[MD-Sligo] FW: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, december 2019
Reyazuddin, Yasmin
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From: brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org [mailto:brl-monitor-bounces at nfbcal.org] On Behalf Of Brian Buhrow
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Subject: [Brl-monitor] The Braille Monitor, december 2019
[EXTERNAL EMAIL]
BRAILLE MONITOR
Vol. 62, No. 11 December 2019
Gary Wunder, Editor
Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Mark Riccobono, President
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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT; BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND -- IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES.
ISSN 0006-8829
(C) 2019 by the National Federation of the Blind
Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots -- the familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again. (Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive, the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges, when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped.
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Vol. 62, No. 11 December 2019
Contents
Illustration: Making Our Presence Known during Meet the Blind Month
Convention Bulletin 2020
by John Berggren
A Giant in Federation History is Now at Rest
by Daniel Frye, Parnell Diggs, and Mark Riccobono
A Christmas Story for All Seasons
by Donald Capps
Celebrate the National Federation of the Blind
by Patty Chang
Cochlear Implant: A Brief Introduction and My Experience
by Chris Westbrook
Always Early: Find Your People
by Richard Early
Seeing that the Federal Communications Commission Ensures Accessible Broadcasting for the Blind
by Everette Bacon
Dr. Jonathan Lazar Receives the Inaugural Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award
by Hayleigh Moore
Social Security Facts for 2020
by Stephanie Flynt
The Journey
by Sean Malone
National Federation of the Blind 2020 Scholarship Program
The 2020 Blind Educator of the Year Award
by Robin House
The 2020 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
by James Gashel
Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship
by Tracy Soforenko
The 2020 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students
by Carla McQuillan
Reindeer Cheer
by Regina A. Root
Am I Really that Special?
by Cheryl Wade
Aurora Chapter Holds Successful Meet the Blind Luncheon
by Dale Holden and Curtis Chong
Message from Buna Dahal Regarding 2020 Washington Seminar Reservations
Division Elections and Convention Updates
Recipes
Monitor Miniatures
[PHOTO CAPTION: The official proclamation of White Cane Safety Day from the Montgomery County Council]
[PHOTO CAPTION: Members of the Capital Chapter discuss the tools they use for reading at the story time reading at Barnes and Noble.]
[PHOTO CAPTION: Carole reads a poem aloud during story time reading.]
[PHOTO CAPTION: Blindness information table at the Capital Chapter set up at its Meet the Blind event at Barnes and Noble.]
Making our Presence Known during Meet the Blind Month
Every day we are ambassadors, taking a message of confidence and competence to people who know little or nothing about being blind. But in October of each year we make a special effort as we celebrate Meet the Blind Month. In this issue we highlight two chapters that took the time to send us photographs. Thank you to the Sligo Creek Chapter, which meets in Montgomery and Prince George Counties in Maryland, and the Capital Chapter, which meets in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Sligo Creek Chapter obtained a White Cane Safety Day proclamation from the Montgomery County Council. In the Capital Chapter we see a Meet the Blind Month Event held at Barnes and Noble, where the chapter did a story time reading for young children. Both of these events demonstrate the value of reaching out to tell our neighbors, one on one, that we are blind, but we are just like you.
[PHOTO CAPTION: Hilton Americas-Houston Convention Center Hotel]
Convention Bulletin 2020
by John Berggren
From the Editor: John Berggren serves in many capacities for the National Federation of the Blind, and what a wonderful mix of gentleness, competence, patience, and decisiveness. In this article he writes in his capacity as the chairman of convention organization and activities. Here is his exciting news:
As hard as it may be to believe, in just a few short weeks the world will celebrate the arrival of a new year. Many will gather to enjoy fireworks, raise a toast to family and friends, and realize that they have still not learned all the words to "Auld Lang Syne." Some of us will turn our attention to the task of setting New Year's resolutions. Whether you plan to eat more green vegetables or to visit the gym beyond the month of January, there is one goal that must be on your list. Resolve to be in Houston this July for the National Federation of the Blind's 2020 National Convention.
It has been nearly fifty years since the largest gathering of the organized blind has convened in Houston, Texas, and our return in 2020 will be an event not to be missed. The Hilton Americas-Houston hotel (1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010) will serve as our convention headquarters hotel. Situated in the heart of downtown Houston across the street from the beautiful twelve-acre Discovery Green park, the Hilton Americas is an ideal location for our annual event. Ballrooms, breakout space, and sleeping rooms are all stacked in the same tower housed on a single city block, simplifying navigation and minimizing travel distances. In-room internet is complimentary to all attendees as is access to the health club and swimming pool on the 23[rd] floor. There is an array of dining options on the hotel's lobby level (including a Starbucks for those of you requiring a caffeine fix) and many more choices within easy walking distance from the Hilton's front door.
The nightly rate at the Hilton Americas-Houston is $105 for singles, doubles, triples, and quads. In addition, the sales tax rate is 8.25 percent, and the hotel occupancy tax rate is 17 percent. To book your room for the 2020 convention, call 1-800-236-2905 after January 1. For each room, the hotel will take a deposit of the first night's room rate and taxes and will require a credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Monday, June 1, 2020, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.
We have also secured overflow space at the wonderful Marriott Marquis Houston. The Marriott is only a three-block walk directly across Discovery Green, or attendees can walk entirely indoors through the George R. Brown convention center, connecting both hotels on the second level. You will find many of the same amenities at the Marriott as well as a Texas-shaped lazy river pool. The room rate at the Marriott Marquis is a slightly higher $119 per night for singles, doubles, triples, and quads. To book a room, call 1-877-688-4323 after January 1. The same deposit and cancellation policies apply.
The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be a truly exciting and memorable event, with an unparalleled program and rededication to the goals and work of our movement. Please note that the convention dates, July 14 through July 19, are later than those originally announced this past summer in Las Vegas. Preconvention seminars for parents of blind children and other groups and set-up of the exhibit hall will take place on Tuesday, July 14, and adjournment will be Sunday, July 19, following the banquet. Convention registration and registration packet pick-up will begin on Wednesday, July 15, and both Wednesday and Thursday will be filled with meetings of divisions and committees, including Thursday morning's annual meeting, open to all, of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. General convention sessions will begin on Friday, July 17, and continue through the banquet on Sunday, July 19.
Remember that as usual we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals. Once again prizes should be small in size but large in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. As a rule, we ask that prizes of all kinds have a value of at least $25 and not include alcohol. Drawings will occur steadily throughout the convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet. You may bring door prizes with you to convention or send them in advance to the National Federation of the Blind of Texas at 1600 E Highway 6, Suite 215, Alvin, TX 77511.
The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology; meetings of our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; the most stimulating and provocative program items of any meeting of the blind in the world; the chance to renew friendships in our Federation family; and the unparalleled opportunity to be where the real action is and where decisions are being made -- all of these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2020 National Convention. To assure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, make your reservations early. We plan to see you in Houston in July.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Donald Capps, August 30, 1928 - November 6, 2019]
A Giant in Federation History is Now at Rest
by Daniel Frye, Parnell Diggs, and Mark Riccobono
From the Editor: I suspect one would have to be fairly new to the Federation if he or she didn't know the name Donald Capps or that Southern gentleman's voice. Until I saw his name in the pages of the Braille Monitor in the early 1970s, I had no idea that a blind person could be a vice president at a major insurance company. Dr. Capps was living a life I dreamed of living, not so much insurance, but excelling at something. I hadn't yet committed myself to going beyond the dream, really embracing it as a possibility, and staking my honor on the fact that it would happen. His success made it clear to me that blind people could do something outside the blindness field, rising to significant leadership and responsibility. I might not have his talent, but it was clear to me that I had some of my own, and his example suggested to me that there might be a career out there for me if I would only believe and try.
One of the things I most admired about our longtime national first vice president and president of the South Carolina affiliate was that he didn't decide he was too busy to help his blind brothers and sisters. He assumed leadership, but he took much more than a ceremonial title. He took responsibility for growing his affiliate so that it now stands as one of the largest in the country and has more chapters than any other state in the nation. He did not say, "South Carolina is my kingdom. Let the national body do the best it can for itself." He realized that the Federation must be strong at the chapter and affiliate levels, and he knew that to exert nationwide influence, we must be strong nationally as well. For this reason he headed our national membership committee and traveled extensively throughout the country to build the Federation.
Dan Frye hails from South Carolina, and like so many others from the state, he gives tremendous credit to Dr. Capps for shaping his character and helping when he was most in need. Dan attended the funeral for Dr. Capps at the request of President Riccobono. Parnell Diggs wrote remarks for an issue of Positive Note 1736, a weekly memo generated by the president of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. President Riccobono, of course, wrote his own moving tribute. All three are printed here together in loving memory of this most extraordinary man:
Dan Frye's Remarks
Donald Capps cared. He cared for me. He cared for the blindness community: from the members of his local chapter, to the development of a framework of services and opportunities for the blind of South Carolina, for the championship of civil rights for the blind of America and for the concerns of the blind across the world. He cared and served with an old-world dignity that reflected a love and loyalty for the South, which was his home. Donald Capps was powerful, pioneering, and progressive when called to public service, but soft-spoken and charming when engaging with individuals. Donald Capps lived through dramatically changing times, and he demonstrated an extraordinary ability to evolve, remain current, and be effective.
I want today, however, to publicly acknowledge and show gratitude to Donald Capps, the man and leader, who took a personal interest in me -- an interest, I think, which demonstrates the best of humanity. I came to South Carolina upon the death of my parents and lived with my paternal grandparents on a small tobacco farm in Horry County. My grandparents loved me but had no real sense of what I could become as a blind person. Somehow, Donald Capps found me, introduced me to the National Federation of the Blind, and helped extricate me from an environment that would have limited my opportunities. Dr. Capps knew that I came from the poorest of roots; he saw that I never had to experience the disadvantages of poverty while attending school as a student at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind. He quietly kept tabs on my academic progress, my social development, and my ambition. When the time was right, he reached out to me, inviting me to assume a young leadership rol!
e in the Federation. And by granting me that opportunity he taught me humility, how to see things in shades of gray instead of in the black and white of youthful exuberance, to understand the value of public service, to undertake commitment through the lens of compassion and principle, and to aspire to make a difference.
I was, on occasion, a tremendous disappointment to Dr. Capps, but he was patient and unrelenting in his effort to guide me. He coached, cajoled, mentored, and molded me. He helped me to become a well-rounded, fairly polished, self-confident human being. Dr. Capps and his wife Betty regularly had me to their home to teach me the skills of growing up to be a decent person. You wouldn't necessarily think that our mutual membership in the Federation would have imposed such an obligation on him, but it is often said that we in the NFB are a family, and Dr. Capps exhibited this truth for me in ways that will forever influence who I am, what I'll do, and who I may become.
In the absence of a family able to help me flourish, this influential man -- both gently and roughly -- stepped in and played a vital role in my maturation. If he did this for me, I suspect that he did it for thousands. To Dr. Capps's son and extended family, on behalf of the blindness community and the members of the National Federation of the Blind, thank you for sharing Dr. Capps with us.
Parnell Diggs' Remarks from Positive Note 1736
This week's spotlight falls on perhaps the most distinguished Federation leader South Carolina has ever produced, Dr. Donald C. Capps. But this is not to tell the story of his long life of ninety-one years in sequence of events from start to finish. Instead, I will use this opportunity to convey a few thoughts about Dr. Capps, the man in retrospect in 2019.
Our dear friend absolutely, dearly loved the National Federation of the Blind. It was so connected with his life that it could not be separated from his being. He first came to the Federation in the mid-1950s when he was in his twenties. He attended his first chapter meeting at about the age of twenty-five and his first national convention at the age of twenty-seven.
He attended his last meeting in October of 2019. In recent years it had been increasingly difficult for Dr. Capps to attend Federation meetings due to a number of health issues. For him to get out of the house and get to the Federation Center required tremendous exertion and effort on his part. We now know that the October meeting was to be his last, as he passed away some twenty-seven days later.
