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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> BRAILLE MONITOR<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Vol. 59, No. 4 April 2016<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Gary Wunder, Editor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>drive, with the audio version being available in both Spanish and English<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>(see reverse side) by the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Mark Riccobono, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> telephone: (410) 659-9314<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> email address: <a href="mailto:nfb@nfb.org">nfb@nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> website address: <a href="http://www.nfb.org">http://www.nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> NFBnet.org: <a href="http://www.nfbnet.org">http://www.nfbnet.org</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> NFB-NEWSLINE. information: (866) 504-7300<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>office or may be emailed to <a href="mailto:gwunder@nfb.org">gwunder@nfb.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of the Blind and sent to:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> OURSELVES.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ISSN 0006-8829<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>) 2016 by the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>(Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the drive when you return the device.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance to Rosen Shingle<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Creek Resort]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Orlando Site of 2016 NFB Convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The 2016 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>place in Orlando, Florida, June 30 to July 5, at the Rosen Shingle Creek<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Resort, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819-9357. Make your<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>room reservation as soon as possible with the Shingle Creek staff only.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Call (866) 996-6338.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The 2016 room rates are singles and doubles, $83; and for triples and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>quads $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>present is 13.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before May 27,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2016. The other 50 percent is not refundable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Reservations may be made before May 27, 2016, assuming that rooms are still<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> All Rosen Shingle Creek guestrooms feature amenities that include<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>plush Creek Sleeper beds, 40" flat screen TVs, complimentary high-speed<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>internet capabilities, in-room safes, coffee makers, mini-fridges, and hair<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dryers. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>spa. The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort has a number of dining options,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>including two award-winning restaurants, and twenty-four-hour-a-day room<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>service.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The schedule for the 2016 convention is:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Thursday, June 30 Seminar Day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Friday, July 1 Registration Day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Saturday, July 2 Board Meeting and Division Day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Sunday, July 3 Opening Session<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Monday, July 4 Business Session<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Tuesday, July 5 Banquet Day and Adjournment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Vol. 59, No. 4 April<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2016<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Contents<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Illustration: Jernigan Institute Hosts Local Political Debates<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Where is the Ladies' Room, Anyway?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Deborah Kent Stein<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The Lobby of the Anaheim Hilton: The Third Dimension of the National<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Mary Ellen Jernigan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>On Careers in the Blindness Field and the Freedom to Choose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Geerat J. Vermeij<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>When Assertiveness and Confidence Made All the Difference<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Ever Lee Hairston<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>An Introduction to Diabetes and Insulin Pumps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Mike Freeman<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Accessibility of Insulin Pumps in 2015<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Veronica Elsea<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Business and Being Blind: One Man's Winning Combination<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Gary Wunder<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>How Life Influences the Daughter of a Federationist and What She Tells the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>World about It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Ann Sywensky<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>A Matter of Justice: Our Fight to Obtain Braille Instruction<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Holly Miller<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Driving a Nail<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Dan J. Hicks<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Long-Term Training<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Danny R. Robinson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>A Thank You for What You Are Giving to Our Grandson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by LaVonne Butler<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Amazon, Blind Federation Reach Agreement on Accessibility<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Mark Sherman<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Allen Harris<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Recipes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Monitor Miniatures<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: The candidates for District 11 council member sit on stage<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>as the debate begins]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: The stage was full with twelve candidates for mayor lined<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>up for the March 3 debate]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: The mayoral debate drew quite a crowd of Baltimore voters]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Jernigan Institute Hosts Local Political Debates<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Since a part of the job of the National Federation of the Blind is to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>let the public know that we are invested in civic responsibility and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>interested in political events and the way they influence the future of our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>country, we have recently offered the Jernigan Institute for two major<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>public events in Baltimore. The first was a debate held on February 11<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>between four candidates seeking to be the council member from District 11.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The second debate to help determine the next mayor of Baltimore was held on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>March 3, with twelve candidates participating. Topics covered were<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>education, employment, public safety, housing, taxes, and disability. On<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this latter issue all of the candidates were asked this question: one in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>five Baltimore city residents has a disability and face barriers to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>education, inaccessible technology, and an unemployment rate of over 70<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>percent. What will your guiding principles be when determining disability<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>policy for the city? Although President Riccobono had opened with welcoming<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>remarks describing the purpose of our organization, some participants were<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>shocked to get a question on disability. As one source said, "Four had the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>'deer in the headlights' look, four gave somewhat coherent answers, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>four evidenced an understanding of what the Federation works to do through<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>doing away with subminimum wages, making technology universally usable, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seeing that everyone gets a fair shake when considered for hiring and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>promotion."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> One hundred and twenty people attended the council debate, and more<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>than 320 were present to witness the mayoral debate. The Federation was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>given high marks for the greeting we gave to each member of the community<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and for the organizing that went into these most successful events. We were<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assisted by the Baltimore City League of Women Voters and the six<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>neighborhood Peninsula associations who helped in drafting questions and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>urging the community to attend.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Deborah Kent]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Where Is The Ladies' Room, Anyway?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Deborah Kent Stein<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: This story was originally run in the Fall 2014 issue<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of Persimmon Tree, an Online Magazine of the Arts by Women over Sixty.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Deborah Kent Stein is the writer of many children's books and the editor of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Future Reflections, a magazine which is used as a source of information and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>encouragement by parents of blind children in the United States and beyond.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>She lives in Chicago with her husband, and together they have one adult<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>daughter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In this article Debbie describes the thrill of becoming a published<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>author, but soon discovers that her new-found success is not enough to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>shield her from the perception that being blind means she is helpless and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in need of special care. Here is what she says:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Some life events are so momentous that you know you will be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>transformed forever. That knowledge buoyed me along as I boarded a city bus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to have lunch with my editor at The Dial Press. I was twenty-eight years<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>old, and my first novel had just been accepted for publication.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "Please let me know when we get to Forty-sixth Street," I told the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>driver. I felt tall and proud, and my voice radiated confidence. Of course<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the driver would let me know when we reached my stop. This was going to be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a perfect day. I had stepped into the winners' circle.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> My earrings swung lightly as I followed my guide dog, Yulie, a four-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>year-old German shepherd, down the narrow aisle. I slipped into a seat, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>she curled up at my feet. The bus ground forward through the city traffic.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>We were on our way.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> What would my fellow passengers say if they knew they were sharing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>their morning commute with a genuine author? Of course, I was the same<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person I had been last week, before that resounding acceptance letter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>arrived. But now, finally, I had achieved a version of myself that the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>world would recognize and respect. People would know I wasn't simply that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind woman with the beautiful dog. I was a woman who signed literary<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>contracts and rushed off to lunches with editors.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Several publishers occupied the third floor of the vast office<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>building at 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, a prestigious address right next to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the United Nations. After three conflicting sets of directions from<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>strangers, I arrived at The Dial Press suite. I introduced myself to the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptionist and told her I had an appointment for twelve noon. I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fifteen minutes early, and she invited me to wait on the vinyl-covered<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sofa.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "First," I said, "could you tell me where the ladies' room is?"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> There was a stunned silence. "Oh, no! I'm afraid not!" the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptionist stammered. "It's way down the hall-you'll never be able to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>find-there are obstacles-"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> What obstacle did she think could possibly stand in my way? I asked<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>again, a firm, no-more-nonsense request for information, but she refused to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>give even a hint.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I considered returning to the corridor and seeking out a few more<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sets of directions. The minutes were fleeing, though, and I might not get<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>back by twelve. I couldn't risk being late.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "Never mind," I said. "I'll wait." Surely my editor would have no<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>trouble explaining how to get from Point A to Point B. She was in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>business of language, after all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I settled Yulie at my feet and thought about the meeting ahead. I had<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>an idea for my next book, and I wondered when would be the ideal moment to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>raise the topic. Getting a first book published was wonderful, but I didn't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>want to stop there.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Suddenly I heard the receptionist saying my editor's name. "Your<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>twelve-o'clock appointment is here," she reported in a clipped,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>professional tone. Then her voice dropped to a stage whisper. "She has to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>go to the bathroom," she hissed, "and she's blind!"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> A rush of heat flooded my face. To the woman behind the desk I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not a triumphant new author. I was merely blind, with all the liabilities<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that blindness entailed for her. I was an irresponsible, oversized child,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and at any moment I might pee on the furniture.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Seconds later an inner door flew open, and my editor dashed out to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>avert disaster. