[NFB-DB] Convention Advice

maurice mines maurice at mauricemines.org
Sun May 5 02:30:44 UTC 2019 

Good evening. It’s hard to believe, that I can be MA member of the 
amateur radio I think it is group these days, and a user of the 
assistive listening device loan program during convention. I say all 
that because I am of course a licensed operator. And I believe the group 
is the first meeting of convention. As per normal.

A bit of a paper update. Based on the research that I’m doing the 
paper is likely to discuss the question the myth of the challenge Keller 
& sign language. You’re probably wondering why I would take on the 
myth of a apparent giant and deaf blind history. Largely because I got 
interested in the  book entitled blind rage. So far this book discusses 
how holy, why did William Keller give up sign language I say that 
that’s what we call sign language today I’m not so sure that’s 
what it was called then. And the fact that in the deaf community 
learning to actually speak and not learning sign and/or her trying to 
minimize the fact that ASL is a bona fide language. Which of course 
those of us were deaf blind call tactile sign but it is heavily based on 
the ASL. It is interesting. So far this is of great interest to me 
because of one big fact, please note the following is a bit on the 
speculative side this gives me some insight into why staff of the 
aforementioned venerable American institution Helen Keller that is 
continuously mentioned to me and of course others that learning sign is 
“difficult, hard, and seems to be discouraged. This of course brings 
me to a question did the history drive today and it beatitudes? I guess 
I’m of the belief that if you are deaf blind once she uses many 
communication methods is one need to accomplish effective communication. 
And that toolbox if you will should include tactile sign braille of 
course and any other effective means of communication that one can 
verify is actually viable for their particular situation.

You’re probably wondering why some of this interests me and why it is 
important to us within the national Federation of the blind. Marcia I 
think the only way that states will really champion the cause of getting 
people involved in the division is to get over what some leaders in some 
states view is a big issue the belief and/or the practice of the 
culturally deaf demanding interpreter services at NFB functions. And if 
we are not forthcoming with said services in the proper manner which 
they believe is appropriate we meeting the national Federation of the 
blind, get vilified for not bowing to  “deaf culture” what one 
leader with a personal friend explained to me correctly so that the 
issue isn’t that we don’t want to provide the service. It is more 
that many affiliates of our organization just simply do not have the 
funds to do so. So the big question is how does one explain this to 
culturally deaf people who become deaf blind. Without appearing to be 
“nasty and telling them that they need to pay for their own 
services” because if we do that out from what I’m understanding of 
deaf culture so far, we won’t just be just like we will be hated. Any 
thoughts?

I realize that the above comments may be considered somewhat 
controversial but hopefully we are all family enough to have a healthy 
discussion about the issue and come up with solutions to hopefully 
change the future? And at the very least have a hopefully productive 
discussion with deaf blind people who start out being culturally deaf. I 
believe that a solution if there is one will not be forthcoming anytime 
soon. But will take time and effort. These of course are just my 
thoughts.

So the question that I am seriously considering asking in my paper and 
how I related to today is in the world of the 21st century would any 
deaf blind person go down the path that the for real Helen Keller went 
down more than a century ago? And of course that leads to the bigger 
question what time much more certain of the answer is tactile sign 
language and its variant Pro tactile viable for deaf blind people to use 
in the 21st century? I’m curious to know what everyone’s thoughts 
are?

To wrap this up, to answer Heather’s question I come from the world of 
the blind. My hearing vanished for the most part back in 2016. That’s 
why I’m learning ASL we are slowly modifying some things to fit more 
along the lines of tactile sign, and in some cases we may use 
pro-tactile as the sign gets more complicated. Be well everyone. Please 
excuse the length of this email if you are someone who likes short and 
light emails in terms of subject matter. See you all in Las Vegas? One 
final thought Marsha unfortunately I can’t do the toffee use it just 
because  sign language class. Although wide love to the professor would 
likely rule it non-germane. As one of them bypass potential topics was 
in a very friendly way rolled out by Ms. Burton. And after reading what 
I was thinking of doing she’s right. Now I will I really am finished 
with this email

  PS I also believe that folks who are deaf and wind up losing their 
vision should learn braille. Because again when thinking about 
communication skills everything in the toolbox can be of assistance 
certainly looking at the fish concept here.
Sincerely Maurice Mines.
US amateur callsign kd0iko.
VP national Federation of the blind of California Bakersfield chapter.