It was not always physically difficult for Dr. Capps to attend meetings. At the age of twenty-seven, he and Mrs. Capps traveled cross-country by car to attend the San Francisco convention in 1956. There he met Dr. tenBroek (then president and founder of the NFB) and Kenneth Jernigan, who would become one of Dr. Capps' best friends until Dr. Jernigan's death in 1998. Within ten years of attending his first national convention, Dr. Capps had begun working on initiatives that many of us now take for granted. For example, the Federation Center was dedicated in 1961, when Dr. Capps was thirty-three years old. He saw the need to improve programs for the blind in South Carolina. The person who was running the Division for the Blind, which was in the South Carolina Department of Public Welfare, said "That young Don Capps had better watch his step." But our most treasured advocate was not to be deterred. Along with his brother-in-law Gene Rogers, Dr. Capps wrote the legislation crea!
ting the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, which was established in May of 1966. At that time our leader was thirty-seven years old. Over the next five decades he continued to work tirelessly on initiatives that would improve the quality of life for blind people across the nation and around the world. You do not have to be a longtime member of the Federation to know of the dozens of bills enacted in South Carolina in which he played an essential part.
Dr. Capps was about fifty years of age when we established what was then Rocky Bottom Camp of the Blind (later Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of the Blind). He was about fifty-five when, in his wisdom, he was responsible for hiring a young aspiring professional, David Houck, and these two gentlemen worked closely together for the next thirty-six years.
I could easily work this into a book, but there will be other opportunities to talk about the life of this most special of men, so I will end my remarks by telling you one more thing that you should know about him. He believed in young people and the importance of bringing youth into the Federation. At the funeral, Dan Frye articulately shared memories of his own childhood, having met Dr. Capps when Dan was about thirteen. While attending a Columbia Chapter membership banquet in April of 1989, Dr. Capps was the first person to approach me, shake my hand, and welcome me to the Federation Center on that fateful evening. I was a twenty-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, and this man (at the age of sixty) had already enjoyed a successful career of nearly four decades at Colonial Life and Accident Insurance Company. He had retired from Colonial Life just a few years before. He was involved in the work of the Federation on a full-time basis, spending many hours!
each day working to improve the quality of life of his blind brothers and sisters. He never missed an opportunity to lead a blind person to the Federation, but this was especially true when it came to young blind people. There are Federation leaders in South Carolina and across the nation who came to be part of the Federation after being recruited by Dr. Capps. He will be remembered as one of the greatest chapter organizers and membership recruiters that the Federation has ever known.
From the age of twenty-five to the age of ninety-one, Dr. Capps gave every ounce of energy he could muster to the work of the National Federation of the Blind. I hope that others will follow the example set by Donald Capps on giving of our time, energy, and talent to this big program of work with the blind. But the bar set by Dr. Capps is very high, since sixty-six years of dedicated service is a long time to spend in the furtherance of any cause. But from what I have learned from this beloved Federationist in my thirty years of working with him, I think it would be safe to make the following estimation. Dr. Capps would be pleased with those who commit to work with the National Federation of the Blind if they would simply do their fair share and then some.
Remarks from President Mark Riccobono
The National Federation of the Blind would like to express its deepest appreciation and warmest sympathies to the friends and family of Dr. Donald Capps. Dr. Capps touched the lives of so many, and his lifelong contribution can never be adequately recounted for the blindness civil rights movement of the United States. Dr. Capps provided stability, foundational principles, and continuity for the rest of the world. He generously shared his understanding and experience in order to spark the development of movements organized by the blind in other nations. He served with honor and distinction in so many ways, but he always did so with a sense of purpose and humility. He is the only individual that served and supported the first seven presidents of the National Federation of the Blind.
I, as our eighth and current president, was mentored by Dr. Capps at a critical time in my leadership development. This likely means that almost all of the first hundred years of the National Federation of the Blind will have been influenced directly by the Capps personality and spirit. With certainty, his indirect influence will echo into the next century of the organized blind movement. That demonstrates the power of life and commitment, the same qualities he shared with his wife and family, setting an example that service and family go together.
Dr. Capps always made sure that he had a watch that was in good working order. I had the opportunity to help get him one when he needed it. Upon reflection, it is clear why it was so important to him. He knew that every minute counted, and he did more with his time than probably anyone else I have ever known. As we go forward with the memories of both Don and Betty in our hearts, I urge us to value and use those minutes as effectively as they did to share life around the world. If we do that even half as well as they did, our time will have been well spent. The blind of America and the world salute this great man, who gave his time and his heart to raising expectations for the blind. Our future achievements will be built upon the strength, value, and spirit that he gave in service to us.
Be well, my friend. And thank you.
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A Christmas Story for All Seasons
by Donald Capps
From the Editor: As a further tribute to Dr. Capps and in keeping with the spirit of the holidays, we thought it a good idea to run an article written by him. It was first published in December of 1992, and here is the way it was introduced to Monitor readers:
From the Associate Editor: The following article appeared in the November 1991 issue of the Palmetto Blind, the publication of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. It is a wonderful illustration of the deep and selfless brotherly love that we think of at this season. When the world seems filled to the breaking point with suffering and tragedy, it is well to remember that people like John Fling are living and serving in our midst.
As Monitor readers know, Don Capps is the senior member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. He and his wife Betty now fully dedicate their time to doing good in the world, chiefly by working tirelessly to strengthen the NFB in South Carolina and around the country. Here is what Don has to say:
It was Thursday morning when a phone call came which brought me overwhelming joy and gratitude. It was my longtime friend, John Fling, who until recent years was very much involved in helping the Columbia Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. In more recent times John has broadened his unselfish service to include many other groups and individuals, and therefore I had not heard from him in some time. However, I had been able to keep up with the charitable activities of this very special person since he is frequently featured in the news media. I also knew that John Fling had become a national and international celebrity, having received many high honors -- including one bestowed upon him at the White House by the President of the United States. Knowing that he had once worked almost exclusively for the blind through the Federation, I was especially proud of John Fling, recognizing that he truly puts service above self.
But getting back to that Thursday morning call on January 16, I heard a familiar voice: "Don, this is John Fling, and I happen to have some funds left over from Christmas and was wondering if you would accept a little contribution to the Federation?" In a split second I assured my longtime friend that the Federation would be most grateful for any contribution, especially at this time. He said that he would stop by my house that afternoon, and true to his word he drove into our driveway at about 3 o'clock. After a most enjoyable visit during which we brought each other up-to-date on our activities, John handed me a check with instructions to use it any way I wanted to, just so that the Federation would be helped. He then departed without fanfare; got into his truck, clearly marked "John Fling Ministries"; and continued on his way to assist someone else. After John's departure, Betty looked at the check and said, "Don, this check is in the amount of $10,000." Both of us were !
absolutely overwhelmed. Never had I received a Federation contribution for such a substantial sum without having solicited it. As a matter of fact, I was so overwhelmed that I needed time to think about the real significance of what this wonderful man had just done and how this substantial gift to the Columbia Chapter of the NFB of South Carolina could best be used to assist blind people. I wanted to share the good news with fellow Federationists but felt that I needed time to think and ponder about what we might do to justify this generous gift and how it should be used to meet a special need. It was the next day before I shared the wonderful news with the chapter president, Mike Sutton, and the Federation Center's chairman, Frank Coppel, because I felt as if I should sleep on this matter before making any recommendations. Mike and Frank were just as excited and overwhelmed as I was.
Something led me to call John Fling that evening. I clearly remembered his stating that I was to use the money to do the greatest good for the largest number of blind people. I knew that the Columbia Chapter desperately needed a new van since its ten-year-old vehicle had served the chapter well but was probably no longer road-worthy without considerable repairs. Additionally, I knew that President Sutton had appointed a search committee to acquire another van. During my telephone conversation with John on Friday evening, I discussed our need for a new van, and he readily volunteered to donate an additional five thousand dollars in order to purchase one. John said that he was well connected with the Addy Dodge dealership in Lexington, and would I meet him there the following morning at 11:00 a.m. In the twinkling of an eye I answered in the affirmative. At two minutes before eleven o'clock Saturday, Betty and I arrived at Addy Dodge, and John rushed out to greet us. So did T!
im and John Addy, owners of the dealership. As it happened, we parked next to a beautiful, brand new 1992 fifteen-passenger white Dodge van with maroon interior, and John asked me to check the van over. He said that this was the van that he had picked out because he understood from our Friday-evening conversation that we wanted a white one. After talking with John, I had called President Mike Sutton that same evening to inquire whether he would trust me with the details of purchasing a van. Mike replied that of course he would.
The sticker price on this beautiful van was in excess of $22,000, and I immediately wondered how we would swing it, but John had already worked it out. We were ushered into the office, where all the paperwork had already been done. Because of their respect for John Fling and a desire to help the Federation, the Addy brothers had reduced the price of the van by nearly $5,000. However, I knew that the initial gift of $10,000 plus the promise of an additional $5,000 would not cover even the reduced price for the van. But before I had time to become concerned, John pulled out a pen and began writing a check for the remaining cost, about $8,500. Thus, in the end John Fling Ministries gave a total of about $18,500 to the Federation to cover the total cost of this beautiful new van.
But this is not the end of the story. Mr. Addy checked the Blue Book and advised us that we could sell our old van for about $3,500, which could be used for insurance or other expenses. Mr. Addy said that there is a great need among churches and day-care centers for previously owned vans.
As I said earlier, John Fling has been honored at the highest levels for his benevolence and good deeds. On September 30, 1991, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall in Washington, D.C., John Fling participated in America's awards honoring unsung heroes who personify the American character and spirit. In a special publication entitled "America's Awards," a program of the Positive Thinking Foundation, the following article is dedicated to John Fling:
You're Never Too Old to Do Good
At age seventy, John Fling does every day what he has done every day for forty-five years -- spends most of his waking hours helping those in need.
One of nineteen children, John Fling grew up in Gabbetville, Georgia, (population forty-six). His parents were so poor they weren't even sharecroppers; they were sharecroppers' helpers. What family members ate, they had to catch out of the water, dig out of the ground, or shake out of a tree. At age twelve, John quit school to work in the cotton fields, where he labored for six more years.
At age twenty-five, after a six-year stint in the US Army, John settled with his wife in Columbia, South Carolina, landing a job as supervisor to one hundred boys who delivered newspapers. He began providing them and their families with food, clothing, and school supplies. Helping others became his personal mission.
One night in 1951, John accompanied the police to settle a domestic dispute. The couple had a small baby, but apparently the boy wasn't fathered by the woman's husband. John asked if it would solve the problem if he took the baby. The couple readily agreed, signing a scrap of paper that gave John all rights to the baby. John and his wife Jane raised the child along with their natural son.
John and his wife have never owned a home. They live on Social Security, in a rent-free cottage behind his mother-in-law's house. Though he has worked all his life -- sometimes several jobs at once -- John is almost without material possessions. Before he retired as a parts delivery man, John's employer, Love Chevrolet, gave him clothes to wear and a truck to drive -- and lots of time to serve.
The clothing John gives away is often better than what he wears. He hasn't bought clothes, except underwear, for twenty years. He doesn't have a television or the time to look at one. Only recently did John get a telephone -- to better serve those who depend on him. He has never owned a car, but he has bought cars for five others.
For forty-five years John Fling has spent most of his waking hours driving the streets of Columbia, looking for someone he can help. There has not been a single day that he hasn't done something to help the poor. He delivers food, medicine, and laundry; helps with bills; repairs screen doors; mows lawns; unstops sinks; and transports the needy to appointments -- for an extended family that includes forty blind people, two hundred seniors, and four hundred children.
Having lost sight in one eye in a boyhood hunting accident, John shows a special interest in the blind. He gives them rides and takes them to the beach or fishing. He drives his more adventurous blind friends out to a cow pasture, settles them into a go-cart, places earphones on their heads, sits on his truck, and -- using a two-way radio -- tells them to go left or right. Some of them are hot rods.
John is caring, selfless, and limitless in energy. He is unincorporated and refuses to become a nonprofit organization. There are no boards to direct him and no committees to support his activities. Most of the money he hands out is donated by local businessmen and by friends around the country. He often takes the last dime out of his pocket to help someone.
Once, while visiting a nursing home with two deacons from his church, John met an elderly woman who said she didn't know what time to take her medicine because she didn't have a watch. John pulled the watch from his own wrist, handed it to the woman, and walked on.
As the three men left the nursing home, John met a one-legged man on the street who said he needed a raincoat. John took off his own coat and gave it to the man. One of the deacons said to John, "Let's get back in the truck before you give away your pants."
John's first love is still the children. As he drives through Columbia's back alleys, kids emerge from the shadows and rush the truck. Embracing as many as he can, John asks them how they are, and what they need and gives them what he can. As he leaves, John comments to a visitor, "Even more than money, what they need is love."