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, she offered to show<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me to the ladies' room. She was abundantly gracious, and we went on to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>salvage our meeting, despite the awkward start. Over coffee and dessert I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>brought up my new book idea, and she invited me to submit a proposal.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Publishing my first novel changed my life. I left my career in social<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work forever and became a full-time writer. But my first meeting with an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>editor was not the transformative event of that long-ago day. My pivotal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>moment came when I heard the receptionist's announcement over the office<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>phone: "She has to go to the bathroom-and she's blind!"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Blind since birth, I grew up having to prove myself to others. My<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>family believed in me, but beyond the safe sphere of home the world was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>full of doubters and detractors. Teachers offered to lighten my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assignments; Scout leaders discouraged me from going on field trips; at the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>amusement park a manager refused to let me ride the rollercoaster. "You<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>better not try that, dear," I heard again and again. "Wait over here ...<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>We'll do it for you ... That will be easier ... safer ..." Past success and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>present abilities counted for nothing. The refrain was endless: "You can't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>do that. It's not for you. You're blind."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Achievement was the key, my parents assured me. If I studied hard and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seized every opportunity, I would carve a place for myself in the world. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>came to believe that, if I was enough of a success in life, someday people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would see me fully. They would know that blindness did not define me, that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it was just one aspect of who I was, like being female and American. The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptionist showed me that no achievement would ever free me from the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>humiliations of prejudice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> As a student on a liberal campus in the 1960s, I answered the call to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>collective action many times. I marched on the Pentagon with a placard that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>demanded: "BRING THE BOYS BACK HOME!" I tutored underprivileged children<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and visited patients who languished on the state psychiatric wards. I knew<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I was blessed to have grown up with a loving family in a clean, comfortable<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>suburb. Out in the Real World were millions who did not enjoy my good<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fortune. My generation was committed to change all that. We would shatter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the bulwarks of inequality and create the world that ought to be.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> While I sang "We Shall Overcome" and added my voice to the chorus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that called for "PEACE NOW!" I was fighting an endless series of lonely<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>private battles. An art professor barred me from his studio sculpture<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>course; a doctor in the campus clinic refused to sign my routine health<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>form for a trip overseas; I was turned down for participation in a winter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>term project. It was because I was blind, they said. That was all the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reason anyone needed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Those moments of exclusion folded into a predictable pattern. Each<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fresh incident evoked the memories of a lifetime, and each struggle honed<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my skills at fighting back. I learned to bargain, to build an argument, to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>go over heads. In the end, after varying degrees of stress and psychic<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pain, I usually prevailed. Doors opened-tentatively, grudgingly-but once I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>crossed the threshold I had another chance to prove myself capable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Though I won countless battles, the war dragged on. Sometimes I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>forced to concede defeat. I had to take a different class or find an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>alternative winter term project when those in charge refused to yield.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> It never occurred to me that the roadblocks I dealt with were<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>symptoms of a pervasive social injustice. Terms such as "racism" and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"capitalist exploitation" were part of my vocabulary, but I knew no word<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for the exclusion I encountered because of my blindness. It seemed deeply<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>personal, a shameful burden unique to my own experience. All of my friends<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>were sighted. I had never had a blind mentor. In all my life I had never<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>met a blind teacher, a blind shopkeeper, a blind banker, or even a blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>homemaker raising children. As far as I could tell, blind people vanished<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>into the stratosphere when they grew up. I was determined to share in all<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the challenges and bounty of life. I wanted to make meaningful<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>contributions in the world. But I felt that I was embarking upon a solo<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>journey. Whatever I chose to do, I would be a pioneer.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> After I graduated from college I earned a master's degree in social<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work. I had built a strong risumi, laced with volunteer work and summer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>internships in addition to my graduate training. Nevertheless, when I set<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>out to find a job, the doors were bolted shut.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> My risumi won me a series of job interviews. Over the phone<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>prospective employers were cordial and enthusiastic, but the tone turned<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>cool the moment I walked through the door. Sometimes a position that was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>available that very morning miraculously had been filled at noon. Sometimes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the interviewer served up advice. At the large agencies I was told to try a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>smaller place where the staff could give me the special attention I surely<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would need. At the small agencies I heard, "You should apply at one of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>big places that have a lot of different programs; maybe they can fit you in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>somewhere." The social work director at a renowned private hospital<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>declared, "Because of your handicap I'm not about to hire you. Why should I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hire someone with a problem? I have dozens of other applicants to choose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>from."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> As the months passed, all of my classmates found work. They became<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>self-supporting adults, respectable members of the community. I was still<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>living at home, sending out risumis, and growing more and more desperate. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>began to understand that the treatment I received had nothing to do with my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>personal failings. It was a generic response to my blindness, not unlike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the rejection African Americans historically experienced when they applied<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to an all-white college or sat down at a whites-only lunch counter. I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dealing with blatant discrimination. Surely there were people who could<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>help me. I called the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union].<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The woman who answered the phone listened carefully, then passed my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>call to someone else. "We've never had a situation like this before," I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>heard, and my heart sank. I hung on as my call was handed on yet again to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"someone who will know."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "I'm sorry, but we can't help you," the voice of authority told me at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>last. "If it was discrimination because of race or religion or gender, we<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>could take it on. But there aren't any laws about discrimination on the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>basis of disability. If you want help from us, you'll have to change the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>law first." I went back to my risumis and my interviews. I was a pioneer,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>braving the roadless wilderness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> After months of searching my persistence was rewarded at last. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>found a position at a community mental health clinic in a settlement house<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>on New York's Lower East Side. It was an ideal job for me, allowing me to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work with a wide variety of clients. My colleagues were warm and welcoming,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and I quickly became a full-fledged member of the team. I rented an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>apartment in the city and flung myself into my exciting new life. But I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>couldn't forget the ordeal of discrimination that I had endured. When a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>financial crisis threatened to close the settlement house and throw me back<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>into the job market, I felt a clutch of dread. I had been lucky to find a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>place where I was accepted and valued, but I knew what the world could<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>deliver.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I had been living in New York for two years when I crossed paths with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a blind acquaintance from my childhood. We had attended the same summer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>camp for blind children, and now she too was living in the city. Like me,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>she had encountered a wall of discrimination when she looked for a job<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>after college. Now she had banded together with a group of other young<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind professionals to write an amendment to the New York State Human<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Rights Act so that it would cover disability as well as race, religion, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>gender. I remembered my call to the ACLU and pitched in to help. Here was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my chance to change the law!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> It was thrilling to work with others who shared my perspective.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Inspired by the spirit of the Sixties, we had joined forces to make a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>difference. Our amendment passed in the legislature and became part of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>law in New York State. A few months later, the state law was superseded<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>when the US Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Its<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>groundbreaking Section 504 forbade discrimination against people with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>disabilities in any program that received $2,500 or more per year in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>federal funds.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> What had happened was extraordinary. Hundreds of people with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>disabilities-blind people, deaf people, polio survivors, people with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>cerebral palsy-had pooled our strength and changed the world. We had won<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>legal protections that never existed before. I stepped back in relief. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>didn't want disability rights to become my life's work. With the passage of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the new laws I felt free to move on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Of course, it was naive to imagine that Section 504 would vanquish<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>discrimination. Yet I believed that change would be powerful and clear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind students would no longer be forbidden to take the classes they<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>wanted, and blind job-seekers would have recourse if a prospective employer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>said, "Because of your handicap I'm not about to hire you." Busy with my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>career and my circle of friends, I didn't try to learn whether the law was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>having an impact. I wanted to believe in good news.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Eventually I left my social work job and moved to San Miguel de<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Allende in Mexico to try my hand at writing. I would stay for a year, I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>told myself, but I stayed for five years altogether. I wrote a young-adult<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>novel, Belonging. I sent it off to make its way in the world, and one day I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>received a letter saying that it had been accepted for publication. I went<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to The Dial Press to have lunch with my editor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The women's movement of the early Seventies coined the phrase, "The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>personal is political." What could be more personal than the desire to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>visit the ladies' room discreetly and with dignity? In that moment with the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptionist at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, my dignity was stripped away. The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptionist's assumptions about who I was and how she should treat me<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sprang from cultural beliefs about disability that stretch back before the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dawn of history. I came to understand that every minute of every day, far<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>worse scenes played out all over the nation and across the globe.