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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal> Hello donna and all,</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>First of all thanks donna for posting this awesome article about you in the Washington post on your bird thing that you do!</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It was portrayed in a very good of portraying people of blindness. Thanks for sharing and, I will talk to you soon.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hugs,</p><p class=MsoNormal>Amy sabo</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0in'><b>From: </b><a href="mailto:nfbmi-talk@nfbnet.org">Donna Posont via NFBMI-Talk</a><br><b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, October 29, 2024 9:08 PM<br><b>To: </b><a href="mailto:nfbmi-wayne-county@nfbnet.org">NFB of Michigan Wayne County Chapter List</a>; <a href="mailto:nfbmi-talk@nfbnet.org">NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List</a><br><b>Cc: </b><a href="mailto:donnabutterfly50@gmail.com">donnabutterfly50@gmail.com</a>; <a href="mailto:dposont@umich.edu">Donna Posont</a><br><b>Subject: </b>[NFBMI-Talk] Washington post article</p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Inspired Life</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Blind birders in tune with bird sounds, call themselves 'bird brains'</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"The world is designed for sighted people, but nature is a place where it's</p><p class=MsoNormal>okay to be blind," said Donna Posont, founder of Birding by Ear and Beyond.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Cathy Free</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>October 27, 2024 at 8:10 a.m. EDT</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jerusalem Crawley grew up in Detroit, where he didn't have much contact with</p><p class=MsoNormal>nature.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"I was a typical city kid and birds were the last thing on my mind," said</p><p class=MsoNormal>Crawley, now 22, who is visually impaired. "I didn't know one bird from</p><p class=MsoNormal>another. I thought they were all the same."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Then when Crawley was 8, his mom sent him to Camp Tuhsmeheta (short for</p><p class=MsoNormal>touch, smell, hear and taste) where he met Donna Posont, who was leading a</p><p class=MsoNormal>class about birding.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Posont, who is blind, introduced him and other blind and visually impaired</p><p class=MsoNormal>summer campers to the sounds of American robins, blue jays, cardinals, birds</p><p class=MsoNormal>of prey and woodpeckers.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"I was immediately fascinated and wanted to learn more," said Crawley,</p><p class=MsoNormal>adding that he was surprised to learn there are more than 11,000 bird</p><p class=MsoNormal>species.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Studies have shown that listening to birdsong is beneficial to mental</p><p class=MsoNormal>health.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fourteen years later, Crawley is still an avid birder with Posont's Birding</p><p class=MsoNormal>by Ear and Beyond program at the University of Michigan at Dearborn. It</p><p class=MsoNormal>allows people with low vision to study birds in a 120-acre natural area</p><p class=MsoNormal>surrounding the university.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Posont, who was born with a genetic eye condition called retinitis</p><p class=MsoNormal>pigmentosa and is blind (she does not like to use the term visually</p><p class=MsoNormal>impaired), started her monthly birding outings in 2009, with the goal of</p><p class=MsoNormal>teaching blind people to explore nature independently.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"Blindness doesn't need to limit anyone - you can learn about nature and</p><p class=MsoNormal>identify trees and plants and birds using the other senses," said Posont,</p><p class=MsoNormal>67, who lives in Dearborn.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>For example, participants in her outings might learn that red maple leaves</p><p class=MsoNormal>have rough edges, while silver maple leaves have a soft undercoating.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Blind people usually have heightened senses of hearing, smell and touch,</p><p class=MsoNormal>adding to the experience of the excursions. She and her group explore the</p><p class=MsoNormal>trails of the university's nature reserve with their white canes, pausing to</p><p class=MsoNormal>listen to the birds swooping overhead or nesting in the trees.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Donna Posont, the founder of Birding by Ear and Beyond, said her nature</p><p class=MsoNormal>outings help blind people to develop confidence in life. (Judy Armstrong )</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She has learned to identify individual bird songs and calls, she said,</p><p class=MsoNormal>explaining that she plays audio recordings in a classroom before taking her</p><p class=MsoNormal>group into the woods. Posont's efforts were recently featured by Audubon.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>One month, her class might learn about red-winged blackbirds, she said,</p><p class=MsoNormal>while another month, they might stand in the forest and listen for the</p><p class=MsoNormal>chatter of American crows. A red-winged blackbird's song starts with an</p><p class=MsoNormal>abrupt note that turns into a musical trill, while an American crow's call</p><p class=MsoNormal>is a more common "caw, caw, caw."