[NABS-L] November NABS Notes

[Melissa Carney]

Hey NABSters,

 

Here's to the end of the semester! I hope your finals are going smoothly. Be
proud of the challenges you have overcome and all of the effort you have
placed into your coursework over the past few months. Now it's time to relax
and look forward to the holidays and a much-needed recharge. Feel free to
read about what NABS was up to during the month of November. Please find the
link to our online version of the NABS notes below, followed by the notes
themselves. A copy of the NABS notes is also attached to this email for your
convenience. We continuously strive to update and improve the format and
content of our monthly bulletin, so your suggestions and recommendations are
much appreciated. What resources would you like us to share? Are there
specific topics that you would like us to cover? What general feedback do
you have? Don't hesitate to let us know. 

 

Happy holidays!

 

http://nabslink.org/content/nabs-notes-november-2018

 


NABS Notes: November 2018  


 

In this issue, you will find:  

*         President's Note  

*         Text to Give Campaign  

*         New Resource - NABS Phone Number  

*         Follow NABS on Instagram  

*         K-12 and Higher Ed Technology Survey  

*         Research Study on Factors that Impact Interest in STEM-related
Careers  

*         Research Study on Digital Library Guidelines  

*         NABS Committee Updates  

*         November Blog Post  

*         NABS Facebook Group  


 


President's Note  


As our fall convention season comes to a close, I am in awe at the young
leaders who have stepped up to serve in various leadership capacities. I am
even more pumped for the NABS Student Leadership Weekend in January, which
will bring 30 vibrant and growing leaders into one room to create lasting
fellowship, facilitate meaningful conversation, and grow together as we
build the National Federation of the Blind. Invitations are being sent
shortly, so stay tuned! This Thanksgiving season, I am particularly thankful
for my family, both biological and extended through the National Federation
of the Blind. I say this because the Federation, as well as my immediate
family, has poured support and love onto me over the past few months. We all
need extra love sometimes; NABS is here to share the love with each of you.
Please let us know how we can help you academically, professionally, or
personally so you can continue living fulfilling lives! Happy Thanksgiving
and happy December holidays!  

 


Text to Give Campaign  


Spread the word! Without the generous support of our donors, we would not be
able to provide students with copious resources, develop leadership seminar
curricula, bring students to Washington DC to fight for equal access to
education on Capitol Hill, learn that blindness is not the sole
characteristic that defines our future, and so much more! Text blindstudents
(no caps, no spaces) to 855-202-2100 to donate. Every dollar counts!  

 


New Resource - NABS Phone Number  


Our leadership wants to provide an outlet for students to voice concerns,
seek advice, and learn about resources you may otherwise not be familiar
with. With that, we launched our very own NABS phone number, where a NABS
leader is on call to speak with blind students across the country. Please
call 410-417-8360.  

 


Follow NABS on Instagram  


NABS has an Insta account now, so follow us @NABSLink!  

 


K-12 and Higher Ed Technology Survey  


The NFB is gathering information regarding the accessibility of educational
technology used in our nation's schools, kindergarten through graduate
level. If you are a student, parent, teacher, or administrator who uses
screen access software or other accommodations to participate non-visually
in educational programs or services, or if you are the parent, teacher, or
administrator of someone who does, please complete this survey once a
semester: https://nfb.org/edtechsurvey.  

 


Research Study on Factors that Impact Interest in STEM-related Careers  


You are invited to participate in a survey to share your thoughts and
feelings about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The
purpose of this survey is to better understand how factors impact interest
and motivation in STEM-related careers, including the role that mentors and
others have had in shaping that interest. This survey is appropriate for you
even if you never considered a career in the STEM fields. This survey is
intended for adults who are legally blind or significantly visually impaired
between the ages of 18-65 and who reside within the United States. To
participate in the survey, you must be an adult between the ages of 18 and
65 years old, be legally blind or significantly visually impaired, and
reside within the United States. All individuals who complete the survey
will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of five gift cards
valued at $100.  