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The truth did not come to me with a blare of trumpets and a crash of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>cymbals. It seeped in drop by drop as the years passed; everyday life<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>brought reminders and reinforcements I could no longer ignore. I realized<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that laws were a splendid beginning, but they were not enough to change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>people's minds and hearts. Neither could achievement free me or any other<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person with a disability from the clinging web of prejudice. Discrimination<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would persist in myriad forms unless we worked together and assailed it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with inexhaustible resolve.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I never wanted to make disability rights my life's work, but step by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>step I waded into activism. Turning away was no longer an option. There was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>so much to be done that it would take millions of people and more lifetimes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>than I could count.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I became a committed member of the National Federation of the Blind,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>an organization that advocates for the full participation of blind people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in all aspects of life. We fight for equal opportunities in education and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>employment, for access to technology, for the right of blind parents to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>raise their children, for accurate portrayals of blind people in the media.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>We work to educate the public about the abilities of blind people and the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>contributions we can make when we are given a chance. To me one of our most<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>crucial activities is the mentoring of blind young people. We try to teach<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>them that they can walk with confidence, that they can grow up to carry all<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood, that it's perfectly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>respectable to be blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Discrimination still stalks the workplace, but opportunities have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>opened in fields as diverse as teaching, chemistry, and computer science.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Little by little, anti-discrimination laws and public education are making<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>inroads. And today when I visit the offices of a publisher, I don't have to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ask where the ladies' room is. On the wall outside each restroom door is a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille sign clearly marked "MEN" or "WOMEN." Discreetly and with dignity,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I can choose the right door.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO SHOWCASE: Mary Ellen Jernigan]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The Lobby of the Anaheim Hilton: The Third Dimension of the National<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Mary Ellen Jernigan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Mary Ellen Jernigan joined the National Federation<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of the Blind in the decade of the 60s. She began her career in the field of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blindness by working for Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Blind and rose to become its assistant director. She moved to Baltimore<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in 1978 and has worked for the NFB since that time handling everything from<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the minute details of accounting and auditing to the planning for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>computer infrastructure at the Jernigan Institute. She is best known to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>many for the miracles she performed in coordinating our national<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>conventions, but she is most loved for the insight and commitment she<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reveals when she puts pen to paper and reveals her intellect, heart, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>spirit in her infrequent speeches and presentations. One of the things I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>love about her personality is that she is strong and at the same time<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>flexible; certain of her basic philosophic and ideological beliefs and at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the same time reflective enough to examine them. We wish to thank her for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all of the years of hard work, intelligence, and creativity that have made<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this address possible. Here are the comments she made to a seminar focusing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>on convention planning held over the weekend of February 19 and 20, 2016:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> When President Riccobono opened this conference yesterday afternoon,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>he said that each of our conventions has two dimensions-the logistical and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the political. He told us that we must learn to manage both of those<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dimensions, making them work together seamlessly, to create a convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>experience that amplifies the characteristics inherent in the promise and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>power of the Federation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Then he described that experience as it first hit him twenty years<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ago: "I entered the lobby of the Anaheim Hilton, carrying my rickety fold-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>up white cane....and just being in that space, I felt joy and hope and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>power and love falling all around me. Listen to that one more time: Just<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>being in that space...<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Although he didn't name that experience for us yesterday, I want to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>name it for us tonight. It is the third dimension of the convention. I call<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it the Spiritual dimension. A little more elusive than the other two<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dimensions-the logistical and the political. But just as real. And we have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>been talking about it yesterday and today-or at least nibbling around its<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>edges without quite bringing it straight out into the open.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Let me go back to our president. About six months before he became<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>our president, when he was directing the Jernigan Institute, he spearheaded<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a branding exercise: very expensive, time consuming, headed by outsiders,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and heavy on following a canned set of procedures dictated to us by our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assigned facilitators.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> If you are getting the impression that I was less than excited about<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the whole project, you would be right. Let me just say here that I have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>learned not to underestimate the wisdom of our President.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> During the first session as we started through the canned process,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all of us were describing proudly the wonderful programs and activities of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Federation-especially the ones to which each of us felt some pride in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>our own contributions. Suddenly, our facilitator interrupted us and said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with some exasperation, "No, No, No! Stop talking to me about what you DO.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I want you to talk to me about who you ARE." That was when I stopped<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sulking about the process and began to listen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Many of you know that I have been involved in managing the logistical<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>details for our national conventions for the last forty-five years or so.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>This has meant that for several months of each of those years the planning<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of those details has taken much of my energy and attention. So, obviously I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>don't think such details are unimportant.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> But, they are important only in the context of how and whether they<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>contribute to who we are.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The things we do-our favorite programs and our cherished projects-are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not who we are. The two are not independent of each other-they are most<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>certainly interconnected, but they are not the same.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> All too often, for many of us, our tendency is to focus mainly on the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>tasks themselves-getting whatever it is done efficiently and competently-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>planning the agenda, selecting the speakers, confirming that they will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>remember to show up, selling the banquet tickets, printing the badges,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>making the restaurant guides, whatever.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Just as the convention should not be about its logistics, it should<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not be primarily about more information. Information has its place; we have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>many avenues of getting it out, and we are good at doing so.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> We invite speakers to our conventions and then suffer through program<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>items filled with facts, figures, and statistics-how many books in which<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>formats did the library distribute, how many closures of which kind did the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>rehab agency rack during the year, what field trips did the students at the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>school for the blind take?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> But ask yourself. When you go home from convention, what do you take<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with you? What makes you anticipate the next one? What makes you save your<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>money and your vacation days so that you won't miss it? I doubt that it's<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>those facts and figures.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> At its best the convention is about what we create when we come<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>together. It's about something no one of us can do without the rest of us.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> To me this means that we should be able to take each and every part<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of our convention-from the seemingly insignificant act of working at an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>information table to inviting speakers and planning the program agenda-and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>relate that act to who we are. And if we can't do that, or don't like what<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we see when we do, then it is something we shouldn't do-or we should at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>least evaluate how we are doing it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> How does including this specific activity in the convention transform<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dreams into reality? Does it reflect respect? Is it inviting? Does it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>encourage participation? Does it raise expectations? Does it encourage<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>people to know that their contributions make a difference to themselves and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>others? Is it inspiring? Is it filled with love? Does it offer hope? Does<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it create something that did not exist before we did it?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> If you can't answer yes to at least some of these questions, then ask<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>yourself another question: why are you planning to do it at all?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> At their best our conventions are alive with the vibrant energy of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>who we are at our deepest level. Though conventions are not the programs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and activities that we undertake, they most certainly create them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Let me give you an example. I started teaching cane travel at the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Iowa Commission for the Blind in 1966, and I was good at it. Joanne Wilson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was one of my students, so was Patricia Maurer, and for a brief period,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Marc Maurer also. I was trained by a sighted travel teacher who was there<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>before me, and when I left, I trained another sighted person to take my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>place.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Dr. Jernigan was director of the Commission. He had hired all three<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of us. He was proud of the Iowa travel program. It was part of cutting edge<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Federation philosophy-what could happen when rehab programs were run by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>people who believed in blind people. And yet he, Kenneth Jernigan, our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>leader and president, hired only sighted travel teachers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> He took our students with their exceedingly long white canes to NFB<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>national conventions, where they showed off their exceptional skills-to the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>envy of many and the irritation of others. Soon the Iowa students began<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>showing others how to use a long white cane to travel more effectively.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Our Federation training centers still offer cutting edge cane travel<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>training, but today most of our travel teachers are blind, and it took our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>coming together in convention to make it happen. It came about because of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>relationships and factual observation. It came about because of a shift in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>our collective thought processes that something was not quite right in our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>thinking. It came about because of an openness to change.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Today there are specific elements that give a unifying dimension to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>our conventions: renewal of commitment, the incorporation of rookies into<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the body of the Federation, the mentoring of scholarship winners, the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reaching out to parents of blind children, the hammering out of policy-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sometimes confirming, sometimes changing our direction-the giving of hope<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to the hopeless, the sharing of resources-financial and emotional-the love<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>falling on all who care to receive it. Through all of this mingling and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>melding, something new and precious emerges-something that manages somehow<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to be collective, and yet very personal to each of us. When we do it right,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this is true for longtime members and new recruits alike.