[Nebraska-students] {Disarmed} National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute Newsletter - November News

Jamie K. Forbis jkforbis at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 2 01:47:22 UTC 2013 

 



 Graphic: NFBJI logo <https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/images/NFB_JI_logo.jpg> Imagineering Our Future 



Issue 58 

November 2013 

In this issue:

*	Message from the Executive Director <> 
*	What's News at the NFB
*	Education <> 
*	Braille Initiative <> 
*	Advocacy <> 
*	Product and Access Technology Talk <> 
*	From the tenBroek Library <> 
*	Independence Market <> 
*	NFB Calendar <> 

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Message from the Executive Director


Dear Friends,

Last month I wrote to all of you about the importance of the blind being out in the world. Being out in the world is one of the ways that we help change the expectations about how we should participate in society. This is a particularly exciting time to celebrate our progress in our work to advance the right of the blind to “live in the world” and prepare for the fun work ahead.

On September 1, 2013, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) was awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation under its Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. This grant will advance our National Center for Blind Youth in Science initiative by putting blind students at the leading edge of early study of the design process. Most significantly, the project will establish a model for the NFB to engage local science centers to improve nonvisual access to museum exhibits, engage blind youth in informal STEM activities alongside blind mentors, and build a relationship between science centers and local affiliates of the Federation. In the past, blind people have shied away from museums and science centers because they often have poor access to the informational aspects that help all patrons understand and interact with exhibits. Our program will bridge that gap by raising understanding at science centers and creating a relationship between the museum and local blind people so that further improvements and innovations can be made going forward.

At our NFB Jernigan Institute we are excited about this next phase of expanding the participation of the blind in the informal STEM learning community. This project will have lasting impact for both blind youth and blind adults. Not to mention, it should be a lot of fun.

As we move into the holiday season, we can be grateful that we have the NFB and that the organization continues to find new and interesting ways to further our mission of full participation by the blind in society. If you know of great work going on at science centers or children’s museums to improve nonvisual access, please let us know. We would love to discover creative approaches being used out there so we can incorporate those ideas into our upcoming work.

Warmest regards,

 Graphic: Signature of Mark Riccobono <https://nfb.org/sites/nfb.org/files/images/MAR_signature.jpg> 
Mark A. Riccobono, Executive Director
NFB Jernigan Institute

P.S. On a related note, Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler wrote a civil rights reflection last month that further emphasizes the importance of the “right to live in the world” concept. To read this piece, go to the October 2013 Reflections in Civil Rights, “The Right to Live in the World” at http://www.oag.state.md.us/civilRights/index.html, <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2733&qid=281653>  or view the PDF http://www.oag.state.md.us/civilRights/Reflections/2013OctReflections.pdf <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2734&qid=281653> .

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What's News at the NFB


 

NFB Bid for Equality

The NFB is able to have a significant impact on the lives of blind people across the country because of the generous contributions individuals make to the organization every year. We like to say that every dollar contributes to our bid for equality for the blind. That is no truer than it will be this holiday season when we offer our Bid for Equality online auction.

You are now able to pre-register for the Bid for Equality auction at http://www.biddingforgood.com/bid-for-equality <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2735&qid=281653> . Pre-registering will allow you to preview the exciting donations and add items to your cart, ensuring you're ready to bid as soon as the auction goes live on November 29!

Share the link to our auction with your family and friends, encouraging them to register and participate in our Bid for Equality online auction!  Remember, the auction ends on Giving Tuesday--a day dedicated to giving back.  Proceeds from the auction will support NFB-related programs to advocate for the civil rights and equality of blind Americans throughout the nation. 

Date: Black Friday, November 29, 2013, at 8:00 a.m. EST, through Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. EST.  Please contact Ilana Posner at (410) 659-9314, extension 2283, or at iposner at nfb.org for more information or with any questions.

The Future Is in Your Bid. We Appreciate Your Support!