And John gives them lots of love.
At 5:30 a.m. every Sunday, John starts driving a donated van for three hours to go to the Baptist Church next door, collecting as many as seventy-nine children as he travels a fifty-five-mile circuit. On the way home he stops at a restaurant and treats each of the children to a meal.
Every Christmas John provides the kids he cares for with a shopping spree at one of the local department stores. Last year he took 1,216 to K-Mart, providing them each with a $50 gift certificate. To encourage kids to take their education seriously, he offers $20 to students making B's and higher on their report cards. Grades have soared.
Over the years, John's generosity has become known throughout the world. When a man in India writes to a man he knows only as "John Fling, USA," to request help in obtaining a prosthesis, and the letter somehow arrives, John's response is equally characteristic. Somehow he finds the money to buy and send the needed prosthesis.
Now seventy years old, John continues to have a tremendous impact in his role as a one-man social-service agency. Few people in South Carolina are as well known, and few people in the world are as well loved. When you ask about John Fling, the first thing people say, more often than not, is, "That man is a living saint."
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Celebrate the National Federation of the Blind
by Patty Chang
The holiday season is coming upon us. It is a time to celebrate, and we ought to reflect on how the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has affected blind people's lives. In thinking about the gifts the NFB gives, these stories tell it well:
Attending the NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning Academy (BELL Academy), my son learned the complete Braille alphabet in a mere two weeks, something that eluded us for nine years. What stuck out for us was how simple it was to start Braille and the shame is it that the world resists. As parents who have found the NFB, we are relieved to know that we are not alone and are fully supported.
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I cannot say enough about how amazing the NFB BELL Academy was for my son. He continues to practice Braille and cane use. Most importantly, he formed great bonds from the academy -- not only with his peers, but with his instructors as well. I truly believe BELL instilled the confidence he needed.
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I love the National Federation of the Blind because it is not only an advocacy organization but is a support network for blind people. If I have any questions about being a blind parent, I have access to several blind parents who can give me guidance and provide answers to my questions. I thank the NFB for instilling in me the confidence to be a blind parent.
Those testimonials and many more show why and how the National Federation of the Blind helps blind people live the lives we want. However, we need your contribution to continue making a difference and changing lives.
With a $50 donation, the National Federation of the Blind can send a long white cane -- free of charge -- to a blind recipient and give back mobility. With the same amount, the Federation can provide early literacy materials to families including a book with both Braille and print, which empower parents to help their blind child get an early start to Braille literacy. With a larger donation, we can train our Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning Academy teachers, show blind youngsters that they can do science too, and so much more. Be a part of these gifts and everything the Federation does with love, hope, and determination.
We can't change lives without you. Please help by making an end-of-year gift -- and it's easy to do. You can mail a donation or give online.
To mail your donation, simply make out your check to the National Federation of the Blind and send it to:
National Federation of the Blind
Attention: Outreach
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, MD 21230
To give online visit our web page, https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnfb.org%2Fdonate&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061944710&sdata=BW3j27MV%2Ba4j7VeUOC228DgceZX8ILdgZZEz8YQxyh0%3D&reserved=0.
We all know that the Federation affects blind people's lives every day. You or someone you know aspires to greater things because of our philosophy. It is time to give back. Please be a part of our movement with an end-of-year donation. We can't build the Federation without financial resources. Every gift helps.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Chris Westbrook]
Cochlear Implant: A Brief Introduction and My Experience
by Chris Westbrook
From the Editor: Chris Westbrook is a member who lives in Pennsylvania and serves as the vice president of the Jigsaw Chapter, the at-large chapter in Pennsylvania. He works as a computer programmer, and I find him to be a most delightful person. Many of us who are blind rely heavily on our hearing, and in this article Chris talks about the struggle in deciding whether to get a cochlear implant and the results he has had with it. Here is what he says:
Before I share my cochlear implant journey, I'd like to say a few things. First, your experiences may vary. I am by no means holding myself up as the only or even most typical experience regarding cochlear implant surgery. Everyone's experience is different and should be respected. Second, the journey is not over yet. I have been "activated" (meaning I have worn the cochlear implant) for almost three months. I expect things to keep getting better over time, so my story is far from over. Having said this, I think it is complete enough that I can provide some perspective on the surgery with some degree of clarity. Third, you may be wondering why I am sharing this in a blindness publication. You may think that this better belongs in a hearing impairment journal of some kind. My answer to this point is that the senses of blindness and hearing are not separable, but one sense feeds off the other. I believe there are experiences that I have as a blind person using a cochlear impl!
ant that a sighted person would not. I think it is good for all our members to be educated on how cochlear implantation works. You never know when you or a chapter member may need one. With that out of the way, let me start from the beginning.
I would like to first briefly describe what a cochlear implant is so that we are all on the same page. A cochlear implant assists someone with severe hearing loss in improving his/her hearing. In most cases, when a cochlear implant is placed, all natural hearing on the affected side is erased. It consists of two parts: an internal part that is placed during surgery, and an external part that you wear which connects to the internal part by a magnet under the skin and transmits the sound to the implant. I realize this may sound painful and uncomfortable; I can assure you it is neither.
While cochlear implant surgery is relatively minor outpatient surgery, it is still surgery. Because of this, and because of the drastic affect it will have on peoples' hearing, there is a qualification process. Not everyone will qualify for a cochlear implant. Hearing tests are done, and your scores are calculated and discussed. Never get a cochlear implant just because a doctor or family member says you should. It is a big decision which should not be taken lightly. Once you get a cochlear implant, there is no going back so to speak. This is what kept me from getting a cochlear implant for a long time. I knew I didn't have much hearing to lose, but I was not psychologically ready to part with what little natural hearing I had in that ear, even if it meant potentially better hearing down the road. Talk with your doctor. Talk with others who have gone through the process, blind or sighted. Also try to find those with similar hearing histories to yours if possible but know th!
at everyone's experiences may vary. I would say that overall, most people who are willing to put in the necessary work have had a positive outcome. If your hearing qualifies you for a cochlear implant and you would like to move forward, you will most likely have a CT scan to ensure that your anatomy will tolerate the surgery and implant. You will also have to choose a brand of implant. I won't say much about that here, as all major brands are good. Which one you choose will depend on your lifestyle and which brands your surgeon/cochlear implant center is experienced with.
If all tests come back normal and you still wish to continue, you will be scheduled for surgery. This will be outpatient surgery, and you will most likely be home the same day unless there are complications. Some have reported dizziness and/or a loss of taste, but I didn't experience either of these symptoms. The pain was very mild; I was prescribed opioids but took very little of them. I was back to work in a few days, once the bandages were removed. I was fortunate to have someone stay with me for a while. If you live alone, it might not be a bad idea to have someone stay with you for a week or so just to make sure everything is going well. After that, it is time for the incision to heal as you patiently await activation day.
Usually about a month after surgery, you will go back to your implant center to receive your external processor and have it turned on for the first time. This is usually called activation or activation day. While this day can be full of anticipation and excitement, it is best to not expect much the first day. Everyone's experiences vary, but I was not able to understand speech at all for the first few days. Remember your brain is having to relearn how to hear. It is not like simply adding another hearing aid to the mix. It is a totally different way of hearing. This is where blindness can compound things and make things particularly challenging. We do not have the benefit of lip reading, for example. You will need to be patient with yourself, and others will need to be patient with you. You will be going through a process that is starting now and will last for some time. Now is not the time to plan that solo cross-country trip you've been dreaming of. Seriously, you may nee!
d more help than you would at other times, and that is OK. Be kind to yourself and give your brain time to adjust.
Plan to go back to your audiologist often, weekly at first, then gradually becoming less and less frequent. They will test you and adjust your implant as necessary. You will be told to listen to as much as possible with only the implant. This is hard at first, but it gets easier over time as your comprehension improves. Again, this is a journey. You will most likely see huge gains at first, and while these gains taper off over time, improvements are still made long after initial activation as I can personally attest. I just went to my first NFB state convention post-implant and, while I didn't do everything I wanted to do and things were a bit overwhelming at times, I still managed. It is both challenging and thrilling to learn to hear in an entirely new way.
I hope this article has been helpful. If you or someone in your affiliate is going through a cochlear implant, know that it is a process. Be patient and help them when necessary. If you are the implant recipient, don't be afraid to ask for help when necessary. If you work hard and are patient, you will be rewarded with better, richer hearing.
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Always Early: Find Your People
by Richard Early
From the Editor: Richard Early is relatively new to the Federation, but enthusiastic. He is nearly fifty years old, has owned a comic book store in Fargo, North Dakota, for twenty-six years, and is enjoying the transformation that finding self-acceptance and a supporting community can be. Here's what Richard had to say in his blog, originally posted at https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falwaysearly360949548.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F11%2F05%2Falways-early-find-your-people%2F&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061949700&sdata=DtOfIe07ALFvC4L%2BMii5Y4M5fZNK%2BGqeSfDk8eJlsCw%3D&reserved=0. The article was entitled "They are out there but they aren't sending a search committee looking for you..."
I was about forty-four years old when I went kicking and screaming to my first blind support meeting. It took a panic attack and three years of therapy and a lifetime of denial, but it finally happened. My therapist kept saying gently that I should do this. She gave me contact info, meeting times -- the whole works. I wasn't having any of it.
I was with that therapist for about three years before she finally convinced me to try. She brought it up gently early on and kept coming back to it from time to time. She did great. I was seeing her in the aftermath of a panic attack that led to an anxiety diagnosis and medication along with those visits to her office. I've learned we pretty much all deal with some kind of emotional or psychological issues, and they are unique to who we are and our history. Mine were, in no particular order: self-loathing, shame, anxiety, and depression. If that's how you feel about yourself, if you are ashamed of who you are deep down to the core, why in the hell would you want to be around other people like you? In my case, that meant blind people. The stem of my shame and self-loathing was that very deep belief that I was worthless because I was blind. I used to deny this, I used to try to ignore my blindness, I tried to pretend it was not a problem and do whatever I could to get by in !
the sighted world.
My memories of dealing with other blind people were not good and of course clearly colored by my own self-loathing. I'll get to that later, but put yourselves in the shoes of a young person in denial of who they are and trying to hide who they are from everyone. I was also trapped between two worlds, not really understanding either one in my early teenage years to early twenties. Everyone around me was operating in a sighted world, and I could mostly do that, so I just covered up when I couldn't and suffered quietly. I didn't want to be part of the blind world because of my shame, and in many ways that world wasn't right for me either since I didn't need Braille or a cane yet.
The first thing I think about when I look back is how I was handled in the school system. I had to leave regular classes and go to a resource teacher. I had to ride the short bus. These were huge stigmas. You knew there was something wrong with you and the others who had to do these things, and you didn't want to be there. That's what society told you. Being partly sighted and pretty independent, it was easy to recognize those with a lot more need and to either associate yourself with them or not want to be around them. God bless them all, and I hope you understand what I'm writing here and that you don't think less of me.
I wanted to be with friends and family. I wanted to play video games and read comic books and watch tv. My family would get approached by a group trying to get me to go to blind camp or the school for the blind or blind bowling or blind skiing. We did go to blind bowling a few times, but mostly I just remember recoiling at all those kindhearted offers.
I had one friend who was blind. He was a few years older than me, and he was a huge Muppets fan. I am sure someone was trying to get us to be friends or to get him to mentor me. I liked him, but I didn't like his blindness. I can remember thinking that I wasn't like him so clearly.
I remember getting out of high school and going to vocational rehabilitation. I was not ready for college; I was not ready to take care of myself on my own; and now here was the weird place that normal people did not have to go, and it pushed all those self-loathing buttons. Good things came from there as I got a year of college paid by the state of North Dakota, but I strongly remember feeling hopeless there. The jobs that were suggested were sweeping and cleaning and other menial tasks. There was talk of the school for the blind training as well, but mostly there were really low expectations from the voc rehab people and from myself.