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> So, I would say that the primary function of our conventions is to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>tend and nurture our own integrity as a life-building movement in a self-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>renewing way. Not in a static way that carves into stone what was done in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the past or believed to be "right," but in a way that is right for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>times in which we live now.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> When we do that, the future form of the ever-changing "what-we-do" at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the tactical and strategic levels will be merely a new expression of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>unchanging "who-we-are" at the inner spiritual level.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Joy and hope. Power and love. Falling all around us. Or we might<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>simply say it this way: "The lobby of the Anaheim Hilton."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Geerat J. Vermeij bends over to reach into aquatic grasses<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>while standing in water nearly to his knees]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On Careers in the Blindness Field and the Freedom to Choose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Geerat J. Vermeij<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Dr. Vermeij is a scientist of considerable fame, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Braille Monitor is blessed by the fact that he is a reader of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>magazine and sometimes writes articles that add significantly to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>discussions featured in these pages.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In the January 2016 issue we featured an article by Justin Salisbury<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>entitled "Keeping Some of the Good Oranges," making the case that we cannot<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>send all of our best people to other fields and that some need to stay in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work with the blind to help others. Dr. Vermeij offers the perspective that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>having highly qualified people in work with the blind is a good idea, but<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not at the expense of doing what one's heart, head, talent, and inclination<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>indicate he or she should do. He also argues that integration means going<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>beyond the blindness field and demonstrating our abilities in diverse areas<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>where people come to know us as competent colleagues, valued mentors, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>trusted friends. Here is what Dr. Vermeij has to say:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> It was the last day of the fourth International Paleontological<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Congress, held in late 2014 in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Miguel Griffin, one of Argentina's foremost paleontologists, was about to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>introduce me as that day's plenary speaker to an audience of some 1,200<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>colleagues from all over the world. For years I had been studying the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>circumstances that permit and compel some lineages of animals and plants to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>evolve to gigantic sizes. I measured specimens in museums and in my own<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>collections, read hundreds of scientific papers, and spent many hours<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reflecting on the results; and now it was time to bring all this work<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>together into a coherent story, with wide-ranging implications for how we<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>interpret the history and future of life on our planet. It was thrilling to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>communicate my findings and thoughts on this widely discussed topic to a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>receptive audience of exclusively sighted scientists. Together with the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>scientific paper that I subsequently published on the subject in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>journal PLoS One, this event was one of many in my professional life that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fulfilled my aspirations to participate and play a leading role in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>global scientific enterprise. Following the congress, about a dozen of us<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>went on a field excursion to Patagonia, led by Miguel Griffin and Alejandra<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Pagani. We visited fossil sites, drove over thousands of kilometers of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>washboard roads, ate delicious meat-heavy dinners in which the principal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>vegetable was wine, and ended with a visit to the spectacular Museo<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Paleontolsgico Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, home to the largest (and still<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>unpublished) dinosaur ever discovered.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I am one of those supremely fortunate blind people who, thanks to a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>wonderful family, the gift of Braille, and a first-rate education in two<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>countries was given the opportunity to enter the profession of my choice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>>From a very young age, I yearned to be a scientist. With my love of shells<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and of the natural world generally, I gravitated inexorably to biology and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the earth sciences. Flexibly minded mentors, an incredibly smart and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>supportive spouse, accommodating employers, and talented students and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assistants enabled me to become a competitive scholar-scientist, one who<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>continues to live a full life of field and museum research, writing,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reading, university teaching, journal editing, reviewing papers, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>engaging with the blind and sighted public through lectures, presentations,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>media appearances, and service on commissions and as a museum trustee.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Two motivations power this trajectory. First is an immense, all-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>encompassing curiosity about how the world works and about the principles<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>underlying its history. I have a passion for science, the most reliable way<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we have of uncovering empirical truths and exploring natural phenomena.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Second is the expectation and hope that what I do benefits society in a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>meaningful and lasting way. The work may be academic and curiosity-driven,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>but it bears directly on the world's current and future environmental<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>crisis as well as on the application of evolutionary principles to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>understand human economic structure and behavior. To be sure, a career at a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>premier research university comes with a certain status, but that by itself<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would never be enough to sustain an active engagement with the facts and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ideas of science.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Why, the reader may ask, has blindness figured so little in my life's<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work? Do I not feel an overwhelming responsibility to dedicate my energies<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to teaching other blind people or to expand my efforts into advocacy for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>issues that matter to the blindness community? Could I not be accused of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ignoring the problems faced by my fellow blind humans in favor of selfish<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>scientific interests? Does a career like mine, in which involvement with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the blindness community is well-meaning but incidental, reflect the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>destructive attitude that work in the blindness field is somehow<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>unimportant or inferior? The answer to this question, according to Justin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Salisbury in his article "Keeping Some of the Good Oranges" (Braille<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Monitor, January 2016), is yes. According to Salisbury, a second-year<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>graduate student, blind people who insist on working and staying in fields<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>outside the blindness field harbor unwarranted feelings of smug<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>superiority.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Let me deal with these issues in turn. The first question concerns a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sense of obligation to the blindness community. The honest answer in my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>case is that, although I find it important to give back, this sentiment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>extends broadly to the academic community and the scientific enterprise in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>which I was raised, and is not limited or primarily focused on the blind. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can only hope that, by being the best scientist I can be, I might be seen<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>as a respectable and desirable role model by aspiring blind scholars and by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>anyone else with the drive and wherewithal to enter the competitive but<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>immensely satisfying world of science. This role is ideal for one who, like<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me, is not enough of a people person to become deeply involved in worthy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>political causes or with extensive outreach. For better or worse, my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>talents and interests lie elsewhere. Reflection persuades me that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fulfillment in one's work and in one's life as a whole comes by acting on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>unvarnished self-knowledge, a combination of responsibility, and of knowing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>who we are, what we are good at, and what our passions are. Integrity, it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seems to me, derives from being honest about ourselves, being open to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>others, and being true to our ideals.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> As to the second question, the choice of one career over another does<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not mean that the other is less important or less worthwhile. Having been<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the recipient of some superb teaching, I am fully convinced of the crucial<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>place of education in shaping people and of the central role that talented<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind people can play in it. Likewise I value and admire an effective,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>levelheaded political leader, a benevolent and flexible administrator, a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>competent plumber, and a farmer who sells the finest locally grown<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>California oranges at the Davis farmer's market. This does not mean,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>however, that I should be the one to do what these people do, nor does it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>imply that those pursuits carry less prestige. Regardless of what we do for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a living, we develop a legitimate sense of self-worth and honor and meaning<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>when we carry out our responsibilities well. Status and respect flow from<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>our accomplishments, not from either good intentions or from job<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>descriptions. We must in any case avoid conflating the importance of our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work with the passions that motivate it and the talents and skills that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>enable it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> One of the most enduring goals of the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind is to ensure that blind people have the same range of opportunities<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>as their sighted peers. Some of us will choose to work in the blindness<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>field, where great talent and passion are most certainly needed; whereas<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>others, like me, will find other ways to contribute to fields and causes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>where talented blind people can also make a difference. As blind people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>living at a time of unprecedented opportunity, we should celebrate the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>freedom that comes with greater choice. Knowing what the options are and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>how our interests and abilities mesh with them is a key ingredient in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fashioning a productive and rewarding career.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Ever Lee Hairston]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> When Assertiveness and Confidence Made All the Difference<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Ever Lee Hairston<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Ever Lee Hairston is a member of the national board<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of directors, the first vice president of the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind of California, and the author of a newly released book entitled Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ambition: One Woman's Journey to Greatness Despite Her Blindness. Here is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>her story about what should have been a quick trip through the airport that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was turned into a test of will and a race against time:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I arrived at the LAX Airport at approximately 11:15 p.m. and was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>scheduled to depart on the 12:40 a.m. flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I booked this flight only a few hours prior to arriving at the airport in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>view of the fact that my mother's vital signs indicated that she was in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>critical condition, and I was making every attempt to get to the Alston<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Brook Nursing Home in Lexington, North Carolina.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Upon arriving at terminal seven at the airport, one of the American<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Airlines agents approached me and stated, "Due to the mass construction at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the airport, all flights are departing from terminal four."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I asked her what the fastest way to get to terminal four was. She<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>stated that a bus for disabled persons would come soon, and I should sit<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and wait. After sitting for fifteen minutes, which seemed like hours, I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>told her that I would walk to terminal four. "But you are blind, and you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can't," she said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I found the exit door by using my long white cane, and I started<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>walking toward terminal four carrying a heavy handbag and a backpack. At<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the bus stop I got on, and the driver drove past terminal four without<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>alerting me. Therefore, when I got off the bus, I had to walk back in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>opposite direction, still with my heavy bags and time that was passing by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and lessening the chances I would make my flight.