and Erika were therefore surprised when, some four hours later, they were met by a children's services worker who made inquiries about their vision; asked how they would feed, diaper, and supervise their child; and eventually decreed that Baby Mikaela would not be allowed to be discharged with her mother unless the social worker could be assured there would be constant supervision by someone with sight. On the recommendation of Missouri's Children's Protective Services, Mikaela was placed in foster care and one-hour visits were arranged for several times each week. When the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri determined that blindness was the only reason the child was taken by the state, the organization hired attorney Amy Coopman to handle the case. The National Federation of the Blind now has the option to file complaints with the Missouri Human Rights Commission and/or the federal Office for Civil Rights, as well as at least three options that can be pursued in the state?s courts. ### About the National Federation of the Blind With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people?s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind. David Andrews and long white cane Harry, dandrews at visi.com Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920 From nabs.president at gmail.com Tue Jul 27 03:06:22 2010 From: nabs.president at gmail.com (Arielle Silverman) Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:06:22 -0600 Subject: [Mabs] Announcement from Alabama Message-ID: This didn't make it into the bulletin.. The Alabama Association of Blind Students is raffling off an iPod Touch for its 2010 fund raiser. The winner of the raffle will receive a 32GB Apple ipod Touch. The drawing will be held Wednesday September 1, 2010, and the winner will be notified via phone and e-mail September 2. Tickets are $5 for one, or $10 for three. If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the raffle, please send all personal checks, money orders, or Cashier's checks to: Tamika Williams, AABS President 6060 Southbend Drive North Mobile, Alabama 36619 Please make all checks and money orders payable to Tamika Williams, AABS President, and include AABS iPod Fund Raiser in the memo line of all checks and money orders. On a separate sheet, please include, your name, e-mail address, and phone number in print or Braille. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact, Brittney Urquhart, AABS Vice-President, at blu0001 at auburn.edu Thank you in advance, Tamika From dsmithnfb at gmail.com Sat Jul 31 13:58:40 2010 From: dsmithnfb at gmail.com (Darian Smith) Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:58:40 -0700 Subject: [Mabs] The National Association of Blind Students Presents: Meet your nabs committees. Message-ID: Happy Summer Fellow Students! We hope that wherever your travels took / are taking you enable you to gain enjoyment and excitement. For all of you that were able to join us in Dallas, thank you for sharing in another great convention. For those who were there in spirit; thank you for doing just that and we are excited to get to see you in Orlando next year! But, enough about the past and the future; we?re here now in the present, and as you all know, there?s a lot of work and exciting things to get done! With that, your nabs board is getting ready for another great year working with and serving you. As you probably know by now, the national Association of Blind Students operates year-round via its board of directors; many of us co-chair committees that are vital to the success of the division. On Sunday, August 8 at 7 p.m. eastern time We will be holding a conference call that we would like to invite all of you, our fellow students, to attend. On this call, we will introduce the various committees we have, what these committees do, and the board members who chair them. It is at this call where we are looking for any of you who have a wit for websites, feel for fundraising, eye for editing and writing or a mind for membership building who might have that itch to join a committee. Maybe you have an idea for a committee? Bring that too! We would appreciate your attendance, encourage your sharing of suggestions and ideas, but more than that, welcome your participation in all of our committees! So, come and join us, work with us, let us get to know each other and how we can change what it means to be a blind student together! Information: What: Getting to know the Nabs Committees When: Sunday, August 8. 7 p.m. EST. How: Call-in at 712.775.7100 (pass code 257963) Or listen via www.nabslinkaudio.org Thank you and we look forward to getting to know and work with you all. With warm regards, The committees of the national association of blind students -- Darian Smith Skype: The_Blind_Truth Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/goldengateace ?We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.? - Teilhard de Chardin