Those were all the outside factors. The strongest memories are of my family. Let me just say something to be clear: everyone in my family loved me. Everyone wanted only the best for me, and the things I write here are not criticisms. They acted from total love and a desire to protect me and help me have the best life I could have. Sleepless nights, endless trips to doctors, terror over the next surgery, and so, so much more made life a seemingly endless trauma. What I am writing next shows that even with love, the mind can take away such dark stories. My grandparents, especially my grandmother on my dad's side, gave me an overwhelming sense that appearance was critical. It wasn't just that I wanted to be sighted, it was that they wanted me to pass as sighted to meet societal expectations. Another example is that I would occasionally knock over milk glasses or other things, and I would be told often in joking ways that I was stupid for doing it. I developed an underlying bel!
ief that eyesight was tied to intelligence, so I knew on some level I could not be smart or expect to be. We eventually went to a practitioner who fitted prosthetic eye coverings over dead eyes. My left eye is my blind eye, but it has never been removed, so the goal was to create a second eye that looked like my right eye to help pass as sighted. This one is very delicate because on many levels this is actually a very kind idea, but at the end of the day it's just another way of saying that I shouldn't let people see who I really am, which only further feeds self-shame. I can't imagine the burden of a blind child on my parents and family. I got incredible love and care, but this feeling of denying who I am came from being shown that people would think badly of me, so it was wrong to be who I was. It's very complex and confusing and not something a young kid, let alone young parents, is going to figure out.
With all that shaping who I was, why would I want to go to a support group with other blind people? I believed blindness was shameful and needed to be hidden and that anyone who was blind was not someone you wanted to be around. I didn't want to be around myself when it came to blindness. This feeling was so strong that it even led to avoiding taking care of myself by not following through on doctor's appointments once I was an adult and responsible to do that myself. There was a long period when my sight was pretty good from my early twenties into my thirties. I stopped going to check-ups and lost my regular doctors; when things started to go downhill, I found myself deep in a hole, not knowing who to turn to.
I finally decided to check out a local support group. I couldn't tell you what tipped me to do it, but it happened. The meetings were held at a nursing/retirement home, and at first glance they were mostly what I expected. The group seemed to have eight or ten regular attendees who were mostly older than I was. Several of them seemed at least as unhappy to be there as I was or maybe just unhappy with life in general. The group was welcoming and offered information and had speakers. I went to several of these, but I felt very out of place and was not finding what I was looking for.
What was I looking for? Now that's a real good question that I had no answer to. I suppose common experience, sharing difficulties, advice; I'm not sure entirely -- but I knew I wasn't finding it. Part of it may have been that I was much younger than most attendees. I want to make it clear that everyone there was very kind to me, and there were a lot of good people. If they read this, I hope I can make that point very, very clear. A lot of those early days were all about my own resistance and not about them at all.
I began to realize that I was out of my element due to a lot of factors. Life experience with blindness and how others had handled it was a big one. There were a lot of folks with lifelong skills and training I did not have, and I believed I did not need. There were a lot of folks with a lot less income than I had at the time, which is absolutely fine, except that it made it hard to relate over things like new cell phones or other technology. Those were big factors, but not the bottom line.
The truth is that all of it, from the beginning, was colored by my own mistaken beliefs. I hated myself for being blind, thought it was a terrible thing, and had set extremely low expectations for myself and my life. Everything I encountered was colored by this simple fact. I could have made the most of those bus rides and probably helped those around me do the same. I could have brought self-confidence to voc rehab and seen it as a pathway to better things. I could have gone looking for my people decades before I did. My beliefs were shaped by all kinds of experiences, almost all of which were unintentional consequences of people who were trying to help me and those tendrils of darkness we call depression.
I started finding my people just five years ago after forty-four years of denial. In that time, I have gone from being terrified to even set foot at a group meeting, to all kinds of accomplishments. I am a board member of the National Federation of the Blind of North Dakota. I've been asked to come speak at the NFB state convention in New Mexico. I'm writing a blog about my experiences. As a board member I've taken on roles as a communication coordinator and a fundraiser. That's after only five years. I don't regret a single moment of time up until that day I walked in. That part of my life is my story and I own it, and better yet I get to share it. It only matters now as a set of lessons about how to get to live the life you want. Finding my people gave me a whole new perspective shaped from common experience; it changed my perspective on what had come before, and it gave me a belief in myself that I had lacked.
I've got lots of other people as well. I've got a beautiful wife, a brilliant stepdaughter, and hilarious dogs. I've got fellow comic fans, fantasy football players, board gamers, business partners, retailers, and so much more. Some of them were easy to find, and some were not. I got married at forty-nine years old, and I wonder if that would ever have happened without the self-recognition that has come with finding my people.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Everette Bacon]
Seeing that the Federal Communications Commission Ensures Accessible Broadcasting for the Blind
by Everette Bacon
From the Editor: Everette Bacon is a member of the board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind and the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. He serves as our representative before the Federal Communications Commission, and here is a report he offers to Monitor readers about his work for descriptive audio services:
Audio Description (AD) has been a passion of mine for many years. My first exposure to AD came in 1997 when I was running my first Blockbuster Video store in Irving, Texas. VHS tapes were still very popular, and Blockbuster Video thought it would be a novel idea to increase its public awareness regarding accessibility, resulting in an audio description category for select stores. When I heard about this opportunity, I petitioned to have my store be one of the chosen locations to offer AD videos. I still have some of the VHS tapes with AD in my movie collection.
Upon moving to Salt Lake City, I became involved in the Salt Lake City Chapter of the NFB of Utah. AD was not offered anywhere in Utah, and so myself, David Sarle, and Nick Schmittroth met with the leadership of the largest movie theater chain in Utah, Megaplex Theaters. Megaplex is a local Utah company owned by the Larry H. Miller Group that also own the Utah Jazz. In spring 2006, Megaplex Theaters held a viewing of its first movie with AD, and over fifty members of the NFB of Utah attended.
In 2015 President Riccobono recommended me to represent the NFB on the newly formed Disability Advisory Committee for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC oversees all audio description regulations for all television and movie theaters. Other areas the FCC oversees include accessible set-top boxes, the I Can Connect Program, and everything related to the Twenty-First Century Communications Act passed in 2011. The committee has over thirty members representing industry and consumers. Some industry representation includes Apple, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Comcast, and many more. On the consumer side, besides NFB, the American Council of the Blind and many more advocates are represented.
Serving on this committee, I have the opportunity to work on many challenging policy items. One I am very proud of is a negotiation with the USA Network on how AD is being offered and monitored on its network. USA is a subsidiary of NBC Universal, and the network is among the top five in viewership according to the FCC. Because of this, it is required to meet standards concerning how much AD is broadcast on its network. USA has original programming such as Suits, where all episodes are described, and it offers numerous syndicated programs such as Law & Order, which are also offered with AD. Due to the numerous hours of syndicated programming available on USA, it is difficult for it to meet the strict FCC guidelines for being a top five network. The NFB and USA Network were able to come up with a suitable alternative that the FCC allowed. USA would guarantee, at a minimum, one-thousand hours of audio-described television between the primetime hours of six p.m. and midnight ea!
ch quarter and that 75 percent of all new programs would require AD. To have a network television agree to make AD a priority for its blind viewers is a testament to how much value it places on blind viewership.
It is an absolute honor to serve and represent the NFB on this important committee. I appreciate the trust President Riccobono has in me, and I update him regularly. I am also grateful to John Paré and Kyle Walls from the Government Affairs team for their assistance with policy review. Below, I am adding some additional links if you should want to review some of the rulings regarding AD from the FCC. Please feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions.
Ruling regarding the USA Network: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.fcc.gov%2Fpublic%2Fattachments%2FDA-19-1019A1.docx&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061949700&sdata=ekr8fClVLq1mPlglOLw3lmGmeyKagEcsL%2BgDTmoh2CA%3D&reserved=0.
Ruling regarding a waiver granted to Google Fiber. The NFB provided public comment on this waiver: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.fcc.gov%2Fpublic%2Fattachments%2FDA-19-916A1.docx&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061949700&sdata=0Q8rf65Lgjws%2B6PySmiy8uZVQQRAGfmyHlXK%2BSDKOUs%3D&reserved=0
2019 FCC report to Congress regarding video description: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.fcc.gov%2Fpublic%2Fattachments%2FDA-19-1023A1.docx&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061949700&sdata=v%2FyeAzA8Y3XEgtGsSfrfQRq5sZ8n4qdB%2BjEM%2BsGWSJs%3D&reserved=0
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Lazar accepts the Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award.]
Dr. Jonathan Lazar Receives the Inaugural Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award
by Hayleigh Moore
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From the Editor: This article is reprinted with the kind permission of the communications department at the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies. It appeared on Friday, November 15, 2019, and its talented author is a graduate student at this institution.
Dr. Jonathan Lazar is no stranger to members of the National Federation of the Blind. He understands the difficulty presented to a blind person when a piece of software cannot be used with a screen reader. He not only understands but has gotten actively involved both in spotlighting the problems and in providing instruction at the university level that includes programming techniques that lead to accessible technology.
The University of Maryland has not only recognized Jonathan Lazar; it has also recognized our departed colleague Rachel Olivero, a person who was intrigued by technology and a staunch advocate for making it usable by blind people. Here is the article:
Dr. Jonathan Lazar, professor in the College of Information Studies (UMD iSchool) at the University of Maryland, is the recipient of the inaugural Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award, presented by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) of Maryland during its annual state convention on November 9th. Lazar was honored with this award for his contributions in ICT accessibility research, practice, education, and policy, and for his leadership in moving accessibility innovations from research to practice.
The award was named in honor of the late Rachel Olivero who served many roles over the years at the NFB's headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, most recently as director of organizational technology. For years, she was instrumental in developing access technology innovations and worked closely with Drupal to modernize NFB's website. The NFB is the oldest and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans, providing programs, services, and resources to defend the rights of blind Americans, and is prominent in the disability rights and civil rights world. Its mission is to ensure that blind people have the right to independence, as well as equal opportunities to access information, education, and employment.
Lazar has a long history of working on ensuring that digital technologies and content are accessible for people with disabilities. Prior to his arrival at the UMD iSchool, Lazar taught at Towson University for nineteen years as a professor of computer and information sciences, served as director of the Information Systems program, and founded the Universal Usability Laboratory. While at Towson University, he authored or edited twelve books and published over 140 refereed articles. He is probably best known for his books Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction, Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy, and Disability, Human Rights, and Information Technology. But he has also had a major impact on policy and law. He served as an expert consultant in the landmark NFB v. Target case in 2007 and 2008, was the accessibility advisor to the US Federal Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board in 2009 and 2010, and multiple Federal regulations (such as N!
ondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel: Accessibility of Web Sites and Automated Kiosks at U.S. Airports) cite his research. His dedication to the rights of people with disabilities is so deep that he even took a leave of absence from his professorship in 2017-2018 to go back and be a graduate student again, earning an LLM degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where his studies focused on disability rights law.
[PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Lazar and his students at the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.]
At the UMD iSchool, Lazar has made significant contributions to the college's research and teaching through his wealth of expertise in ICT accessibility and legal frameworks, assistive technologies, and human-computer interaction. He is the Associate Director of UMD's Trace Center, the nation's oldest research center on technology and disability. He is also an active faculty member in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab. He is passionate about providing his students with hands-on learning experiences with organizations involved in accessibility, including organizing trips for the students to Gallaudet University, the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, among other places. Even before he came to the University of Maryland, he was well-known for his accessibility work in the University System of Maryland (USM), having been named a recipient of the 2017 USM Board of Reg!
ents Award for Excellence in Research and the 2011 USM Board of Regents Award for Excellence in Public Service.
[PHOTO CAPTION: âEUR<Dr. Lazar presenting about segregated ballots for blind voters at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.]
"We established the Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award to memorialize Rachel Olivero's legacy of ensuring equal access to information through creative, innovative, and accessible technology and other means," said Ronza Othman, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland. "Jonathan Lazar embodies the characteristics that made Rachel such a vital and successful advocate and expert. Jonathan is the perfect person to receive this award in its inaugural year."
Lazar is a passionate champion for accessibility innovation -- and is honored to be the first ever recipient of the NFB Rachel Olivero Accessibility Innovation Award. The UMD iSchool is proud to have Lazar as a faculty member and grateful to be associated with the legacy of Rachel Olivero.
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Join our Dream Makers Circle
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Often the simplest and most significant way to make a charitable gift is to plan to give a legacy gift. It is easier than you think. You can plan to give all or part of a bank account, insurance proceeds, investment assets, real estate, or a retirement account. You can even give a required minimum distribution from your IRA directly to charity and avoid taxes on that money.
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The National Federation of the Blind Legacy Society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and the vision of members and special friends of the National Federation of the Blind who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option.