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> When I got inside terminal four, I yelled for help. It seemed as if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>no one was around. Finally, an airline agent approached me and asked if she<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>could help. I asked for directions to security. She told me to have a seat,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and she would get someone to help me. Feeling desperate, I explained why it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was so important for me to get on the 12:40 a.m. flight. I then asked her<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to direct me to the quickest way to security.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "The steps are here, but you are blind." I ran up the steps and was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>prepared to go through the security process when she held onto my back,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>which set off the metal detector. I asked her not to touch me, and she said<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>she was afraid that I might fall. I was really losing my patience at this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>point.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "You watched me run up the steps, and now you think it is necessary<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to keep me from falling on a flat surface?"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> After going through the metal detector, I asked the officer to direct<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me to my gate. Then I heard my name being called over the paging system. By<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this point I was very nervous and desperate, so I began to run as fast as I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>could. Finally I got a break; an agent at the gate saw me and yelled,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"Stop, I see you, and I will not close the door."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I sat on the plane realizing that, if I had not used my skills, I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would have missed my flight. I thought about how often, in the kindest<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>tones and probably with the best of motives, we are asked to sit and wait<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for someone to help us. I thought of former President Maurer's statement at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the March for Independence where John Lewis appeared. Dr. Maurer said that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we are tired of being told to sit down and wait, that we spend too many<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hours waiting, and that we intend to take control of our own lives. It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>isn't always easy to disobey an order, especially one that is in all<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>likelihood made with the best of intentions, but sometimes it is necessary<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to be assertive, confrontive, and to do what needs to be done. Very often<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we feel the need to be unassailably kind and courteous, thinking of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ourselves as ambassadors of goodwill and the educators of sighted people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>But there are times when one has to prioritize, and for me the priority was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>getting to my mother's bedside.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This phenomenal trip had an extraordinary ending because I arrived at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Alston Brook Nursing Home shortly before my mother expired. What a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>difference it made knowing that I was independent enough to travel on my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>own. What a difference it made knowing that I could refuse help when it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>wasn't needed and direct those to give me the help I really did need. To<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the people who encountered me in the airport that day, patiently waiting<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and meekly obeying their requests might have made me a more pleasant<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>passenger in their eyes, but my more important mission was to say goodbye<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to my mother. I thank God for the tough-minded independence I have learned<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>throughout my life and which has been supported by my brothers and sisters<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Consider a Charitable Gift<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>National Federation of the Blind (NFB).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Am I giving the most appropriate asset?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Have I selected the best way to make my gift?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Have I considered the tax consequences of my gift?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Have I sought counsel from a competent advisor?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Have I talked to the NFB planned giving officer about my gift?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Helping the NFB fulfill its mission<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Receiving income tax savings through a charitable deduction<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Making capital gain tax savings on contribution of some appreciated<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> gifts<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Providing retained payments for the life of a donor or other<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> beneficiaries<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Eliminating federal estate tax in certain situations<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Reducing estate settlement cost<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Your Gift Will Help Us<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Make the study of science and math a real possibility for blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> children<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Provide hope and training for seniors losing vision<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Promote state and chapter programs and provide information that will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> educate blind people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Advance technology helpful to the blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Create a state-of-the-art library on blindness<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Train and inspire professionals working with the blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Provide critical information to parents of blind children<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Mentor blind people trying to find jobs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Mike Freeman]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> An Introduction to Diabetes and Insulin Pumps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Mike Freeman<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: One pledge we have made is to use the pages of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille Monitor to keep people up-to-date on one of the most significant<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>health issues affecting the blind-diabetes. Mike Freeman is the president<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of the Diabetes Action Network, and he does a stellar job of scanning the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>literature and bringing information to the division and this magazine.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Sometimes what he offers are articles synthesizing what he has learned. At<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>other times he recommends that something he has read be reprinted. This<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>time he has done both because of the complexity of the subject being<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>discussed and his attempt to explain alternative ways to treat diabetes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the role of technology, and the barriers to blind people wishing to use it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Here is what he says:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Diabetes mellitus (the full medical term for the disease we usually<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>call diabetes) is a metabolic disease characterized by an insufficiency in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the production of the hormone insulin or the inability of the cells of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>body to efficiently use this hormone. Insulin is normally produced by the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pancreas, a small gland located behind the stomach. When we eat, our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>digestive system breaks down the food into its components-protein, fat,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>carbohydrate, and trace minerals. The water-soluble carbohydrate is in turn<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>broken down into its components, principally the simple sugar known as<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>glucose. The cells of the body then take in this glucose to meet their<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>energy needs. The protein and fat are also broken down and sometimes also<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>are converted into glucose for energy. The glucose that isn't needed for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>current energy is stored in the liver as what is known as glycogen; the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>liver may be ordered later to release this glycogen if the body detects<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that the level of glucose in the blood is getting too low. The water-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>insoluble carbohydrate is called fiber, and the body gets rid of it as<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>waste.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> All of the cells of the body need insulin in order to process glucose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with the exception of brain cells that can use glucose directly. Thus, if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>there is no insulin being produced by the pancreas (Type 1 Diabetes) or<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>there is less insulin being produced than is needed or the cells of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>body don't respond to insulin very well (both conditions are called Type 2<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Diabetes), the cells can't get enough energy, and the level of glucose in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the blood rises to dangerous levels. Over time, high levels of glucose in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the blood often lead to damage to other systems in the body, resulting in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>such complications of diabetes such as heart disease, arterial disease,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>diabetic retinopathy (damage to the nerves in the eyes), and diabetic<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>peripheral neuropathy (damage to nerves of the hands, feet, and possibly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>nerves controlling other functions such as digestion). Thus, diabetic<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>complications are serious and are to be avoided if possible. The way to do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this is to control the level of glucose in the blood, keeping it as close<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to the normal level for people who do not have diabetes as possible while<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>avoiding the side effect of blood glucose getting too low.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> For people with Type 1 diabetes, this means supplying insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>artificially to replace that no longer being produced by the pancreas. This<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>may also be the treatment of choice for people with Type 2 diabetes. Some<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>people with Type 2 diabetes are able to control the disease through diet<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and exercise alone (exercise makes muscle cells take up blood glucose for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>energy). In addition, there are a number of drugs available that do things<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>like getting the pancreas to produce more insulin, lessening the amount of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>carbohydrate being absorbed into the body, lengthening the amount of time<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it takes carbohydrates to be absorbed so that the level of blood glucose in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the blood rises more slowly than might be expected, and, finally, making<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the cells use insulin more efficiently (we call this last phenomenon<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"lowering of insulin resistance"). All these medications can be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>administered by mouth except for insulin; the digestive system would<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>destroy the insulin, so it must be injected under the skin. People with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>diabetes can inject themselves directly by shots or by using insulin pumps.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>In either case, these people with diabetes must balance the amount of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>carbohydrate they eat with the amount of insulin they inject to process<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this carbohydrate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the foregoing it should be clear that diabetes is not one of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>those diseases about which the doctor says: "Take these pills and come back<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in two weeks to see if you're well again." Diabetes involves a fair amount<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of effort from the person with the disease; blood glucose levels need to be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>checked from once a day to as often as ten or twelve times a day, depending<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>upon the person; meals must be planned so that the amount of nutrients they<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>contain are known or the amount of these nutrients must be guessed at and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>medications must often be taken in order to deal with these nutrients.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Between finger sticks, giving oneself shots, and learning all the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>terminology to begin to understand and manage the disease is a challenge to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>say the least.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> There are two blood glucose meters fully accessible to the blind: the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Prodigy Voice. and the Solus V2. (only the last ten readings from memory<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can be reviewed using the meter alone with speech, although all the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>readings are available on the visual display). Insulin stored in "insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pens" is easily controlled since pens click for each half-unit or full unit<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of insulin one desires to inject (100 units equals one cubic centimeter or<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>one milliliter). There is also a device known as the Prodigy Count-a-Dose,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>which allows insulin dose amounts to be selected accurately using insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>vials and syringes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Now we come to insulin pumps, discussed in the article that follows.