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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>MDABS Members:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Please see the below message from Justin Salisbury and consider submitting your story. It is essential that we collect as many personal accounts of the challenges faced every day by blind students as possible. We need to show Congress that the problems the TEACH Act seeks to solve are real issues faced by real students every day. Please help us pass the TEACH Act. Together, we can transform our dream of full and equal access to higher education into reality!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Chris<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Nfbnet-students-list [mailto:nfbnet-students-list-bounces@nfbnet.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Justin Salisbury via Nfbnet-students-list<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, December 06, 2014 1:18 AM<br><b>To:</b> nfbnet-students-list@nfbnet.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [Nfbnet-students-list] NABS Needs You! Tell Your Story!<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Calling All Blind Students!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>NABS WANTS YOU to help PASS THE TEACH ACT!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>You don’t need to be a governmental expert to help; right now, we are asking students with disabilities to write up their personal stories.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In order to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of the Blind to help more blind students get equal access in higher education, NABS President Sean Whalen has created a task force. I am thrilled to be a part of it! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At this phase, we are collecting stories from blind students that Federationists can give to the Senators and Congressmen who ask us if it matters to their constituents. It really makes a difference when we hand them a packet of testimonies. The task force has divided up the country and is reaching out to students in every affiliate. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Please tell us how inaccessible technology in higher education has held you back. If you’re the first blind student I’ve met who has always had equal access, tell us that and how important it has been for your success. Every story counts. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I have attached a testimony that I wrote which has been effective. Feel free to mimic it if you’d like, but please just tell your story.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We still want students to participate in every other method of passing the TEACH Act, but this is one way that we can uniquely assist President Riccobono and our fellow Federationists everywhere. Personal testimonies can be sent to Kathryn Webster at <a href="mailto:kathrynwebster.nfb@gmail.com">kathrynwebster.nfb@gmail.com</a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Let’s pass the TEACH Act!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Yours in Federationism,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Justin Salisbury - Running Thunder Phoenix<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Graduate Student<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Louisiana Tech University<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Email: <a href="mailto:jms132@latech.edu">jms132@latech.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Twitter: @SalisburyJustin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>But, of course, we will not fail. We will continue to climb. Our heritage demands it; our faith confirms it; our humanity requires it. Whatever the sacrifice, we will make it. Whatever the price, we will pay it. Seen from this perspective, the hostility and backlash (the challenges and confrontations) are hardly worth noticing. They are only an irritant. My brothers and my sisters, the future is ours. Come! Join me on the stairs, and we will finish the journey. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'>-<span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span>Dr. Kenneth Jernigan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>