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If you wish to give part or all of an account, simply fill out a P.O.D. (Payable On Death) or T.O.D. (Transfer On Death) form. For pensions and insurance assets, simply designate a charity as a beneficiary. If you would like to leave a legacy to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, simply include the following language:
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"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the National Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a Maryland nonprofit corporation, the sum of $______________ (or) _________ percent of my net estate" or "the following stocks and bonds: ____________________, to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons."
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If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Patti Chang at 410-659-9314, extension 2422. If you have included the National Federation of the Blind in your will or have made some other provision for a future gift to us and would like to tell us about it, please call Patti Chang.
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Join our Dream Makers Circle to help turn dreams into reality for generations to come. With love, hope, and determination, we will make it happen.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Stephanie Flynt]
Social Security Facts for 2020
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by Stephanie Flynt
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Around this time each year we provide you with information regarding annual adjustments to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. In 2020, approximately 67 million Americans will see a slight cost-of-living (COLA) increase (1.6 percent) in their benefit amounts. Thus, come January, monthly checks will be a few dollars higher.
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The 2020 amounts appear below along with some general concepts pertaining to the Social Security and Medicare programs, in case you want to better understand or refresh yourself about your rights. The COLA adjustment (if any) is based on the consumer price index (CPI-W), which measures the rate of inflation against the wages earned by the approximately 173 million workers across the nation over the previous four quarters starting with the third quarter of the previous year. Okay, here are the numbers.
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Tax Rates
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FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: If you are employed, you know that you do not bring home everything you earn. 7.65 percent of your pay, for example, is deducted to cover your contribution to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund. 6.20 percent covers OASDI, and 1.45 percent is contributed to the HI Trust Fund. Additionally, your employer is required to match this 7.65 percent for a total of 15.30 percent.
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For those who are self-employed, there is no "employer" to match the 7.65 percent, which means a self-employed individual pays the entire 15.30 percent of their income. These numbers will not change in 2020 regardless if an individual is employed or self-employed. As of January 2013, individuals with earned income of more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) pay an additional 0.9 percent in Medicare taxes; this does not include the above amounts.
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Maximum Taxable Earnings
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There is a ceiling on taxable earnings for the OASDI Trust Fund which was $132,900 per year in 2019 and will jump to $137,700 in 2020. Thus, for earnings above $137,700, there is no 6.20 percent deducted for OASDI. As for Medicare, there is no limit on taxable earnings for the HI Trust Fund.
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Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Quarters of Coverage
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The OASDI Trust Fund is kind of like an insurance policy. You have to pay a premium to participate. Therefore, to qualify for Retirement, Survivors, or Disability Insurance benefits, an individual must pay a minimum amount of FICA taxes into the OASDI Trust Fund by earning a sufficient number of calendar quarters to become fully insured for Social Security benefits.
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In 2019, credit for one quarter of coverage was awarded for any individual who earned at least $1,320 during the year, which means that an individual would need to earn at least $5,280 to be credited with four quarters of coverage. In 2020 the amount increases to $1,410 for one calendar quarter or $5,640 to earn four quarters of coverage for the year.
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A maximum of four quarters can be awarded for any calendar year, and it makes no difference when the income is earned during that year. Basically, the taxes you pay into the OASDI and HI Trust Funds are your premiums to take part in the Social Security and Medicare programs.
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The total number of quarters required to be eligible for benefits depends on the individual's age. The older the individual, the more quarters are required. Furthermore, a higher average income during an individual's lifetime means a higher Social Security or SSDI check when benefits start. Remember the above quoted numbers for quarters of coverage to become fully insured are only minimum amounts.
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Trial Work Period (TWP)
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This concept is often misunderstood. The amount of earnings required to use a trial work month is not based on the earnings limit for blind beneficiaries, but rather upon the national average wage index. In 2019 the amount required to use a TWP month was only $880, and this amount will increase to $910 in 2020.
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If you are self-employed, you can also use a trial work month if you work more than eighty hours in your business, and this limitation will not change unless expressly adjusted.
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Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)
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The earnings limit for a blind beneficiary in 2019 was $2,040 per month and will rise to $2,110 in 2020. Remember this is not the TWP amount. This is to say that the TWP can be exhausted even if your income is well below $2,110 per month. See the above information about the TWP.
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In 2020 a blind SSDI beneficiary who earns $2,111 or more in a month (before taxes but after subtracting unincurred business expenses for the self-employed, subsidized income for the employed, and impairment-related work expenses) will be deemed to have exceeded SGA and will likely no longer be eligible for SSDI benefits.
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Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
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The federal payment amount for individuals receiving SSI in 2019 was $771 and will increase to $783 in 2020, and the federal monthly payment amount of SSI received by couples will rise from $1,157 to $1,175.
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Student Earned Income Exclusion
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In 2019, the monthly amount was $1,870 and will increase to $1,900 in 2020. The annual amount was $7,550 and will be $7,670 in 2020. The asset limits under the SSI program will remain unchanged at $2,000 per individual and $3,000 per couple.
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ABLE Act
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Signed on December 19, 2014, the ABLE Act has a significant impact on resource limits associated with the SSI and Medicaid programs for those who were blind or disabled by the age of twenty-six. Traditionally, SSI beneficiaries have been required to adhere to strict resource limits: such as a maximum of $2,000 in the bank for an individual receiving SSI benefits. Under the ABLE Act, however, the amount on deposit in an ABLE Account can be much higher.
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ABLE Account contributions must be designated specifically for purposes such as education, housing (with a cautionary warning to follow), employment training and support, assistive technology, health, prevention and wellness, financial management, legal fees, and funeral and burial expenses. The required implementing regulations are being enacted in most states. Check with your financial institution of choice for a status of ABLE Act regulations in a specific state.
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As to the warning about ABLE Account contributions for housing, it is important to note that SSI beneficiaries may still face the traditional $2,000 resource limit for ABLE Account funds designated for housing. Thus, SSI beneficiaries should consider the many other purposes not subject to the traditional resource limits when making ABLE Account contributions. Because there are also tax advantages associated with ABLE accounts, both SSDI and SSI beneficiaries should consult a financial advisor about establishing an ABLE Account.
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In previous years, this article has featured information pertaining to Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs. As of the date of publication, the updated adjustments have not been announced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services. You can rest insured that we will cover this topic further in January's issue of the Braille Monitor.
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The Journey
by Sean Malone
From the Editor: This article is taken from Gem State Milestones, the newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of Idaho. The transition to blindness can pose significant challenges, but those are much more difficult when we have to deal with conditions that sometimes cause the blindness. Here is Sean's experience through challenge and success:
I could say my journey in my life begins on June 12, 1968 -- which it does -- but I will fast forward, skipping the normal childhood and adulthood years. My story is about after I was diagnosed with diabetes twenty-one years ago; that's when this journey began in which I adopted the lifestyle that would lead me into a different world, a world in which not knowing what would happen to me was my reality.
I started losing my eyesight in April 2009, not knowing that everything that I had known being a sighted person would change. I believed I had suddenly lost my independence -- which I came to know is not true -- but the journey of opening doors and avenues for me that I would never believe had begun. Then eight years ago my kidneys started failing, and I soon began dialysis while still grieving for the changes the loss of eyesight had presented. After a long bout with depression and weight gain, I was approached by a social worker who started talking about a kidney transplant. Now the journey was trying and hoping that one day it would happen. Though accepting everything that was going on was not easy, and at times I felt hopeless and lost, I never stopped believing in trying and stayed hungry and strong. My hope was that the day would come when I would not need to be attached to the machine that was keeping me alive three days a week. I had to undergo a colonoscopy, and th!
ey found a mass growing. Although benign, it still had to be removed because I had to have a clean bill of health for a transplant -- another trial along the way but still never giving up hope. In January I had a successful removal of the part of my colon that needed to come out, and I healed quickly.
In early April I received a call that I had waited so long to hear. I had gone active on the kidney transplant list, being told it could be anywhere from ten weeks to six months. It was actually only three weeks, which is the quickest they said they had ever seen. On April 18 I got another call and traveled to Salt Lake City from Idaho Falls, Idaho, for a skirt surgery scheduled April 19. After all the years of hoping and waiting and preparing myself, it finally was happening; many prayers and hopes and dreams were finally answered. And I'm now on the road to recovery. I would like to encourage all out there struggling with the same disease who are exhausted by not knowing, being scared, and growing tired and weary by all of this to never give up believing because brighter days are ahead. Everything that I have gone through and you are going through is so worth it. To be given the gift of life from somebody who loves theirs is truly a lovely experience. The passion in me is !
to help you never give up hope and believing. And what really helped me and can also help you is a strong belief in God. I have been truly shown that God is love, kindness, and patience -- miracles truly do happen. The pleading I did many times on my knees in prayer with tears was finally answered, and it can be the same for you. We can truly live the life we want.
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NFB 2020 Scholarship Program
The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to announce our 2020 scholarship program. We offer thirty scholarships to blind students from across the United States and Puerto Rico who will be enrolled in full-time post-secondary degree programs during the 2020-2021 school year. These scholarships range in value from $3,000 to $12,000 and will be awarded at our 2020 national convention in Houston, Texas.
The application period began November 1, 2019, and closes at midnight EST on March 31, 2020. Go to https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.nfb.org%2Fscholarships&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061949700&sdata=ya0hkk%2Byo0lC3dHPi2KMOhVv8a4XY7Xk0IruVRg5An4%3D&reserved=0 [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfb.org%2Fscholarships&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061949700&sdata=TGL%2BMwPQP70JCME8HknTCg0gHYlbOMCPSOQyU%2FfKxu4%3D&reserved=0]. To apply during the five-month open period: read the rules and the submission checklist, complete the official 2020 scholarship application form (online or in print), supply all required documents, and request and complete an interview by an NFB affiliate president. Remember, the only way to win is to apply!
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Robin House]
The 2020 Blind Educator of the Year Award
by Robin House
From the Editor: Robin House is an experienced educator in her own right, with many titles to her name: MEd, LPC, RPT. She was named Blind Educator of the Year in 2018. She chairs the 2020 Blind Educator of the Year Award Selection Committee, and she holds a master of education, is a licensed professional counselor, and is a registered physical therapist. This is what she says:
A number of years ago the Blind Educator of the Year Award was established by the National Organization of Blind Educators (the educators division of the National Federation of the Blind) to pay tribute to a blind teacher whose exceptional classroom performance, notable community service, and uncommon commitment to the NFB merit national recognition. Beginning with the 1991 presentation, this award became an honor bestowed by our entire movement. This change reflects our recognition of the importance of good teaching and the affect an outstanding blind teacher has on students, faculty, community, and all blind Americans.
This award is presented in the spirit of the outstanding educators who founded and have continued to nurture the National Federation of the Blind and who, by example, have imparted knowledge of our strengths to us and raised our expectations. We have learned from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, Dr. Marc Maurer, and our current President Mark Riccobono that a teacher not only provides a student with information but also provides guidance, advocacy, and love. The recipient of the Blind Educator of the Year Award must exhibit all of these traits and must advance the cause of blind people in the spirit and philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.
The Blind Educator of the Year Award is presented at the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Honorees must be present to receive an appropriately inscribed plaque and a check for $1,000.
Nominations should be sent to Ms. Robin House by email to robin.house at slps.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:robin.house at slps.org] or by mail to Stix ECC, 647 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110. Letters of nomination must be accompanied by a copy of the nominee's current résumé and supporting documentation of community and Federation activity. All nomination materials must be in the hands of the committee chairperson by May 1, 2020, to be considered for this year's award. For further information contact Robin House at 314-265-6852, or robin.house at slps.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:robin.house at slps.org].
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[PHOTO CAPTION: James Gashel]
The 2020 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
by James Gashel
From the Editor: James Gashel is secretary of the National Federation of the Blind and chairs the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee. Here is his announcement about the 2020 Bolotin Awards program:
The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. These prestigious awards, granted each year as funds permit, seek to honor initiatives, innovations, and individuals that are an exemplary positive force in the lives of blind people and advance the ultimate goal of helping them to live the lives they want. Award winners will be publicly recognized during the 2020 annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Houston, Texas. Each recipient will receive a cash award determined by the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee and will also be honored with an engraved medallion and plaque.