 

End of Year Donations

As 2013 begins to draw to a close, we are presented with the perfect opportunity to reflect on how the programs and services of the NFB have changed the lives of blind people throughout the United States. A blind child was given the gift of literacy through the NFB's Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) program, a blind high school student who attended STEM-X learned that she could dream of having a career as a scientist, and a senior losing his vision is still able to read his favorite newspaper with NFB NEWSLINE®. In addition, throughout 2013, the NFB has continued the fight to end the payment of subminimum wages to workers with disabilities, and we continue our efforts to make e-book readers accessible.

The programs and advocacy efforts of the NFB would not be possible without the financial support of our friends. Please help us create a future full of opportunity for all blind Americans by making a tax deductible end-of-year gift to the NFB. You can make your gift online by going to: https://nfb.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1 <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2736&qid=281653> &id=1.

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Education


The Blog on Blindness

The team at the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech University needs your help promoting the Blog on Blindness <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2737&qid=281653> , its newest resource for educators, prospective teachers, employers, and anyone who works with blind kids and adults.

This new resource features:
* The latest research on blindness to help better answer questions from educators and the general public, which will improve the opportunities available for blind students and professionals.
* Methods for teaching Braille and cane travel that will increase the effectiveness of instruction, allowing blind people to lead active, truly independent lives.
* Philosophy-rich speeches and articles leading the public to see blind people as equal participants in their training, education, and employment.
* Perspectives from current students and alumni about why they find it rewarding to teach blind students and adults, encouraging others to join the growing profession.
* Interviews with experienced professionals, which will create nationwide networking--opportunities for teachers of the blind that will foster collaboration on the latest, research-based instructional methods.

The new resource, the Blog on Blindness, is available at: http://www.pdrib.com/blog/ <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2737&qid=281653> .

Please subscribe to the blog via RSS or e-mail, and like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/PDRIB210 <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2738&qid=281653> ). As we add new posts, please share them with your social networks, teachers, and friends.  If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Corbb O'Connor at corbb at oconsultinggroup.com.

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Braille Initiative


Braille Certification Training Program

Under a contract with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress (NLS), the NFB administers the courses leading to NLS certification of Braille transcribers and proofreaders. Successful completion of these rigorous courses requires a great deal of time and effort on the part of the students. We congratulate the following individuals who earned certification during the month of August 2013:


Literary Braille Transcribing


Georgia
   Kevin Miller, Macon

Idaho
   Erin Rainey, Eagle

Indiana
   William H. Ellis, Bunker Hill
   Johnie B. Moody, Bunker Hill

Kentucky
   Brandon Hommel, Lexington

Michigan
   Albert Button, Jackson

Missouri
   Chad Davis, Jefferson City

Nevada
  Abraham Hernandez, Las Vegas

New York
   Kathleen Dixon, Brockport
   Betty Lou Hulsaver, Utica

Texas
   Kayelynn Hall, Gatesville
   Tiffany Santee, Gatesville

Utah
   Darlene Williams, Farmington


Mathematics (Nemeth) Braille Transcribing


Idaho   
   Thomas Herrera, Boise

Michigan   
   Anthony Evans, Jackson

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Advocacy


Self-Advocacy:  High-Stakes Testing Accommodations

The need for high-stakes testing accommodations begins as early as high school with the PSAT and AP exams and continues post graduate to include professional licensure assessments.  These tests are created and administered by a myriad of vendors and publishers, some of which have inconsistently provided accommodations for individuals with disabilities, at times under the false guise of preserving the integrity of an exam.  

The U.S. Department of Justice has established that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires testing entities to administer tests in a manner that best ensures that individuals with disabilities be assessed for their mastery of a subject matter as opposed to the characteristics of their disabilities.  See 28 CFR 36.309(b)(1)(1).  

How then, should individuals proceed with securing accommodations for high-stakes exams?  Though every testing entity is different, the following recommended best practices can help you to prevent or mitigate complications:

1. Request accommodations far in advance of your testing date.  If your school counselor facilitates accommodation requests for you, ensure that your counselor does this well in advance of the test date.  
2. Request your accommodations in writing to prevent mistakes and misunderstandings. 
3. Request only the accommodations that you need for the exam.  If your request includes duplicative accommodations or accommodations that do not pertain to the exam, the entirety of your request may be initially denied.  Take time to describe, in writing, why you require accommodations that may be perceived as duplicative (for example a Braille test book and a reader).
4. If you are unsure of whether or not your accommodations have been approved, do not hesitate to contact the testing entity.  Do this well in advance of your testing date.
5. If you received a document from the test provider confirming accommodations for your exam, bring this document with you to your testing site and be prepared to provide it to test proctors who may question your accommodations.