 

https://s-013bf3-i.sgizmo.com/s3/i-3V9jW7iv5BRXiX01JG-2885629/?sguid=3V9jW7i
v5BRXiX01JG  

 

Questions or concerns about this survey may be directed to:  

Edward Bell, Principal Investigator  

Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness  

ebell at latech.edu <mailto:ebell at latech.edu>   

 


Research Study on Digital Library Guidelines  


 

Are you blind or visually impaired, and at least 18 or older? Do you use
computers non-visually by listening to a screen-reader? Do you have at least
three years of experience searching for information on the Internet? If your
response is yes to all of these questions, you can earn $100 for
participating in a research study.  

 

A research team comprising blind and sighted scholars at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee is developing design guidelines to improve the
accessibility and usability of digital libraries (DLs) for users who are
blind or visually impaired. Volunteers chosen as study participants will be
invited to complete an electronic survey soliciting your input and feedback
on these design guidelines. Participation may take between two to four hours
at a time convenient to the participant. You will first be asked to review
guidelines and then rate the guidelines based on various criteria, in
addition to providing feedback and recommendations for improvement. Upon
completion of the study, the participant will receive a $100 gift card as a
token of appreciation.  

 

If you are interested in participating, or have a question, please contact
Research assistant (shengang at uwm.edu).  

 


NABS Committee Updates  


Get involved!  


*         Legislative Advocacy Committee  

When: third Sunday of the month | 8pm eastern  

Chair: Justin Salisbury (president at alumni.ecu.edu)  

We are launching our Student Advocate Program, as well as planning for
Washington Seminar festivities. We need your voice with us in DC, so reach
out and learn more!  

 

*         Fundraising Committee  

When: Second and fourth Sunday of the month | 9pm eastern  

Chair: Dustin Cather (cather.dustin @gmail.com
<mailto:nabs.president at gmail.com> )  

Share our Text-to-Give phone number far and wide: anyone can text
blindstudents to 855-202-2100 to donate! Help us help you!  

 

*         Outreach Committee  

When: first Monday of the month | 9pm eastern  

Chair: Janae Burgmeier (Janae.burgmeier at gmail.com
<mailto:Janae.burgmeier at gmail.com> )  

Web Master: Dustin Cather (cather.dustin at gmail.com
<mailto:cather.dustin at gmail.com> )  

This month's outreach theme was Federation Philosophy. We explored ways in
which we can ask questions, spark friendly debates, and discuss individual
preferences regarding certain topics such as the decision to pre-board on
airplanes, how to meet people where they are if they do not have all the
skills to be independent yet, and the hierarchy of sight-related issues.
December's outreach theme will be scholarships, as college students need
money to succeed!  

 


November Blog Post  


>From the Editor: Patti Chang is a long-time Federationist and a proud leader
in the National Federation of the Blind. She is caring, passionate, humbled,
and always has an inspirational story to share. If you do not know Patti, or
have never spoke to her, try to spare some time and meet her at an NFB event
or reach out to her. Here is her story below.   

 


The 4 Ps: Life, and the Federation  


By Patti Chang  

 

Undoubtedly some of you have attended Washington Seminar. You have been at
our Great Gathering in and heard John Pare talking about the 4 Ps. Every
time he recites those I think about life and the Federation. They inform
good conduct. They're even a recipe for success. With the 4 Ps we can do
anything. So you are probably thinking, "What are the Ps? What is she
talking about?"  

 

How do the Ps, being polite, patient, persistent, and persuasive influence
life?  

 

Let me tell you a little about me. Growing up Rural, my mom and dad were
young parents. They were teenagers when I was born. They had little
education. My law degree came before their G E Ds. We lived on my
grandparents' dairy farm when I was a baby in a little trailer.  I was even
named after a milk company that hauled our milk to market. It was called
"Patti Sue's Dairy." My mom used to carry those milk jugs atop her belly
when she was carrying me. When she was in the hospital after giving birth,
my large family was arguing about what to name me, Mildred, Hildred, or
something equally wonderful. She looked out the window and saw Patti Sue's
Dairy. They were delivering milk and that was it. She told the family to get
out and named me Patti Sue.  