Dr. Jacob W. Bolotin (1888-1924) was a pioneering blind physician, the first in history who achieved that goal despite the tremendous challenges faced by blind people in his time. Not only did he realize his own dream, he went on to support and inspire many others in making their own dreams a reality. The awards which bear his name are supported in part by the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust, left as a bequest by Dr. Bolotin's late nephew and niece to the Santa Barbara Foundation and the National Federation of the Blind to present the annual cash awards.
As chronicled in his biography, The Blind Doctor by Rosalind Perlman, Dr. Bolotin fought ignorance and prejudice to gain entrance to medical school and the medical profession. He became one of the most respected physicians in Chicago during his career, which spanned the period from 1912 until his death in 1924. He was particularly known for his expertise in diseases of the heart and lungs. During his successful career Dr. Bolotin used his many public speaking engagements to advocate for employment of the blind and the full integration of the blind into society. Interested in young people in general and blind youth in particular, Dr. Bolotin established the first Boy Scout troop consisting entirely of blind boys and served as its leader.
Jacob Bolotin's wife Helen had a sister whose husband died suddenly, leaving her to raise a son, Alfred Perlman. The Perlmans moved in with the Bolotins when Alfred was eleven, and for four years (until Jacob Bolotin's untimely death at age thirty-six), "Uncle Jake" became Alfred's surrogate father. Alfred later married Rosalind, and the couple worked on a book about Dr. Bolotin's life. After Alfred's death in 2001, Rosalind dedicated the rest of her life to completing and publishing the book, The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story, published by Blue Point Books, https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http:%2F%2Fwww.west.net%2F~bpbooks%2Fmhp.html&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061954693&sdata=BwdFsUbiRXr%2Fe%2F5oW7F0pGUpbwGrAC2jvXLuoYPp4k0%3D&reserved=0, with standard inkprint and large type editions available, and also available in digital audio format from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) program.
Past award winners have:
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Broken down barriers facing blind people in innovative ways.
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Changed negative perceptions of blindness and blind people.
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Pushed past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights.
Award Description
In 2020 the National Federation of the Blind will again recognize individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves in accordance with the criteria established to receive a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award. The committee will determine both the number of awards and the value of each cash award presented. The Federation determines the total amount to be distributed each year based on income received from the trust supporting the award program. The award categories for each year are blind individuals, sighted individuals, and organizations, corporations, or other entities. Individuals may apply on their own behalf or may submit a third-party nomination, or the committee may also consider other individual or organizational candidates.
Who Should Apply?
Individuals: Only individuals over eighteen years of age may be considered for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award. Applicants must demonstrate that they have shown substantial initiative and leadership in improving the lives of the blind. Examples of such initiative include but are not limited to developing products, technologies, or techniques that increase the independence of the blind; directing quality programs or agencies for the blind; or mentoring other blind people. All individual applicants or third-party applicants nominating other individuals must demonstrate that the work to be recognized has been conducted within the twelve months preceding the application and/or that the work is continuing. Applications by or on behalf of individuals must include at least one letter of recommendation from a person familiar with or directly affected by the work to be recognized.
Organizations: Organizations may apply for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award in order to further programs, services, technology, or techniques of unique and outstanding merit that have assisted and will continue to assist the blind. Applications from third parties nominating an organization will also be considered. The organization category includes for-profit or nonprofit corporations or organizations, or other entities, such as a specific division within an organization. Organizations or third-party applicants must demonstrate that the programs or services to be recognized include substantial participation by blind people as developers, mentors, administrators, or executives, and not merely as clients, consumers, or beneficiaries. For example, an organization operating a program for blind youth might demonstrate that a substantial number of the counselors, teachers, or mentors involved in the program are blind. The organization or third-party applicant must demonstrate that it ha!
s substantially aided blind people within the twelve months prior to application and that an award would support efforts to build on previous successes. The application must also include at least one testimonial from a blind person who has benefited substantially from the programs or services.
To qualify for an award both individuals and organizations must provide programs, services, or benefits to blind people in the United States of America.
Procedures
More information, including an online application, can be found on the National Federation of the Blind website at https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnfb.org%2Fbolotin&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061954693&sdata=FNXcsz9MOoz5bmoXyVGsp0AOlz%2BPmowXhECnm%2F5Na9Y%3D&reserved=0.
Online submission of nominations, letters of support, and other relevant materials is strongly encouraged, but applications sent by mail and postmarked by the deadline will also be accepted. The 2020 deadline for application submission is April 15, and recipients chosen by the committee will be individually notified of their selection no later than May 15. Receipt of all complete applications will be acknowledged, but only those applicants chosen to receive an award will be notified of their selection. All decisions of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee are final.
The awards will be presented in July during the annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Individuals selected to receive an award must appear in person, not send a representative. Organizations may send an individual representative, preferably their chief executive officer. Recipient candidates must confirm that they will appear in person to accept the award at the National Federation of the Blind annual convention. Failure to confirm attendance for the award presentation by June 1 will result in forfeiture of the award.
Ineligible Persons
Those employed full-time by the National Federation of the Blind may not apply for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award for work performed within the scope of their employment. Students may not apply for both a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award and a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship in the same year.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Tracy Soforenko]
Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship
by Tracy Soforenko
From the Editor: Tracy Soforenko is the newly appointed chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund and is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund plays a big role in helping first-timers attend the national convention, and here is what he has to say:
Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston, Texas, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the world.
The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay all the costs. Most years the grants were in the range of $400 to $500 per individual. In 2019, ninety grants were offered.
We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the amazing experience that is convention week.
Who is eligible?
Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply.
How do I apply for funding assistance?
This year, we will be accepting applications online. Since applications must be completed in a single session online, we strongly recommend you prepare your responses in a document, then cut and paste your responses into the application form. The application form does not support complex formatting, so we recommend avoiding formatting such as bullet points and fonts/styles.
Effective, January 1, 2020, the application form can be found at the following link:
https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfb.org%2Fget-involved%2Fnational-convention%2Fkenneth-jernigan-convention-scholarship&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061954693&sdata=MXNkG2%2BuyAjB%2FjRNARrn53U9WvkryF6MJC%2BZrZOFZ6k%3D&reserved=0
The application will ask for the following information:
Contact information: Include your full name and both your primary phone where you can be contacted by your state president and your mobile phone you might use at convention, if available.
Please include your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address. If you don't have an email address, please consider if there is a friend or chapter member who might be able to assist with email correspondence.
State affiliate/chapter information: Include your state affiliate, your state president, chapter, and chapter president, if you attend a chapter.
Mentor information: Include your personal convention mentor and provide that person's phone number.
Funding request: Include your specific request and explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough budget for yourself.
Essay questions to explain why this is a good investment for the NFB: How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want to attend a national convention? What would you receive? What can you share or give? Provide any special circumstances you hope the committee will take into consideration.
If you cannot apply online, you can still apply by writing a letter to your state affiliate president answering the above questions. This letter should be emailed to your state affiliate president. Once you have decided you will apply, please contact your state president in person or by phone to request his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the state affiliate president when to expect that your application will be submitted and mention the deadline.
Once your online application has been submitted, your application will be provided to your state president via email. It is still your responsibility to contact your affiliate president. He or she must email a president's recommendation directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee at kjscholarships at nfb.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:kjscholarships at nfb.org]. Your president must email the recommendation no later than the deadline of April 15, 2020. If you have applied outside of the online form, the state affiliate president must email both the recommendation and the application letter.
Notification of Award
If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a letter with convention details that should answer most of your questions. The committee makes every effort to notify winners by May 15, but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you are chosen:
:: Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for roommates of your own to reduce the cost.)
:: Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet, by May 31.
:: Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and mentor.
If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not win a scholarship this year.
Receiving the Award
At the convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card will be listed in the letter we send you. The committee is not able to provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you win a scholarship, and to pay your treasury back after you receive your debit or credit card.
More Information
For additional information, please contact the chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Committee, Tracy Soforenko, at kjscholarships at nfb.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:kjscholarships at nfb.org] or 410-659-9314, extension 2415.
Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first convention on the national level and join several thousand active Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We hope to see you in Houston.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Carla McQuillan]
The 2020 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award
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by Carla McQuillan
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>From the Editor: Carla McQuillan is the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Oregon, a member of the national board of directors, and the owner and executive director of Main Street Montessori Association, operating two Montessori schools. She is the chairman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award Committee, and she has written this announcement seeking applications for the 2020 award:
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The National Federation of the Blind will recognize an outstanding teacher of blind students at our 2020 annual convention, July 14 through July 19th, 2020 in Houston, Texas. The winner of this award will receive the following:
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An expense-paid trip to attend the convention
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A check for $1,000
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A commemorative plaque
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A place on the agenda of the annual meeting of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children to make a presentation regarding the education of blind children, and
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The opportunity to attend seminars and workshops that address the current state of education of blind students, as well as a chance to meet and network with hundreds of blind individuals, teachers, parents, and other professionals in the field.
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The education of blind children is one of the National Federation of the Blind's highest priorities. We are committed to offering and supporting programs that enhance educational opportunities for this group. Please help us recognize dedicated and innovative teachers who provide quality education and meaningful experiences and opportunities for their blind students.
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Q: Who is eligible for this award?
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A: Anyone who is currently a teacher, counselor, or the administrator of programs for blind students.
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Q: Does an applicant have to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind?
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A: No, but attending the national convention in Houston is required.
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Q: Can I nominate someone else for this award?
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A: Yes. Applicants can be nominated by colleagues, parents, supervisors, or friends who have first-hand knowledge of the individual's work with blind students.
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Q: How would I apply?
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A: You can fill out the application at the end of this article or find it on our website at https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnfb.org%2Fimages%2Fnfb%2Fdocuments%2Fpdf%2Fdistinguished-educator-of-blind-students-award-form-fillable.pdf&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061954693&sdata=7SwCUa8A7zC7BDmZFHVI8zAgxCj1rB5lUU6YE%2BaweBM%3D&reserved=0
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Q: What is the deadline to submit an application or make a nomination?
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A: All applications must be received no later than May 1, 2020.
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Please complete the application and attach the required documents specified in the application. If you are submitting a nomination for someone other than yourself, please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Your experience and observations of the nominee will assist the selection committee in their decision. Questions? Contact Carla McQuillan at 541-653-9153, or by email at: president at nfb-oregon.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:president at nfb-oregon.org].
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National Federation of the Blind
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Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award
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2020 Application
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Deadline: May 1, 2020
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Name: _______________________________________________________
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Home Address: _________________________________________________
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City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________
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Phone: (H) ____________________ (W) ____________________________
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Email: ______________________________________________________
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School: ______________________________________________________
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Address: _____________________________________________________
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City, State, Zip: _________________________________________________
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Please list any awards or commendations you have received.
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How long and in what programs have you worked with blind children?
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In what setting do you currently work?
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Briefly describe your current job and teaching responsibilities.
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How would you describe your philosophy of blindness as it relates to the education of blind students?
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What are your thoughts on teaching Braille and cane travel? When and at what age would you begin? How do you determine whether to teach print or Braille?
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What was your most memorable experience working with blind students?
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Why should you be selected to receive this award?
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Email is strongly encouraged for transmitting nominations; letters of support and other relevant materials should be included as attachments. Applications sent by mail and postmarked by the deadline will also be accepted. Send all material by May 1, 2020, to Carla McQuillan, chairperson, Teacher Award Committee, president at nfb-oregon.org or by mail to 522 65th Street, Springfield, OR 97478; 541-653-9153.
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Reindeer Cheer
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by Regina A. Root
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From the Editor: Regina Root is a professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at William & Mary. She is the subject of a medical documentary on the intersections between faith and science titled Regina's Gift, available in its entirety on YouTube.
Four years ago I had emergency surgery to remove a brain tumor. Although the procedure gave me my life, it also left me with impaired vision that has required me to use a foldable white guide cane. I'm a university professor and, as I transitioned back into my job, I found that my vision and mobility impairment made it difficult to get from one building to the next on a vast campus. I worried that in the event of rain, it might not be possible to carry the cane, my things, and an umbrella at the same time.
As I searched for a solution to my dilemma, I was hopeful, knowing that universities (compared to several other employers) are more welcoming of difference and that my employer in particular already had a golf cart program for students needing assistance. I called accessibility services, the office that at the time oversaw the golf cart program. The voice on the other line was empathetic. She explained that golf carts were only for students with disabilities, not faculty, staff, or community members. The university could, however, issue me a golf cart to drive on my own. I paused.