On 4 May 2019, at 9:07, Marsha via NFB-DB wrote:

> All,
>
>
>
> The Amateur radio club does still provide ADL for the Deafblind 
> meetings and the general session meetings. There will also be 
> DeafBlind chat time for folks to get to know each other in a more 
> casual atmosphere. That information will be announced soon.
>
>
>
> And Yes, Scott will be one of our presenters during the deafblind 
> meetings.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> From: NFB-DB <nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Scott Davert via 
> NFB-DB
> Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 11:31 AM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Scott Davert <scottdavert at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NFB-DB] Convention Advice
>
>
>
> Hi Lisa.
>
> As of now, I'm planning to be at convention and give a presentation at 
> the NFB DB meeting. i'm in a similar situation as you are, in that I'm 
> always advocating for better braille access. I'm not quite sure who 
> all  is going, but if you'd like to meet at convention, feel free to 
> contact me offlist. I still need to confirm with Marsha about my 
> presentation, but I am planning to be in Vegas regardless.
>
> As for a face to face communication option, there is no all in one 
> device on the market here in America that allows you to communicate 
> with a sighted and hearing counterpart. A  Dutch developer created the 
> Screen Braille Communicator back in the 90's and they can still be 
> ordered if you live in the EU. Which isn't helpful to us, but there 
> have been issues with this device. If you happened to get one, you'd 
> have to send it back to the Netherlands for repair. Anyway, about the 
> best you can do for portable use is to pair a braille display and 
> tooth keyboard to an iOS or Android device and give the person you are 
> trying to communicate with the keyboard.
>
> As for losing hearing on top of being blind, I find it's an adjustment 
> that is almost always in progress for me. I have very very basic 
> signing skills myself and often rely on the manual alphabet when in 
> noisy situations... such as convention. ALD's help as well, and the 
> NFB does make them available at convention. The amateur radio division 
> used to be in charge of these, though I'm not sure if that's still the 
> case. I have not been to convention since it was in Dallas in 2012. 
> One reason I go to convention is to visit a city I do not regularly 
> get to. Orlando isn't on that list, and my professional career between 
> 2012 and last year didn't easily permit me to attend anyway. I was in 
> Vegas in 2014 for the first International DB expo, but that was the 
> only time. Medical circumstances prevented me from enjoying it fully. 
> I'm looking forward to this year's convention!
>
>
>
> Hope to catch you there,
>
> Scott
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> On May 1, 2019, at 4:54 AM, Heather via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org 
> <mailto:nfb-db at nfbnet.org> > wrote:
>
> I am in the same boat, not sure if I can attend the convention. I do 
> not travel out much because of my hearing loss and kind of afraid to 
> travel alone as I cant hear my surroundings. I can connect only gave 
> me a braille display with no training and I cant get any other 
> services from DARS.  I hope you have a wonderful time up there. Cheers 
> Heather
>
>
>
> "Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap!" Dr. Kenneth Jernigan
> e-mail:
> kd5cbl at gmail.com <mailto:kd5cbl at gmail.com>
> sites:
> National Federation of The Blind:
> www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org>
> An Accessible Online Library:
> www.bookshare.org <http://www.bookshare.org>
>
>
>
> From: Lisa Ferris via NFB-DB <mailto:nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 3:52 AM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <mailto:nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Lisa Ferris <mailto:lisaferris at icloud.com>
> Subject: [NFB-DB] Convention Advice
>
>
>
> 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
>
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