Remember, too, that in an effort to gather current information regarding the technology that schools are implementing, including computer-based exams, the NFB maintains a Digital Technology and Accessibility in Schools survey.  Please complete this survey every semester--your feedback helps to drive the NFB’s advocacy and legal agendas.  You can locate the survey at http://nfb.org/digital-tech-access <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2739&qid=281653> .

For additional information, contact Valerie Yingling, paralegal at the NFB, at vyingling at nfb.org, or extension 2440.

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Product and Access Technology Talk


The online portion of the access technology team’s activity is especially visible this month--we have a great blog post <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2740&qid=281653>  from Braille Stalwart and NFB of Minnesota President Jennifer Dunnam on Braille on iOS devices. She provides some real insight into the state of Braille in iOS as well as some ideas for the future. We also have a review of the NLS’s BARD app, now that it has finally been released and blind patrons can listen to their library books on their iDevices. Finally, there is a contribution from Elaine Ober at Pearson about what textbooks they have made accessible for blind students. That’s not all.  We also have two new tips in our Tech Tips  <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2741&qid=281653> section from Desire2Learn (D2L) on how to use their learning management platform. D2L has been a great partner and they have shown that they know how to achieve and maintain accessibility–and, as such, are certainly worth listening to.

Access technology does its bit to spread the word (and the information) in person as well as online. In November, the team will be presenting at Accessing Higher Ground in Colorado, a conference on accessibility in higher education. The topic will be eText, an accessible, interactive, multimedia-capable, electronic-course-content delivery platform. Anne Taylor will co-present with Yury Borukhovich, from eText at illinois.

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From the tenBroek Library

On October 2, 2013, Dr. Abraham Nemeth (1918-2013) passed away and the blindness community lost one of its most influential and innovative members since Louis Braille. The creator of the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and Science Notation, originally published in 1952, Dr. Nemeth is credited with providing the first real pathway for blind people to enter the fields of math and science—professions in which is was previously believed to be impossible for blind people to succeed. Initially discouraged from pursuing his passion for mathematics in the 1930s because it was believed he would not be able to keep track of the equations and formulas written on a blackboard, Dr. Nemeth set out to create a shorthand Braille system for computation that both made sense and remained consistent from course to course. This system not only allowed him to pursue and receive his Ph.D. in mathematics from Wayne State University, but it also became the basis for what would prove to be his life’s work.

While the members of the Federation and the entire blindness community mourn the loss of this true pioneer, the NFB was honored to be remembered in Dr. Nemeth’s will along with the Jewish Braille Institute. In carrying out Dr. Nemeth’s last wishes, the NFB sent a two-person team to his home in Southfield, Michigan, to retrieve his papers, writings, research, and awards for preservation in the archives at the Jacobus tenBroek Library. Working with Dr. Nemeth’s family, the team, including NFB Archivist Anna Kresmer and Braille Specialist Steven Booth, recovered fifteen boxes of records in print, Braille, floppy disk, and audio cassette recordings. Along with his Perkins Braille writer, abacus, and many of the plaques and awards received for his work in Braille—including the Louis Braille Award (2006) and the Jacob Bolotin Award (2009)—these records will become the Abraham Nemeth Collection. Once these materials have been properly cataloged and documented, the collection will be made available to all researchers.

For more information on the life of Dr. Abraham Nemeth and his many other contributions to the blind, please read “The History of the Nemeth Code: An Interview with Dr. Abraham Nemeth <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2742&qid=281653> ,” from the Future Reflections 2009 Special Issue: A Celebration of Braille. Additional information can also be found in this obituary published in  <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2743&qid=281653> The Washington Post on October 5, 2013.