"But I have a white guide cane," I reminded her. What if I got lost or flipped the cart by mistake? Would people understand that I can't see?
Now the voice on the other line paused. "That's right," she said, then, silence. "Have you considered a guide dog?"
Frankly, I was amused. "I'm pretty tall," I explained, "so it would probably have to be a Great Dane. A Great Dane is not going to fit in my office." More silence, an indication that my request was well beyond what was usual, even though it was reasonable.
"I would vote for the Great Dane."
Hanging up, I knew that wasn't a good option. With the semester quickly approaching, I didn't have the several months needed to train my guide dog. While at a conference on disabilities and higher education, I shared my frustration with those present. A representative for the Office for Civil Rights mused, "You should have asked for a herd of Great Danes to pull the cart." Yes, I thought humorously, those dogs are probably smart enough to pull or even drive a golf cart.
Armed with this renewed sense of humor, I continued working with my employer and am happy to report that my university has begun a limited mobility transportation service for all people with disabilities. I recognize that not all faculty and staff with disabilities (not to mention employees in other fields) are this fortunate. In retrospect, as Christmas nears, I understand the importance of good humor when seeking disability accommodations, a process that author Jay Timothy Dolmage reminds us in his book Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education can be exhausting and complicated. It might just as well be called a tireless form of "strategic thinking."
With this in mind, the next time my university's transport system fails, perhaps I'll ask for a reindeer and sleigh. And some hot cocoa.
Editor's Note: Continuing in this Christmas spirit, here is one more from Regina:
I am new to the experience of blindness and vision impairment. One ray of sunshine in this otherwise challenging adjustment has been reading the Braille Monitor. I love the variety of articles and live for each issue, to learn through the experiences of others and chart new paths in my academic and home life.
What sometimes gets me through a tough day is good humor and fun. On that note, thinking of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and all we do during a work week, please join me in singing:
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my employer gave to me
12 lawyers judging
11 ramps to access
10 colleagues fussing
9 parking passes
8 schedule changes
7 workshop topics
6 librarians searching
5 golf cart rides
4 office colors
3 travel vouchers
2 class assistants
and
assistive technology.
Happy holidays everyone! You all make a big difference, and I'm so glad to be in touch with all of you.
Bibliography
Jay Timothy Dolmage. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017. This book is available in an accessible format at bookshare.org
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Am I Really That Special?
by Cheryl Wade
From the Editor: Cheryl Wade is a writer and a certified rehabilitation counselor. She lives in Midland, Michigan, with her guide dog Selene and her tabby cat Sam-Sam.
As people with disabilities, many of us grew up listening to friends and family members marveling at us: we went to school, we actually worked, we had computers. Some of us might have come away with the feeling that we were pretty special. After all, we have led busy lives from wheelchairs, with hearing aids or -- in my case -- without any vision. We dated, married, earned degrees, perhaps had children and bought homes. How did we do that, for crying out loud!
People asked me how I cooked meatloaf or stir-fry when I couldn't see what I was doing. The idea of having to see what I was doing seemed preposterous to me. Seeing what I am doing is not a requisite for doing, or being, or creating. It seemed an insult to have people tell me that, because I could not see, I could not do.
My personal specialness has dogged me for much of my life. I believe that, growing up as a "blind kid," I was inculcated with my own sense of it. Someone told my mother I had a "photographic memory," that I could remember anything people said to me. I could sing on key, was learning tap dance in school, and could write my childish opinion on anything that suited my fancy. I must be a prodigy -- maybe even a genius! My maternal grandma often reminded me how blessed I was because I couldn't see all the bad things in the world. (Funny; I still knew all about them and was enthralled with them.)
This produced some behaviors that truly were in tension with each other. I would sing and dance and spell my head off to receive a little gift from my grandma. I wondered why I didn't have the energy or organizational skills to write a sonata or a poetic legend -- after all, I might be a genius! When I visited my parents' friends, I developed an uncanny ability to ask if I could have things the people allowed me to play with -- usually dolls -- and I often ended up taking them home. My parents would scold me for this behavior, but it still was fun, and I knew I was so cute!
I was in special education because I needed to learn Braille and typing. I had occupational therapy -- which students in regular education didn't have -- presumably to teach me how to use my sense of touch to make simple crafts and sign my name. I disliked OT because it was not "normal," and the only other kids who were given OT were the "crippled kids" in my school special-education department. Crippled kids also were not quite "normal" because they, too, were in special education. I wondered why: they didn't need to learn Braille, and presumably they could do the same work any neighborhood kid in the regular classroom could.
Another situation at school fueled my specialness. The "room for the blind" included children with all degrees of cognition, intelligence, and ability. One of my classmates was a boy who was a year younger than I but beat me in math every time. Another child expressed no verbal communication in class, screamed, spat out her food in the cafeteria, and once laid on the floor in the hall. I tripped over her. Another child spent a good deal of his time echoing things the other students said and imitating commercials he'd heard on television. How could I be in school with these kids? I hoped no one would consider me like them!
These experiences in school made me desperate to be "special" in a "good" way, especially after a neighborhood kid asked my friend if I was "retarded." I must, I somehow must, prove that I was not retarded! I had to distinguish myself from some of these classmates, and I constantly (theoretically) looked over my shoulder to make sure, double sure, I was "normal." I had lousy cane skills; did that mean I might be retarded? No, probably not. After all, I could read Braille and use a keyboard like a whiz.
All this need to prove my OK-ness caused me to worry constantly about my clothes, my jewelry, even the perfume I wore. I wanted a really short miniskirt, feeling it might make me popular. But in the end I ditched the thing because I felt so uncomfortable showing half my thigh. My neighbor had three daughters, and my mom altered all the clothes those girls gave me. I had a seemingly endless wardrobe. Maybe my classmates would think I had money!
I discovered that trying to be cool didn't make me cool or uncool. I had several good friends, and we liked each other and had fun together in junior high. But once again, while in high school I struggled to feel equal despite being unable to drive and living outside my local school district. (My district paid a larger district to admit me so that I could learn Braille and have a teacher-consultant.) I cried on Saturday afternoons if I weren't shopping at the mall, ice skating, or watching a movie with someone.
The issue came up yet again when, in my fifties, I lurked around blindness-related websites to get an idea of whether to leave my newspaper job and earn a master's degree in disability studies. One blind man, a longtime advocate for blind people in Michigan, opined about the need for more available services in areas such as employment.
"Our people have a lot of baggage," he told me.
I agreed that we needed to have people see our employability. But the free-market side of me winced. So, people who are having some kind of hard time in the world should have more access to costly yet free specialized services because of what they've been through? I wasn't sure about all that! When are these services helpful; when are they just more and more support that we might well provide for ourselves instead? And how, statistically, might we prove that we have "a lot of baggage," as compared to others who have, maybe, only "some baggage?" Why was the baggage of my blindness worse than that of my friend, who was a single dad with two jobs and four kids and who lived fifteen miles outside town?
Now that I'm in my sixties and retooling myself as some sort of an "older worker," I get stuck in pity parties. Why aren't there lots of people, here in my adopted hometown, reading my LinkedIn page and hiring me? I should get way more respect! I'm -- uh oh, there's that word -- special! I have two degrees, am a writer, and know a lot of cool stuff. What's a girl to do?
In a way, this discussion is a bunch of navel gazing. We either are "good" special -- we can sing and dance and play the harmonica -- or we are bad special: odd and burdened and somehow to be pitied.
My Christian faith helped me put these thoughts into perspective. There really was a God who loved me, who made me "special," not because I could or could not see, but because I was a unique person with unique gifts. I could trust God to help me live day by day, dealing with one joy or crisis or piece of silliness after the other. I can trust other people to walk through their unique lives and interact, perhaps with me.
But going back to the temporal, I believe it's a good idea for parents to keep their disabled children from being unnecessarily doted on or catered to. It's important that, if their blind son gets presents and privilege from Auntie or Grandpa, the daughter without a disability should be recognized in the same way for her uniqueness. It's also important to treat children as much alike as possible when it comes to household chores, homework, and fair play with others. And it's a good idea to help your child with a disability to find workarounds for tasks that are difficult or impossible to do.
We all might live with our particular brands of specialness, but we don't have to let it hurt or segregate or spoil us. We can choose to heal from it, in it, through it.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Curtis Chong]
Aurora Chapter Holds Successful Meet the Blind Luncheon
by Dale Holden and Curtis Chong
From the Editor: Dale is the president of the Aurora Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. To celebrate Meet the Blind Month the chapter got a White Cane Awareness Day proclamation from the mayor, conducted a number of public education events at the public library, and held the Meet the Blind luncheon referred to in this article. The chapter made over $800 in terms of net profit for this luncheon, largely due to the generous pricing provided by the Rendezvous Restaurant at Heather Gardens. Here is what Dale and Curtis tell us about that event:
For many years in the National Federation of the Blind, we have celebrated October as Meet the Blind Month. We find opportunities and hold events to put the public in contact with real live blind people. We want our sighted friends and neighbors to know that blindness does not need to be a tragedy and that blind people can contribute to the community and live productive lives.
On October 12, 2019, the Aurora Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado hosted a Meet the Blind luncheon at the Rendezvous Restaurant at Heather Gardens (a community for active seniors). We partnered with the Rendezvous Restaurant, secured the support and sponsorship of the Heather Gardens Civic Affairs Committee, and invited lots of people to come and learn about blindness and the National Federation of the Blind.
Our chapter secretary, Curtis Chong, served as our master of ceremonies. He proudly announced that Bob LeGare, Mayor of Aurora, had declared October 15, 2019, to be White Cane Awareness Day in the city of Aurora. He then read the full text of the proclamation to the audience.
We were privileged to have as our keynote speaker Mr. Scott LaBarre, blind attorney and president of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado.
[PHOTO CAPTION: Scott LaBarre]
Scott talked about October being Meet the Blind month across the country and October 15 being White Cane Awareness Day. He joked about how we who are blind were glad to allow light-dependent sighted folks to use lights, windows, and the other fringe benefits that come with sight. Scott's presentation was very informative to people who knew nothing about blind people. Thank you, Scott.
[PHOTO CAPTION: Edith and Dale Holden]
Dale Holden, our chapter president, talked about "denial" and "acceptance," explaining that he had lived most of his life with poor vision and did not become totally blind until he was sixty-five. Dale's talk was informative and moving.
Peggy Chong, otherwise known as the Blind History Lady, talked briefly about the importance of blind people learning from the successes and failures of blind people who had come before them.
We next heard about the Low Vision Support Group that exists at Heather Gardens for seniors who encounter blindness or poor vision later in life. Finally, Anahit LaBarre explained how seniors losing vision can obtain positive and meaningful support and information about blindness by contacting our Colorado Center for the Blind.
We extend our thanks to the Rendezvous Restaurant and the Heather Gardens Civic Affairs Committee for partnering with the Aurora Chapter to make this public education and fundraising event truly successful.
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[PHOTO CAPTION: Buna Dahal]
Message from Buna Dahal regarding 2020 Washington Seminar Reservations
This message is to advise you all that Washington Seminar will be held February 9 to February 13, 2020, with the Great Gathering-In taking place on Monday, February 10. The firm deadline date to make a reservation is Wednesday, January 8.
You can now reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Capitol (550 C Street, SW Washington, DC 20024) for Washington Seminar for check-in beginning Friday, February 7, and check-out Thursday, February 13. The rate is $198.00 per night. This rate does not include DC sales tax, currently 14.95 percent. You may begin booking reservations directly online by clicking on the weblink below. You may also make reservations by calling 1-877-572-6951 and referencing booking code N2F. Credit card information is needed at time of reservation. Individual cancellation policy is 72 hours prior to date of arrival to avoid one night's room plus tax cancellation charge on credit card provided. If your departure date changes, you must inform the hotel 72 hours in advance of departure to avoid a $100 fee. Please call 1-877-572-6951 and reference your confirmation number. Please obtain a cancellation number when cancelling a reservation. Reservation requests received after the deadline date will be subj!
ect to availability and prevailing rate. The direct link to book is: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2Fy5vebu73&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061954693&sdata=3%2Bb63Ur6OHdilNFMXAiZFYbDSeOLRaDsQ1PzYziMDR4%3D&reserved=0.
If you would like to hold a special meeting during the Washington Seminar, please email Lisa Bonderson at lbonderson at cocenter.org [HYPERLINK: mailto:lbonderson at cocenter.org] just as you have done in past years. She and I will work with the hotel on the assignment of those meeting rooms. To ensure that you get the space you need, please let us know of your meeting space needs by December 10, 2019.