 

When I was born. The doctors in their infinite wisdom told my parents that I
was totally blind. They wondered for a while. I seemed to react to colors
and chase things that did not have much nonvisual appeal. We went back to
the experts. Doctors decided that mom and dad were probably suffering from a
case of wishful thinking. They patiently watched me. But when I continued to
respond to visual stuff they politely persisted with the medical profession
and persuaded them that they were wrong and I could see. Oh wow! She is only
blind in one eye. She will have vision but not depth perception.  

 

When I was 12, I began to see halos around lights and have headaches. Again
we travelled to the doctors. This time it was all in my head. I was
suffering from hypochondria. You see my parents were getting a divorce and
the doctors couldn't diagnose me so it must be all in my head. My headaches
persisted and we patiently and persistently kept going to doctors. Finally,
we went to Ann Arbor where the University of Michigan is. My memory of this
is crystal clear. We saw an old doc named Henderson. He had a pack of
residents and interns in tow. When he decided to test me for glaucoma it
went really quiet. His residents thought he was nuts. No children ever got
glaucoma. This was back when you had to drink this bright green thick liquid
to be tested for glaucoma. Before you started they told you if you didn't
keep it down, you would have to drink it again. I kept it down. Yep, I had
glaucoma. But it was treatable. We can stop the vision loss they said.  

 

At that point, we decided that the experts had no clue and I started Braille
and cane training. My most recent revisiting of the 4 Ps centers on my
becoming totally blind two or three years ago. Now I was in good shape. I
knew it would happen so I did all my reading, working, cooking, cleaning,
and so on through nonvisual means. Except for one important aspect of my
life I was all set. I had never learned to keep a straight line and to
totally rely on my other senses for travel. What to do? I went back to
training. Blind Inc. was good enough to provide me with great travel
instruction. I was able to take double travel lessons in the mornings for
four hours and work in the afternoon and evenings. Rob Hobson with the 4 Ps
taught me during those double travel lessons each day. I now travel
regularly alone with confidence.  

 

Over the past couple of years, I see that public reactions are different. We
all just love the airlines. I asked for white wine on a flight recently and
the flight attendant gave me a napkin and the bottle. Since he forgot my
glass I asked if I could please have a glass. He said no because he would
not have time later to come back and pour my wine. Hummmmm. I guess I was
expected to drink my wine from the bottle like many drink beers. Now I am a
red neck but.  

 

People grab me much more often than before. I find I leave planes and
discover wheelchairs I did not order way more often than ever before.  I
keep reciting in my head polite, patient, persistent, and persuasive.
Sometimes it is my mantra.  

 

My educational experiences illustrate the 4 Ps even better. Junior High
involved a bit of a step back. It was tough in some ways. A couple of my
teachers still thought I was faking. It took decades to persuade them that I
was not faking but eventually even Mr. Flynn, my 7th grade social studies
teacher, acknowledged that I really was blind. Mr. Flynn routinely called on
me in class to read aloud knowing that I could not read Braille yet. He
assumed that because I could see where things were and what people were
wearing that of course I could see the print. It didn't help that my vision
fluctuated. The inconsistency was clear proof that I was playing games.  

 

Like many I was excluded from some classes like shop entirely, but the worst
was gym. My mom fought to keep me in gym class. She wanted me to stay fit.
And the teacher fought back by forcing me to sit out almost every day. But I
persisted with my education anyway. I was admitted to all colleges I applied
to and attended MSU. College was much better until it came to student
teaching. No supervising teacher would take me at first and my advisor
wanted to give me a pass. I politely refused and persuaded him to be
persistent and to keep trying. Who would hire me if they saw I had not done
my student teaching? I tried to patiently wait. It paid off. I have to
divert and point out how much we can help others by living our lives. The
teacher who did take me as a student teacher had dated a guy with a blind
dad. So, she didn't see what the fuss was about. That blind dad had worked
and raised his family and apparently showed my supervising teacher what
blind people could do.  

 

While at MSU we got married. The wonderful man I married sees blindness as a
characteristic, but his family did not. They disinherited him and they were
not at our wedding. We had a large country wedding with 400 people but no
one from his family was with us. I persisted in persuading my husband to
keep in touch and be patient and polite with his parents.  