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Independence Market


The NFB Independence Market serves two purposes: to distribute our literature, which focuses on the can-do approach to adjusting to, and living with, blindness, to our members, their families and friends, and the general public; and to make available for purchase mostly low-tech items that enhance the independence of blind individuals in their everyday lives at home, at work, and in the community. 

This month we wanted to highlight a product we have carried for a while: the PenFriend Voice Labeling System <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2744&qid=281653> .  A tool for labeling and organizing various household items, this pen-shaped device approximately six inches long and one inch in diameter, records voice labels of varying lengths and associates them with stick-on labels.  The unit has 1 gigabyte of internal memory, which allows for up to 70 hours of recording time, and includes 127 labels of assorted sizes to start with.  Labels can be re-recorded and additional label packages  <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2744&qid=281653> are available for purchase.  Features include volume control, an external speaker, and a headphone jack. 

This audio labeling tool can be used to accomplish a variety of tasks.  From labeling cooking spices, packaged, canned, and frozen foods, medications, CDs and DVDs, AC adaptors, to files and important papers, only the user's imagination will limit what one can accomplish with this device.  Here is one tip for using this product: When labeling medications, place the label on the cap, so the cap can be switched out for the next refill of the prescription.  If the prescription changes, you can simply rerecord the label.  One might want to follow the same procedure with cooking spices.  One may not want to place the label directly on canned goods and other one-time use items, since the labels are reusable and re-recordable.  We have plastic food labels <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2745&qid=281653> , originally designed for Brailling, that attach to cans and packages with a rubber band.  As it turns out, these labels are perfect to create reusable PenFriend labels.  One could even combine the two labeling methods by creating a Braille label for brownie mix and using the PenFriend label for the preparation instructions.  Some people have even used an arrangement of PenFriend labels to create address books, calendars, and to-do lists. 

Earlier this year we added the PenFriend's laundry labels  <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2744&qid=281653> to our product offerings.  After the adhesive has had a chance to bond with the fabric, the labels can go through the washer and dryer.  However, they are not suitable for garments that have to be dry cleaned. 

It's obvious that the PenFriend is a very useful device, especially to those who don't know Braille and/or don't have access to a smart phone.  With some creativity, the PenFriend can serve as an invaluable organizing tool.

For more information about the products and literature available from the NFB Independence Market, please e-mail us, <mailto:independencemarket at nfb.org>  or contact us via phone at 410-659-9314, extension 2216. 

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NFB Calendar


Upcoming Events

Washington Seminar – Great Gathering-In – January 27, 2014

Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium, "Disability Rights in the 21st Century: Creative Solutions for Achieving the Right to Live in the World" -- https://nfb.org/law-symposium <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2746&qid=281653>  -- April 24-25, 2014

State Conventions
NFB of Connecticut <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2747&qid=281653>  -- November 1-3, 2013

NFB of Nevada <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2748&qid=281653>  -- November 1-3, 2013

NFB of Ohio <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2749&qid=281653>  -- November 1-3, 2013

NFB of Oregon  <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2750&qid=281653> -- November 1-3, 2013

NFB of Kansas <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2751&qid=281653>  -- November 8-10, 2013

NFB of Maryland <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2752&qid=281653>  – November 8-10, 2013

NFB of New Jersey <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2753&qid=281653>  -- November 8-10, 2013

NFB of Pennsylvania <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2754&qid=281653>  -- November 8-10, 2013

NFB of Texas <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2755&qid=281653>  -- November 8-10, 2013

NFB of Puerto Rico <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2756&qid=281653>  -- November 16, 2013

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Thank you for reading the NFB Jernigan Institute’s Imagineering Our Future.


Help make a significant difference in the lives of blind people across the country.


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Interesting links:

Archive of Straight Talk About Vision Loss videos <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2760&qid=281653> 

National Center for Blind Youth in Science <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2761&qid=281653> 

Access Technology Tips <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2741&qid=281653> 

TeachBlindStudents.org <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2762&qid=281653> 

 


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Blogs: 

Access Technology <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2763&qid=281653> 

Voice of the Nation's Blind <http://nfb.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2764&qid=281653> 

 

 

 


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