Lisa and I will always be available to help you with any problems you might experience with the booking of your hotel reservations. We have worked closely with the hotel staff, and they are looking forward to working with each affiliate or group wanting to make reservations.
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Division Elections and Convention Updates
From the Editor: Every year at convention many of the national divisions have their in-person meetings and elections. Here are election results and updates from many of the divisions from this year. Spellings of names are as they appear on the notices we have received unless we detected an incorrect one:
Amateur Radio Division:
The Amateur Radio Division held elections on July 12. Results are as follows: president, Karen Anderson; vice president, David Chan; secretary, Corbb O'Connor; and treasurer, Scott Vangorp.
National Organization of Blind Educators:
The elected board officers and members are as follows: president, Cayte Mendez; first vice president, Angela Wolf; second vice president, Harriet Go; secretary, Valeria Jacobs; treasurer, Kaden Colton; and board members Kayleigh Joiner and Sara LaRose.
Communities of Faith:
President, Tom Anderson; vice president, Rehnee Aikens; secretary, Linda Mentink; and treasurer, Rev. Dr. Carolyn Peters.
Community Service Division:
Elections were conducted on July 9, with the board as follows: president, Jeanetta Price; vice president, Goddest Johnson; secretary, Kelly Joseph; treasurer, Natalie Segura; and board members Lashawna Fant, Hattie Harmason, and Tyron Bratcher.
Deaf-Blind Division Board:
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President, Alice Eaddy, New Jersey; first vice president, Marsha Drenth, Pennsylvania; second vice president, Janice Toothman, Maryland; secretary, Danielle Burton, Kentucky; treasurer, John L. Williams, Florida; board members Brian Norton, Florida; Mark Gasaway, Georgia; Dana Tarter, Georgia; and Robert Stigile, California.
Human Services Division:
President, Candice Chapman; first vice president, Bre Ausbun; second vice president, Sarah Patnaude; secretary, Jessica Snyder; treasurer, Merry Schoch; and board members Dezman Jackson, and Lashawna Fant.
Krafters Division:
President, Tammy Freitag, first vice president, Jill Rossiter; second vice president, Joyce Kane; treasurer Cathy Flesher; secretary, Dixie Sanderson; and board members Jennette Kutash and Terry Powers.
Merchant's Division:
President, Nicky Gacos; first vice president, Harold Wilson; second vice president, Edward Birmingham; secretary, Sharon Treadway; treasurer, Pam Schnurr; and board members Barbara Manuel, Melissa Smith, Zachary Snow, Melba J. Taylor, Michael Colbrum, Gary Grassman, John Fritz, Lewanda Miranda, Joe Higdon, and Debra Smith.
National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals:
President, Amy Porterfield; first vice president, Pam Allen; second vice president, Daniel Winsel; secretary, Jennifer Kennedy; treasurer, Amy Buresh; and board members Nikki Jackson, Shirley Robinson, Julie Deden, and Everette Bacon.
National Association of Blind Students:
This is a current listing of all board members as of the close of the national convention: president, Kathryn Webster; first vice president, Syed Rizvi; second vice president, Kenia Flores; secretary, Mausam Mehta; treasurer, Dustin Cather; and board members Trisha Kulkarni, Johna Wright, Elizabeth Rouse, and Justin Salisbury.
National Association of Blind Veterans:
Board members 2019-2021 are as follows: president, Vernon F. Humphrey; first vice president, Douglas Ingram; second vice president, Roy Stinson; secretary, David Hutchins; treasurer, Dwight Sayer; and board members Mark Erickson, Wayne Field, Nancy Hester, Jim Jonas, Brad Loos, and Chaplain Jeff Bradshaw.
National Association of Guide Dog Users:
The following is the list of the National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU) Board of Directors for 2019: president, Marion Gwizdala (FL); vice president, Raul Gallegos (TX); secretary, Sherrill O'Brien (FL); treasurer, Jessica Snyder (OH); and board members Aleeha Dudley (TX), Paul Sandoval (CO), and Heather Bird (NY).
National Organization of Blind Parents:
President, Carlton Walker; first vice president, Penny Duffy; second vice president, Kimberly Banks; secretary, Carol Castellano; treasurer, Sandra Oliver; and board members Jackie Anderson, Sarah Erb, Jean Fultz, Pamela Gebert, Carla Keirns, Tabby Mitchell, Michelle Murphy, Corbb O'Connor, Melissa Riccobono, and Casey West.
Performing Arts Division:
President, Julie McGinnity; vice president Katelyn MacIntyre; secretary, Lizzy Muhammad; treasurer, LaKeisha Holms; and board members Precious Perez, Leslie Hamrick, and Christina Jones.
Professionals in Blindness Education:
The board of PIBE as of July 9 is as follows: president, Eric Guillory; first vice president, Denise Mackenstadt; second vice president, Jackie Anderson; secretary, Deja Powell; treasurer, Krystal Guillory; and board members Jennifer Bazer, Michell Gip, Casey Robertson, and Carlton Walker.
Science and Engineering Division:
President, John Miller; vice president, Ashley Neybert; secretary, Louis Maher; treasurer, Alfred Maneki; and board members Purvi Contractor and David Hertweck.
Seniors Division Update and Board Members:
At this year's business meeting of the NFB Seniors Division, we had several speakers: Peggy Chong describing how she researches and writes about little-known ordinary blind people that we should know more about as "The Blind History Lady;" Dan Frye, speaking about AIRA; several division leaders speaking about what is happening in their states; and Dale Holden from Colorado and Dr. Brian Dulude from Minnesota speaking about their senior programs. Ms. Ricky Enger from Hadley Institute came to share with us the new offerings and ways blind people can now access information from Hadley.
After elections, our officers are as follows for a two-year term: president Ruth Sager; first vice president, Judy Sanders; second vice president, Robert Leslie Newman; secretary, Shelley Coppel; treasurer, Diane McGeorge assisted by Duncan Larsen; and board members Jane Degenshein and Glenn Crosby.
Writers' Division:
Our officers for July 2020 are as follows: president, Shelley Alongi; first vice president, April Enderton; second vice president, Chelsea Cook; treasurer, Shawn Jacobson; and board members Myrna Badgerow and Barbara Hammel.
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Recipes
Recipes this month were provided by the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire.
Memmaw Soup
by Cassandra McKinney
President Cassandra McKinney often makes this homemade soup on the cold nights of winter as a reminder of the wonderful home feeling that she remembers from her childhood at her grandmother's house. She lovingly calls her grandmother "Memmaw," hence the reason for the name of the soup.Ingredients:1 box of pasta1/2 pound of ground beef1 large can of tomato juice (can also be a bottle of juice) Method: Place water in a medium sauce pan and bring water to a boil. Add the pasta to boiling water. Let it cook until the pasta is soft. Drain the water from the pan. At the same time, in a medium skillet brown the ground beef. Once it is done, drain the grease from the meat. Combine the meat and the pasta in the saucepan. Add the tomato juice, and bring the soup to a boil. Let simmer on low until ready to serve. This soup is best served with a sandwich of one's choice or with grilled cheese. Please note that this is also very good as a leftover meal and only takes about thirty minute!
s to prepare.
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Southern Chicken 'n Dumplings
by Cassandra McKinney
This is a favorite of the husband of the president of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire. This dish is sure to warm you up on those cold New England evenings.
Ingredients:
1 package of boneless chicken breast
?? 5 cups of self-rising flour
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of oil
Method: Place the chicken into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then allow to simmer on low for two to three hours. You can add salt, pepper, and other spices desired. Once the chicken falls apart when you touch it with a spoon, it is ready to be taken from the pot. Set aside.
Mix the flour, milk, and oil in a large bowl. Keep some of the flour to the side to make sure that you are able to handle the batter with your hands. Once the mixture is able to be handled without it sticking to your fingers you are ready to start bringing the broth in the pot to a medium boil. Drop small pieces of the dough into the broth and stir often with a wooden spoon. Cover the pot once all of the dough has been added. Once the dumplings all float on the top of the broth, add the chicken that you had set aside. Stir it in, and then it is ready to serve. This dish is best served in a bowl and with a green vegetable.
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Maple Pecan Cookies
by Carolyn Corrigan
Carolyn Corrigan is the secretary of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire. This family recipe makes the best-selling cookies at Monadnock Chapter bake sales and just so happens to be the favorite of President McKinney.
Ingredients:3 cups of old fashioned oats1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut2 and 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon cinnamon2 cups packed light brown sugar1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter1/2 cup maple syrup2 tablespoons light corn syrup2 teaspoons baking soda1/4 cup boiling water1 teaspoon maple or vanilla extract2 cups chopped toasted pecans Method: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, except for the baking soda. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium pan and heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water. Add all of the wet and dry ingredients together. Roll the mixture in the small balls. Place them on the baking sheets and bake for nineteen to twenty minutes. Let them cool once done and then eat them.
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Monitor Miniatures
News from the Federation Family
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Gratitude for Pedro and the Octopus:
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Recently this note of gratitude was sent to the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults:
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Dear Patricia Maurer,
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We received this book, and I gave it to my granddaughter at our October NFB walk-a-thon. Not only did she very much enjoy the book and its illustrations, but she was able to share it with other blind adults that day.
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There was a sighted couple at the park there with their sighted daughter about seven. Shianne was reading the book and showed it to the girl who was fascinated with it. Shianne also took the book home to read to her little brothers. A great book all around!
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Thank you so much for making it possible for my granddaughter to have a copy.
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Sincerely,
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Kathy Hurley
In Brief
Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity.
Career Launch @ Perkins:
Perkins School for the Blind developed Career Launch @ Perkins [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2Fs0IZCxk7QpIjB69u8UcmD%3Fdomain%3Dperkins.org&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061959682&sdata=FOFdM5s0iR9aANPKqS5ZpcX4y1hvLANilwnnGLS9S14%3D&reserved=0] with one goal: help blind and visually impaired young adults successfully navigate the path to full-time professional work.
The innovative job training, internship, and career services program [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2FP-GICyPJRqh3Jv0TM52S8%3Fdomain%3Dperkins.org&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C0%7C637105158061959682&sdata=vnsfLe7MsdznRdA%2Fp2L2NzvvpmPNb1zvN9dZ3%2FthGes%3D&reserved=0] is helping high school and college graduates, ages eighteen to twenty-nine, land their first career-track job. The curriculum is designed specifically to provide the hands-on training and experience necessary to build a sustainable career in professional fields where exceptional customer engagement is key to business success.
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Career Launch comprises an eight-week training program -- focused on customer success skills, foundational working skills, and assistive technology -- followed by a two-month internship in the Boston area, and then a year of support from Perkins-based career services team once the graduate returns to his/her hometown.
Equipped with the latest skills and experience gained through working with a strong network of employer partners [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2FJWqHCzpx0rsznlxHg1j3U%3Fdomain%3Dperkins.org&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061959682&sdata=KDy%2Fx7oM1gD1ZWHC4ggoczxW5%2BceYleVc%2FkyD2%2B6Vo4%3D&reserved=0] -- some of the leading companies across industries such as healthcare, hospitality, telecom, retail, financial services, higher education and e-commerce -- each graduate will leave Career Launch as a well-rounded problem-solver with transferable skills in many areas including sales and marketing, transaction management, recruiting, client services, and more.
Perkins is currently accepting applications [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2F0B6lCAD9yRI5VynIYcCIO%3Fdomain%3Dperkins.org&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061959682&sdata=qQkbH8XhMibxfUku3wpbfV%2FEB6QLEXOafj5n%2BmUMdAs%3D&reserved=0] for the January 2020 session. To learn more, visit Perkins.Org/CareerLaunch [HYPERLINK: https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-us.mimecast.com%2Fs%2Fs0IZCxk7QpIjB69u8UcmD%3Fdomain%3Dperkins.org&data=02%7C01%7CYASMIN.REYAZUDDIN%40montgomerycountymd.gov%7C36263cb7f2594f37b03b08d773c4024c%7C6e01b1f9b1e54073ac97778069a0ad64%7C0%7C1%7C637105158061959682&sdata=FOFdM5s0iR9aANPKqS5ZpcX4y1hvLANilwnnGLS9S14%3D&reserved=0].
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NFB Pledge
I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.
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