 

Years later my mother in law came to live with us. Remember the same one who
did not come to our wedding. She became ill in the states and I became her
primary care giver. I patiently took her to every doctor's appointment. I
persistently cleaned and cooked. I politely ignored how they had treated me.
She stayed with us for more than a year twenty years ago and is cancer free
now.  That and the birth of our kids changed my husband's family's minds.  

 

The 4 Ps have impacted my life beyond education and family. Even my
employment history shows how important they are. After law school I was
hired by the City of Chicago. Glad to have the job and I made something of
it but I think they expected very little. The rating of firms depends upon
the ranking of the schools they draw from and I graduated from U of C. When
I was hired they never thought that I would stay, serve on taskforces, be
promoted and become an integral part of building and fire safety in the city
for almost thirty years. But I was polite for the most part, persistent
always and occasionally patient and many were persuaded that I was competent
not through talk but by my living my life and doing my job.  

 

When I retired from the City, I had trained almost half of the attorneys in
the Dept. and I had been a supervisor for more than a decade. That promotion
came about because people knew I could do the job even if they didn't start
with that understanding.  

 

The Federation demonstrates the 4 Ps for me most of all. I like many grew up
isolated from other blind people and kids. I met a few kids at camp and knew
one blind woman who lost her vision late. She wanted me to teach her enough
Braille to play cards in exchange for her teaching me cooking. But she
didn't get out much. She was past working age and she wasn't much interested
in rehabilitation given her health.  

 

I won a scholarship. I did it backwards. I won a national scholarship and
then a state scholarship. My first convention was empowering. Walking into
that convention hall I found home. I became active in NFB leadership. Our
student division elected me as treasurer. I was terrible and I promised
myself that I would never ever deal with money again. Of course now I serve
as our Illinois treasurer and a large part of my job is fundraising but I
was never ever going to deal with money in relation to the Federation.  

 

The NFB is where I really learned the 4 Ps. Our persuasiveness and
persistence is obvious. Just look at some of our most recent outreach.  We
passed Marrakesh. That is the only treaty of its kind. We have seen more
than 290,000,000 impressions on social media around our endeavor with
Kellogg's and RKT notes. The Baltimore Orioles just hosted NFB night. I
could go on and on.  

 

But we should take a minute and talk about the patience and politeness part
of it. We all know that we need to be patient and polite when we are public
facing but sometimes we need to learn the same within the Federation. We say
we need to meet people where they are but what does that mean. Every
affiliate has a range of abilities and experiences. It was hardest for me to
work on being patient and polite with those "I thought should KNOW BETTER."
Many of you know Ronza Othman. Ronza Othman worked with me at the City for a
while. When I met Ronza she did not use a cane. Since she is very talented
and a bright lady I thought she should "know better." I walked with Ronza
and I arrived at the corner first and waited. We repeated this scenario
together. Ronza decided after a while that she needed a cane too. Besides
being bright and talented, Ronza is also a stubborn woman. If I pushed would
she respond? Sure she would. She would have left. Instead I patiently walked
with her.  She proudly uses a cane now but we had to meet her where she was.
We have to understand that rigid rules and conformity drive people away and
stifle our organization. Communicating even subtle disapproval hampers our
efforts and teaches nothing. I hope that we all use the Ps with the public
but most of all remember to use them within our family. We can persuade best
by example. Be persistent with respect. We should always be patient and
polite with one another.  

 

With our Ps inside and outside of our family, we can do anything. Reflect on
how you incorporate patience, persuasiveness, persistence and politeness
into your life today and how you can do so going forward. I am going to
close by asking each of you to weave the 4 Ps into what you do each day and
into what we do together always. If we do with love hope and determination
every blind person will live the life, he or she wants and our movement can
raise expectations to turn dreams into reality.  

 


NABS Facebook Group  


Join our Facebook group by visiting:  

 <https://m.facebook.com/groups/173482726798026>
https://m.facebook.com/groups/173482726798026  

 

Kathryn Webster | President  

The National Association of blind Students  

A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind  

Nfbstudents.org  

(410) 417-8360  

 

 

Melissa Carney

Secretary | National Association of Blind Students

   A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind

(860) 391-9319

Carne23m at mtholyoke.edu

| 

www.nabslink.org <http://www.nabslink.org> 

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