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>These are microprocessor-controlled machines which inject insulin under the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>skin using cannula and tubing or, in one instance, a small reservoir taped<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to the skin with a small tube sticking into the skin. The insulin dose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>administered by the pump is controlled by the program running in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>machine's microprocessor or by the person wearing the pump. Insulin pumps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>are all the rage among diabetic endocrinologists today because they have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the potential to give better control over the amount of insulin in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>body, thus potentially allowing the pump-user to more closely approximate<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the way the pancreas would normally secrete insulin into the body during<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the day and night. Insulin pumps can also be beneficial for those squeamish<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about injecting themselves using needles (although needles are disposable,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>much smaller, sharper, and thus, less painful than in the past). The kicker<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is that the insulin pump requires the person to know more about diabetes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and pay more attention to control than might be the case were a pump not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>used. Depending upon the person, injections might be preferable since the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person is not attached constantly to a machine. It's very much a case of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"different strokes for different folks."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The article below also discusses "continuous glucose monitoring<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>systems" (CGMS's). These are blood glucose meters that, rather than<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assaying a sample of blood directly, report the amount of glucose in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blood inferred from a censor placed under the skin and transmitted to the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>meter wirelessly. The censor is replaced every few days. The meter usually<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>records the glucose reading every five minutes, displaying these readings<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>as a graph or by time and date and setting off an alarm if the readings it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sees are below or above thresholds set by the meter user. Finger-sticks are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not gone completely, though. The meter and censor's readings must be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>calibrated using the results of blood glucose readings taken using a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>conventional blood glucose meter at given intervals, perhaps once every day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or two.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Ideally, the CGMS and pump should talk to each other, allowing the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pump to infer how much insulin it should give or not give depending upon<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the CGMS reading it sees. This would, in effect, amount to an artificial<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pancreas. There are some such systems in clinical trials, but none have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>been tested and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>therefore are not available for purchase. So people with diabetes who use<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pumps still must control blood glucose levels themselves.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Certain terms used in the article that follows may be unfamiliar:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Basal rate: the pancreas normally secretes a small amount of insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> continuously to control blood glucose levels between meals and at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> night. The Basal rate is the rate of continuous insulin secretion the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> pump user programs into the pump.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Bolus: the insulin dose the user injects or tells the pump to inject<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> to cover the carbohydrate eaten with a meal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . On-board Insulin: the amount of insulin still in the body as a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> result of a previous bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> If this article and the one that follows leaves the reader with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>questions, please contact Mike Freeman, president of the Diabetes Action<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Network, by writing to him at <K7UIJ@panix.com>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Veronica Elsea]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Accessibility of Insulin Pumps in 2015<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Veronica Elsea<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: What does it mean to say that a particular piece of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>equipment is accessible, and does what that equipment is used for change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the standard? The reader will notice in this article how resourceful<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Veronica must be in counting beeps and in pressing a button in the hope<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that she will be placed on the desired screen. It is one thing to say that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>an oven is accessible if a person can adjust its temperature in five-degree<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>increments by counting beeps. If the oven starts at 325, setting the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>temperature to 450 is certainly doable. If one is off by a single press,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>either through difficulty in counting or a button press that doesn't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>register or beep, the chances are that the food will still be edible. But<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>if miscounting beeps or not getting a confirmatory tone changes how much<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>medication one gives, the consequences may be very different.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Veronica Elsea is a music business owner living in Santa Cruz,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>California. She has produced several albums to date including "Diabetes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Melodious," using her music to help others live with the day-to-day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>challenges of diabetes. Blind since infancy, she was diagnosed with Type 1<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Diabetes in her thirties. After three years of less-than-ideal control<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>using regular and NPH insulins, she began using an insulin pump in 1991 and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>continues to rely on the pump's benefits today. Since being diagnosed she<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>has taken advantage of living close to many of the companies that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>manufacture diabetes management equipment, sitting down with engineers and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>educating them on how their equipment could be made accessible to those who<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>are blind and visually impaired. In the early nineties she worked<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>intensively to help persuade medical professionals that people who are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind can successfully manage insulin pumps without constant assistance<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>from a sighted person. Over the past twenty-five years, she has offered<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>support and encouragement to others who are blind who wish to know more<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about using an insulin pump through the Diabetes Action Network and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>personal contacts.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Today she continues to find contacts among diabetes equipment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>manufacturers, medical professionals, politicians, and people living with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>diabetes in order to educate, engineer, and advocate for improvements in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>equipment which would allow those who are blind and visually impaired to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>make use of modern equipment in gaining or maintaining optimum diabetes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>control. Here is what she has to say:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I have been attached to an insulin pump since September of 1991. My<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>first pump was the H-Tron V100 from Disetronic. For the past ten years I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>have been using the Deltec Cozmo from Smiths Medical. Neither of these<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pumps are currently available. Disetronic has been purchased by Roche, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Smiths Medical is no longer in the diabetes business. Since my current pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is long out of warranty, I am quite concerned about what I'll do when it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>stops working.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On Saturday, March 7, 2015, I attended the day-long seminar organized<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by Taking Control of Your Diabetes. In lieu of attending some of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>workshops, I spent most of my time in the exhibit hall visiting with all of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the insulin pump manufacturers who chose to attend. I was able to spend<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>some quality time with all of the pumps, gaining hands-on experience with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>each. I tried out the Medtronic MiniMed 530G, The Animas Vibe, Animas Ping,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Asante Snap pump, Insulet Corporation's OmniPod, Tandem Diabetes t:slim,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and the Roche Accu-Chek Spirit.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In the early nineties pumps were designed with convenience and easy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>access through clothing in mind. Hence, they had large, easy-to-find<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>buttons, simply designed functions, beeps to guide the user through all<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>processes, and only a few different functions available. With today's smart<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pumps, the devices take on more of the work such as figuring out carb<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>counts, more alarms, connecting with meters and continuous glucose<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>monitors, offering more programming options for the users. This increase in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>functionality has led to an increased reliance on complex menuing or<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"wizards" which bring up varying screens depending on the user's responses<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to questions. Since users are now expected to be looking at the pump screen<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or that of a connected meter, the easily found buttons are disappearing,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and the manufacturers no longer see any need for keypad beeps, so those<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>have all been removed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> These changes pose a considerable challenge for those of us who are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind or visually impaired because we have lost significant access to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>information and functions provided by the pump. As a totally blind pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>user, I will begin my review by explaining what I can and cannot do with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Cozmo 1800, which I am still using.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Things I can do very easily on the Cozmo pump:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change batteries<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Fill and change cartridge<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change and prime tubing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change and monitor cannulas (Cleo 90)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Verify that button presses succeeded because of keypad beeps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Keep track of where I am in the menus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Get myself out of the menus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Use "touch" bolus, programmed in grams of carbs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Enter BG (blood glucose) reading manually in correction bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> screen<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Deliver correction bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Set up and deliver meal bolus on bolus screen<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Set up and deliver combination bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Set up and deliver extended bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Set up and use temporary basal rates<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change time and date settings<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Silence alarms<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Stop pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Things I can do very carefully or with a bit of verification by a sighted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change basal rates<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Restart pump after it has been stopped<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change or add new insulin/carb ratios<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Things requiring initial assistance that helped:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Customize menus, removing items I could not use<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Some initial pump setup was faster with assistance<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Things I can do easily on the computer with CoZmanager software:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Send complete pump settings to a new pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Verify anything changed in the pump itself<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Access and change all pump settings and configuration:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> time/date, insulin sensitivity and duration, target BG, alarms,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> and more.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Change or add basal patterns<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Set up temporary basal profiles<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> For me one of the most important benefits of using an insulin pump is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>taking advantage of the "insulin on board" feature, especially when<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>correcting for high blood glucose readings. Here's a description of how I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>do this on the Cozmo:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I've programmed a target BG level into my pump at 100. Let's say I do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>a finger stick, and my reading is 180. In the Cozmo I'd do the following:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hit the next button once to wake up the pump and hit it again to get into<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the menus. Hit down-arrow once for the correction bolus screen and press<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>next to select it. The screen shows 100, and I must hit the up-arrow until<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I reach 180. So I'm listening for the keypad beeps as I count to 80.