[Massachusetts-NFB] Exciting Announcement. Our National Rep for our 2026 Convention is...

[sharawinton at gmail.com]

I am pleased to announce that our National Rep for our 2026 convention to be
held March 27-29 is Grace Pires from Rhode Island!!! Grace Pires was elected
to the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors in July of 2022
and also serves as the president of the National Federation of the Blind of
Rhode Island. She was born in Portugal in 1970. Within three months Grace's
mother Virginia realized that something was wrong with Grace's vision. She
was not actively trying to look at things, nor did she track in the way that
her mother had witnessed in other children. The first visit to a local
pediatrician resulted in her mother's concerns being dismissed, but when
other doctors were consulted, they agreed that there definitely was a
problem, though to this day no one has been able to accurately diagnose the
reason for Grace's blindness. Some doctors have offered the opinion that she
is blind because of retinitis pigmentosa, while others argued that it is
most likely Leber's disease given that she has never had any vision and the
condition is genetic. Her parents did what genetic testing was available and
were told there was a 25 percent chance that any future offspring would be
blind. Her younger brother is blind, but the upside is that there are some
important things they share together.

Grace did not start school until she was ten. The Portuguese island on which
she was born had no school for the blind, and both she and her parents were
very upset by the residential experience at the school on a neighboring
island. After this experience, the family made a real effort to come to the
United States, and it was at this point that Grace really began her formal
education. "Coming to the United States was in some respects the end of my
childhood. I didn't really know what to ask for, but all of a sudden I had
to be an advocate for myself and, because they didn't speak English, for my
parents as well. She was placed in the fourth grade to be near children her
own age, but she certainly was in no position to do the work. She first had
to learn English, then Braille, and it wasn't until the sixth grade that she
really began to hit her stride. Before that time she would rely on her
cousin, a second grader who could read print, who would help her with
learning to spell. She was elated when, in the seventh grade, she realized
that she was independently doing work that let her study for and pass tests.
"I was quite excited when I was able to take home and do my homework. I know
many students who said that they couldn't stand it, but for me the feeling
was tremendous."

Grace began receiving cane travel when she was twelve years old, and at
first she had mixed feelings about the experience. "I was afraid that people
were going to see by my cane that I was blind, and I laugh now at my
reluctance because it is clear to me that everyone already knew I was. Even
as I felt this reluctance, I loved the independence I was getting. I was
happy to be an independent traveler who could walk around the school by
myself and could actually go to the lady's room without another student
assisting me. I was really excited when my parents and other adults let me
walk alone once they realized I could travel safely with my cane."

"Making friends was very easy when I was a novelty, but as the novelty wore
off, I began to find it more difficult when some of my friends dropped away.
Luckily I had a core group that I built during middle school, and although
class changes in high school meant that we were not always together, some of
those friendships survived, one of them even into college."

Unfortunately for Grace, she grew up having few role models, and the idea
that a person might go to a rehabilitation center was never raised as a
possibility, not to mention a wonderful opportunity. Failing to see blind
people she wanted to be like, she had what she categorizes as a meltdown at
age thirteen and angrily asked her teacher of the visually impaired what in
the world a blind person was supposed to grow up to do and be. Her dream was
to get an education, have a job, get married, and have a family. Her teacher
was resourceful and took Grace to visit a lecture on health that was being
given by a blind woman. "The lecture was impressive, the blind woman giving
it was educated and well spoken. She gave me hope. She let me know that I
could do what she was doing, that I was smart, and that I could do anything
I wanted to do. This was a major turning point in my life. This woman named
Monica became a mentor throughout school and in my career. We still maintain
some meaningful contact today."

Grace remembers that the first time she learned that a piece of equipment
could be modified for her use was when her family got a microwave oven. She
couldn't use it, and this same teacher suggested that they mark it with
dots. "When I got those dots and we put them on, I felt like it was
Christmas."

Grace attended Rhode Island College, a four-year institution near where she
lived. There she took a bachelor's degree in social work, and when she
couldn't find a job, she went back to school and earned a master's degree in
the same field. When she looked at the employment market after her
bachelor's, she was surprised to find that so much of the work involved
travel and that so little in the way of transportation existed for her. By
the time she had gotten her master's degree, not only was she more
qualified, but by then she enjoyed the benefits of an active paratransit
system that allowed her to go to and from the homes of clients. Her first
job was working part-time at an independent living center, a job that not
only required significant travel but one that also gave her the opportunity
to do some of her work from an office. That part-time job eventually
resulted in full-time employment, and it was there that Grace worked until
2003.