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"We call ourselves 'bird brains,'" she joked.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She said when she was growing up in the small town of West Liberty, West</p><p class=MsoNormal>Virginia, she never imagined that one day she'd teach others about the avian</p><p class=MsoNormal>world she hadn't seen since she lost her sight in the second grade.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Posont dreamed of studying biology in college, but said she couldn't find a</p><p class=MsoNormal>school with the proper equipment to teach a blind person.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"In 1974, you had to use a microscope to study things," she said. "That's</p><p class=MsoNormal>the only way they knew how to teach biology then. So instead, I earned a</p><p class=MsoNormal>[bachelor's] degree in social work."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>She and her former husband moved to Michigan, she said, where they raised</p><p class=MsoNormal>five children and spent time outdoors whenever possible. In 2008, Posont</p><p class=MsoNormal>decided to return to college and study the subjects she'd missed out on in</p><p class=MsoNormal>her younger years when computers and high-tech audible devices in the lab</p><p class=MsoNormal>didn't exist.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>During summer breaks at the University of Michigan at Dearborn, she started</p><p class=MsoNormal>passing along what she'd learned about birds and plants through touch, sound</p><p class=MsoNormal>and smell to children at Camp Tuhsmeheta.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"You miss out on a lot in a sighted world if you have to depend on what</p><p class=MsoNormal>someone else sees when you're learning," said Posont, who graduated from the</p><p class=MsoNormal>University of Michigan at Dearborn in 2015 with a degree in environmental</p><p class=MsoNormal>studies and a minor in biology.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Donna Posont, on a trail at the University of Michigan at Dearborn's</p><p class=MsoNormal>Environmental Interpretive Center last month, said she always wanted to</p><p class=MsoNormal>learn about nature and biology as a child. (Judy Armstrong)</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After the university hired her as a part-time naturalist, Posont expanded</p><p class=MsoNormal>the Birding by Ear program. Sighted people are welcome, she said, though</p><p class=MsoNormal>they generally accompany friends who are blind.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fred Wurtzel, 73, has retinitis pigmentosa and completely lost his vision</p><p class=MsoNormal>when he was in his 50s. While he's always loved birds, he'd never studied</p><p class=MsoNormal>them or thought of making a birding a hobby until he met Posont, he said.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"Her approach to teaching is very creative, and she makes everyone want to</p><p class=MsoNormal>learn more," Wurtzel said, explaining that Posont's focus is specifically</p><p class=MsoNormal>geared toward touch and sound.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"My favorite birds are probably chickadees, and I also love house finches</p><p class=MsoNormal>because they're beautiful singers," he said.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He said he also enjoys listening to blue jays, even though they're "raucous</p><p class=MsoNormal>little guys."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Posont with Jenny Wing-Proctor, right, at an outing in Dearborn, Michigan,</p><p class=MsoNormal>this year to learn about blue jays. (Michael Solomon)</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Jenny Wing-Proctor, who lives in Lansing, said she was born blind and</p><p class=MsoNormal>enjoyed listening to birds on tape when she was a girl, but she always</p><p class=MsoNormal>wondered about their lives and where they lived.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"When I heard about Birding by Ear, I knew it would be a good thing for me</p><p class=MsoNormal>to be involved in," she said. "I've always liked being out in nature,</p><p class=MsoNormal>surrounded by bird sounds. My favorites are probably the robin or the</p><p class=MsoNormal>cardinal because of their pretty songs."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>With bird populations declining at an alarming rate due to habitat loss,</p><p class=MsoNormal>pollution and climate change, Posont said it's more crucial than ever to</p><p class=MsoNormal>hand down what she's learned.</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"The world is designed for sighted people, but nature is a place where it's</p><p class=MsoNormal>okay to be blind," she said. "You can use your other senses to learn why</p><p class=MsoNormal>birds and nature are important and how it all works together. To me, that's</p><p class=MsoNormal>the beauty of it."</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> </p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________</p><p class=MsoNormal>NFBMI-Talk mailing list</p><p class=MsoNormal>NFBMI-Talk@nfbnet.org</p><p class=MsoNormal>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org</p><p class=MsoNormal>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NFBMI-Talk:</p><p class=MsoNormal>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/amieelsabo%40gmail.com</p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>