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Then I hit next to continue. At this point the screen displays either<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>how much insulin I need or how much is being subtracted if I still have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>insulin remaining in my system from a previous bolus. I can't read this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>display, but if I hit the up-arrow and hear no beep, it means that the pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>doesn't think I need any more insulin. I hit "next" again, and here I can<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>override the pump if I choose by hitting the up-arrow till I've added the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>amount I want. I then hit next again to finish. This feature would not be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>available to me at all without the keypad beeps as feedback during the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>process.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On the Cozmo being able to separate the correction bolus from the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>meal bolus means less opportunity to forget which screen I'm on. No pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>currently on the market comes with software which allows the user to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>program the pump from the computer using a screen reader.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Asante Snap Pump Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Easy cartridge loading: This pump uses pre-filled cartridges<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> that just snap into the pump; this eliminates any worry about<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> air bubbles.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No priming necessary<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Battery is part of the cartridge which is replaced<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . It uses proprietary cannulas which required a bit of trickery to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> figure out the orientation before inserting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Button pushes involve pressing a button on one end of the pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> and confirming by pressing a button on another end, so often<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> requiring two hands<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . An easy bolus can be set up, but it is way down in the menus;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> doing this means that we'd give up other features.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Items that one might want to ask a sighted person to review,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> such as amount left in cartridge or insulin on board, are way<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> down in menus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No keypad beeps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Button pushes are fairly steady but mistakes could happen<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> without feedback; these mistakes happen because pressing a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> button too hard can cause the pump to scroll, and sometimes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> button presses just don't take.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Some studies were begun to develop speech output for this pump.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Unfortunately Asante has gone out of business as of May 15, 2015, and this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pump is no longer available. Customers are being referred to Animas.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Medtronic MiniMed 530G Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This pump comes with an integrated continuous glucose monitor and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>connects through Bluetooth to the Bayer Contour meter. During my demo it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was difficult to get the representative to discuss any method of doing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>anything that didn't involve making use of the remote features.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Batteries easy to change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cartridge easy to change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Priming easy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . All cannulas proprietary and I found them more challenging to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>insert<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Home screen button for getting out of menus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No easy bolus button on side or edge of pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Easy bolus wizard still requires a lot of button pushes and pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> taken out of hiding place<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No keypad beeps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No way to enter correction bolus without going through wizard<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> which includes meal bolus; this means extra steps to answer yes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> or no; just more opportunity to lose one's place<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Easy to have someone read insulin remaining in cartridge;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> insulin on board is better than it used to be but still buried a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> bit<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Can run temporary basal but tricky to change regular basal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>rates<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Could not figure out how to enter BG reading manually<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Could not figure out how to set up combo or extended bolus<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Stopping the pump was reasonably easy, although this is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> connected with the CGM based on programmed readings<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Different sounds for low and high CGM alarms but no way to read<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> CGM output or interpret other alarms from predictive alerts<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Pump cannot be used with the Dexcom Share app because it is a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> different model of CGM<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Computer software only designed to send information from pump to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> healthcare team<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Unfortunately the rep was so intent on telling me what was wrong with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all of the other pumps that it was difficult to get some questions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>answered. The rep could not seem to grasp that simply using the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>accompanying meter and sending a blood glucose reading to the pump was not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>acceptable because we still need to know what our readings are.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Animas Vibe and Ping Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The Animas Vibe includes the Dexcom G4 continuous glucose monitor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>while the Ping includes a meter which serves as a remote. The meter is not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>accessible although those who can work with a high-contrast device may find<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Animas to be a satisfactory choice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Batteries easy to change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cartridges easy to change<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Priming easy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cannulas and tubing: uses any luer lock sets<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No keypad beeps except when using "audio bolus" button<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Easy-to-feel bolus button on the end of the pump; can deliver in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> units of insulin, not in grams of carbs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Most actions require more confirmation steps than they do on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> many other pumps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Would be able to enter BG manually if one could verify by keypad<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> beeps; as it is, pressing button a bit too hard can cause<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> scrolling which would lead to errors<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Had trouble figuring out combo and extended boluses<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Did not get to try to enter basal patterns.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Custom sounds can be used for some alarms, but not critical ones<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> like low battery or cartridge.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Pressing up- or down-arrow several times will eventually arrive<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> at the top or bottom of a menu because menu does not wrap.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Information could be quickly read by a sighted person if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> desired.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Pump includes CalorieKing database, but it's not accessible.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . The Vibe has a button on top which when pressed shows the output<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> from the Dexcom; handy if there's someone else around to read<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> it; cannot use Vibe with Dexcom SHARE.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Insulet OmniPod Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This pump has no tubing. Insulin is stored in the "pod," and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>communication occurs with a remote. Because insulin is stored in the pod,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not in the main pump, this pump is not currently covered by Medicare.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The remote contains a FreeStyle meter which is not accessible. Both<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the pods and the remote have gotten smaller since this pump first came on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the market.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Pods very easy to insert<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Filling pod takes a bit of creativity if you don't fill<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> completely. For instance, if you don't use 200 units of insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> in three days<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . ID screen can be daunting: To turn on pump, press "on" then one<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> must press "yes." However, this is either the left or right soft<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> button, and there's no way for user to know which it is for any<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> given session.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Also requires many button presses to confirm actions. "Yes" and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "no" are not always consistently assigned to predictable soft<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> buttons.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Home button always takes user out of menus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No quick or easy bolus option; must go through wizard.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . No keypad beeps<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Can enter BG reading manually but no feedback from keypad beeps;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> buttons don't tend to scroll so easily.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . More identical-sounding alarms such as out of range of pod,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> malfunctioning pod, etc.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Must go very deep into menus if asking sighted person to read<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> information.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . OmniPod plans to incorporate a Dexcom CGM in the future.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Unfortunately, beginning with its next model, the OmniPod will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> be another touchscreen pump.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Tandem T:slim Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This is a touchscreen pump. Unfortunately the icons on the screen do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not land in the same area for each page so a usable template could not be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>created to aid in locating items.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Battery charges by connecting to USB for fifteen minutes a day.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cartridge very different from other pumps but fillable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Priming takes longer but is doable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cannulas: can use standard luer lock sets; bought patents from<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Smiths Medical.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Very nice low-pitched confirmation and keypad beeps.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Easy quick bolus button on edge of pump; bolus in units of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>insulin<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Screen bright with good contrast<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Turning on pump depends on tricky timing and pressing a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sequence of buttons.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Almost all features show varying screens after user answers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>question.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Could not independently perform any actions on pump.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Plans to incorporate Dexcom CGM in future model<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Roche Accu-Chek Spirit Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The pump can be controlled on the unit itself or via a remote.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Battery changing: easy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cartridge very standard<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Priming easy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Cannulas: uses standard luer lock sets<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Unit has keypad beeps and audio feedback for completion of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>actions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Only most basic functions can be performed from pump.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Can set temporary basals easily<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Can change regular basal rates with some difficulty<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . All smart features require remote.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Remote has no keypad beeps.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Remote relies on "wizards" to guide user through questions;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> almost impossible to memorize functions or patterns<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> . Inaccessible meter is included but does not directly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>communicate with pump<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Dexcom G4 Review:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The unit itself is not accessible when setting alarm ranges. High and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>low alarms do sound different, but alarms such as problems with transmitter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or receiver do not stand out. BG readings appear on the display every five<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>minutes along with a graph which shows how rapidly the user's BG level is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>rising or falling.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On the unit itself, I could silence an alarm even though I couldn't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>identify the cause of some of them. Calibration required concentration but<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was possible. Dexcom SHARE no longer requires the user to purchase a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>separate receiver. The SHARE app for iDevices and Android allows the Dexcom<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>display to be seen on the device containing the app. Screenreaders may read<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the most recent number, but there is no representation of the graphs. The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Apple Watch is simply considered another external device and does not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>behave any differently from an iPhone or iPad.