[NFB-DB] Convention Advice

[Lisa Ferris]

Hello!

I will be attending the NFB convention in Las Vegas for the first time as a DB person. I did attend once before in the early 90s (New Orleans) but I was only mildly hearing impaired then and really only identified as blind.

One of my goals is to meet as many of you in the DB division as possible and see what the division does, because I don’t really know. I have been more active in my state with DB folks, but they come from an ASL Deaf Cultural perspective. This has been wonderfully interesting to learn about, and I have appreciated getting to know them. My ASL is very basic at best, I am in a period of transition, trying to figure out how to go from blind to DB, while many of them who have Ushers are comfortable with Deafness but trying to figure out how to be blind. I am wondering if the NFB DB division comes from more of a blind perspective?

I’m not saying one is better than the other, just learning here and strive to be all inclusive. But one thing I would like to work on is better access to Braille, via better, more robust displays and devices to better communication solutions for the DB. (Using braille for in person communication or telephone communication.) But my Oregon DB peeps are largely unfamiliar with braille at all, and many struggle with written English, so it isn’t a solution they are very enthusiastic about. 

Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to anyone that will be at the convention, and also am interested in DB events and ways to deal with the convention as a DB person. So, I would welcome any information or advice you might have, and hope to be able to meet some of you there.

Lisa Ferris