She then took a job with the state of Rhode Island as a rehabilitation
teacher. She did that job for six years, and what she found so amusing was
that this person who had never gotten the benefit of any formal
rehabilitation teaching was herself being asked to teach. She knew the
techniques that needed teaching; what she didn't know was much about the art
of teaching. She is thankful for the textbooks that taught her how to pass
along knowledge that she learned from her mother to others who needed to
learn how to make a bed, do laundry, and safely operate a hot stove.

While working she earned another master's degree, this one in rehabilitation
counseling, and it qualified her for another job that she holds today. She
works as a vocational rehabilitation counselor and has since 2009.

As soon as Grace got a job, she felt free to expand what she was doing and
begin giving back. When she said that she wanted to join the National
Federation of the Blind in 2000, the person she was talking with said, "Are
you sure? You don't have to!"

"My response was that I now have a job and I want to do something to give
back. I most certainly want to join the NFB. What I didn't realize at the
time was that I would gain so much more from being part of this movement.
>From the first meeting I attended, I was treated like an old friend." Grace
says that she was pretty shy, but she felt comfortable offering to help with
tasks. "Richard and Cathy Gaffney and other members were so welcoming that I
brought my boyfriend and my brother. They both accompanied me to the state
convention and joined on the spot."

What Grace finds so sad is that in all of her contact with the
rehabilitation system prior to employment, never did she find a role model
or anyone willing to discuss with her their own blindness. Never did the
people she worked with talk with her about blindness or put themselves front
and center as people she might want to be like. From what she observed,
those helping her, while well-intentioned, had problems dealing with their
own blindness and embracing alternative techniques that would let them be
comfortable with themselves and efficient in the things they did.

The lesson Grace has taken from this is that it is necessary not only for
her to teach attitudes and techniques but to instill in her clients a sense
that they can talk with her about blindness. She also hopes that the way she
lives her life and the mastery she has gained in living life as a blind
person will translate into her being role models for those she serves.

Working on legislation is of particular interest, and the passage of a
parental rights bill has been immensely important to her. When she was
having her son, a social worker was sent to visit at the hospital. "How will
you know when to feed him?" and "How will you give him medicine?" were the
kinds of questions that were repeatedly asked. Of particular concern was
that the social worker, learning that Grace and her husband Robert shared a
house with sighted parents, kept wanting to be reassured that the sighted
couple would be involved and went so far as to have a private conference
with them.

A second piece of legislation of which Grace takes pride allows for mail-in
election ballots. Having a good relationship with the secretary of state
means she has been a part of evaluating the ballot marking machines that
were eventually purchased.

Knowing what a barrier transportation was for her, she serves on a public
advisory committee which seeks to improve transportation services to Rhode
Island residents. She is working on legislation to expand transportation to
all disabled Rhode Islanders.  She is quick to note that she is not the
primary person working on this legislation and that another member of the
Federation is actually spearheading the effort.

Like most busy people, there are times when Grace finds it difficult to
juggle all of the responsibilities she has. Of course there are the school
meetings to attend, and since her parents still do not speak English, she
accompanies them whenever they go to doctor appointments and acts as a
translator. "I am so lucky to have a job with some flexibility and with sick
time I can use when needed. When my mother worked in a factory, she did not
have this flexibility. I could only call her if there was a dire emergency.
They just wouldn't have known how to reach her. I am glad that I can now get
an occasional call or text when my son needs something."

When not otherwise engaged, Grace likes to read, knit, and take long walks
outside. "I love the peace that comes in being outside with nature-it is me
being me on my time." She also admits to being somewhat addicted to Netflix,
a pleasure that she and her husband Robert share together. She enjoys
playing Uno with her nieces and again finds herself tremendously grateful
for the contributions of Louis Braille in her life.

"I think my most important role in the Federation is to be a good listener,
accept people where they are, and offer myself as a role model for those
looking to be happy, to be productive, and to feel good about themselves.
Sometimes life has meant hard work, but people need to see that often that
is what it takes, and the rewards are well worth the effort."

 

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