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I found the CGM felt like a lot of work for someone who does not have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hypoglycemia unawareness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In conclusion, I have no idea which pump I'd purchase if my Cozmo<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reached the end of its life today. I hope that as long as some pumps and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>other medical devices still rely on buttons for their operation, companies<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can be convinced to return keypad beeps as an option for all users. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>certainly hope that the current fascination with touchscreen devices does<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not preclude those who are blind from obtaining the same standard of care<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>afforded to those who are sighted. But for now, a serious gap remains.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Gabe Vega in his office.]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Business and Being Blind: One Man's Winning Combination<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Gary Wunder<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> As we navigate the job market of the second decade of the twenty-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>first century, it is clear that small businesses are coming to play an ever-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>increasing role in the workforce of our country and that many of us who<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>once would have worked for someone else will have to create our own<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>businesses to thrive in this economy. A number of people have speculated<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about this change, opining that it is a good thing for blind people because<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>they believe we will encounter less discrimination in working for ourselves<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>than in trying to work for someone else. Still others say that the same<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>kind of discrimination that keeps us from being hired in private- and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>public-sector jobs still exists when we go to look for bank loans, try to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>network to create business associates and a customer base, and strive to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>work with technology which is either inaccessible or at the least<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>inefficient.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This article focuses on the former view, and the business we will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>highlight is Commtech LLC and its founder and owner-operator, Gabe Vega.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Gabe created his company in 2008. But before we talk about his business,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>let's focus first on the man.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Gabe was born in 1985, and from the first he was considered<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>precocious. He graduated from high school at sixteen, went to a community<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>college to study computer and information science, and at eighteen he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>became certified by the A+ program run by CompTIA, the Computing,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Technology, and Industry Association. This means he can build, repair,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>install, and troubleshoot hardware. He is also certified in computer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>networking, meaning he can implement, design, and repair network computers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in a corporate environment.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Though he finished with honors, getting a job was difficult. "I found<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that the attitude was that disabled people were less valuable than others.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>No matter what I said, no matter what I could show on paper, no matter what<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I could demonstrate, I never felt as though I was being treated as a first-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>class citizen." Beyond the issue of poor attitudes, Gabe realized he was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>living in a part of California rich with computer talent. At nineteen he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>decided to move to Phoenix and soon found a job working for the state of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Arizona. He was a technical support specialist, a job in which he provided<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>both remote and in-person repair. "It was a very rewarding job for one so<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>young. I had a decent salary, got the opportunity to travel throughout the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>state, and was able to work with both state and federal computer systems."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>He loved the technical challenges, loved exercising the analytical skills<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>required to diagnose problems, and enjoyed the feeling that came with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>making the systems perform as expected. Of no small benefit were the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>learning and confidence that came from each success he could claim as his<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>own.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> But not all was rosy when it came to feelings about his job. He was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>feeling stressed and eventually realized that it was not the technical<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>demands of the job but the interaction with fellow employees that was the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>source of his discomfort. "I found that I have no patience with office<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>politics. I can follow directions as well as the next person, but I can't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>go in multiple directions at the same time. I would get one directive one<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>day, a different one the next, and six different demands on the day<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>following. I kept asking myself why I was putting myself through this. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>concluded that I was too good at what I did to let stress get the better of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me and that there must be a way to do what I enjoyed and was good at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>without suffering the slings and arrows of those who were intent on power<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>games and turf battles."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> To his surprise and relief, Gabe found that as a vendor/contractor he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>could do the same work that he was doing as an employee of the state.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"There was no going to the office, no office politics, just doing the work<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I loved and thrived on completing."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Being an independent contractor meant that it was in Gabe's best<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>interests for him to get the simplest form of business incorporation, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>he became incorporated as DBA (doing business as). With his own small<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>business, he did the same technical work he was doing before and avoided<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the turf wars and office politics that had for some time been the major<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>source of his stress.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Starting in 2005, things went well. Income was up tenfold, stress was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>down to an acceptable level, and Gabe felt as though he had found the ideal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>job. But with the downturn in 2008, many of the state and federal customers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that had relied on him for service found their budgets cut. "When the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>bottom fell out in 2008, I found myself scrambling. It was quite a shock.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>All of a sudden those four-figure monthly checks began to fall, and I knew<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I had to do something in addition to contracting with the state and federal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>governments."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Eventually Gabe decided he had to change his business model. While he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would continue to market his services to large customers, he knew he must<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>include other groups who could benefit from his expertise and could pay for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it. A change in corporate status was required for him to operate the kind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of business that was taking shape in his head, and incorporating took<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>considerable time and money that he was hard pressed to find. So too did<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>finding office space, finding people, and putting in the telephones and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>servers required to conduct a nationwide business. In changing its focus to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>meet more needs from the private sector, the new business found that some<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of its contractors stayed and others left. The same was true with staff-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>some easily made the change, while others decided to go elsewhere. The new<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>business focused less on big state, federal, and corporate customers and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>more on business-to-business services, as well as direct service to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>consumers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> For businesses, Commtech USA, which has become his brand name,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>provides website development, accessibility consulting, user experience<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>evaluations, and accessibility checking to ensure Section 508 compliance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Commtech USA also provides computer network installation and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>troubleshooting services for businesses both large and small.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Despite his success, Gabe confesses blindness is still an issue in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>his mind, a fear he must work to overcome. "Sometimes my fear is still<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blindness. When I have a meeting with five important people (business<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>owners, executives, and high-ranking board members), my fear wants to take<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>control, and I start asking myself, 'Will they take me seriously, and will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I be convincing?' But when that meeting comes the next day and I hit it out<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of the ballpark, the gratification I feel from that is wonderful."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> A big part of Commtech USA's business has evolved to serve consumers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>One service is selling and exchanging cellular phones, a process many of us<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would consider visual given that most of the phones on the market today do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not talk or have any nonvisual interfaces. Gabe has learned the menus for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the phones he sells, and, by repeating the keystrokes necessary to navigate<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>menus and choices, he is able to configure the phones, change SIM cards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and update settings required by the carrier his customer chooses. "Mostly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>phones are pretty similar. All of them have a menu key, a settings menu, a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>tools menu, and a call log. I rely on my memory, and, on the rare occasions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>when that fails me, I can always rely on Google if I know how to ask it the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>right question. If in doubt, as a last resort I can ask the customer in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>front of me to confirm that I am where I think I am by having him or her<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>read me the screen."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Gabe uses a screen reader to set up accounts, accept payments, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>help customers choose plans that best meet their needs. "I don't depend on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sighted people, but I do have them on call for the times when they are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>needed. I try to use only tools that are accessible or at least as<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>accessible as they can be. This is my business, and, though sight is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sometimes indispensable, it is important that I do as much of this work as<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I can.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "You wouldn't believe how gratifying it is to interact with the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sighted public on a day-to-day basis in the consumer market and to know<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that they could not care less that you are blind. I tell them I am blind if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we meet in person, and most generally they say, 'Okay, can you do what I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>need done?' I tell them yes, and they watch as I help them pay their bill<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or set up their phone. They may see me feel around my desk or hear my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>computer talk, but what is important to them is that they are the customer,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and I can do what they are paying me to do. Blindness is off the table. To<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>them the important fact is that money changes hands, and they leave with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>what they came to get or to do."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Whether blind people want to learn about assistive technology or<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>learn to use office products, Commtech USA has a plan to fit their needs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>For $60 a month a consumer can get training and technical support by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>telephone, and, for those times when there is no substitute for vision, the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>plan includes three sessions in which a person with sight connects to a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>customer's machine, sees what is being displayed, and uses the mouse and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>keyboard to perform the inaccessible functions required.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "I'm an NFB member, and I'm on a number of our listservs to talk<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about jobs, rehabilitation, education, and how to train the trainers. I see<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the questions being asked: 'Will they hire me? Will they accept me? What<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>kinds of things can I do if I'm blind?' I think we have to get out of this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>state of mind. The things I have accomplished as a blind man have exceeded<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my wildest dreams because, after all the questions, all the anxiety, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all the self-doubt, I just went out there and did it, keeping in mind that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I am Gabe Vega, I am a technician, and, as long as I can do a job that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>satisfies my customers, my blindness isn't going to hold me back."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Ann Sywensky with her husband Will, daughter Katie, and son<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ryan]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> How Life Influences the Daughter of a Federationist<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> and What She Tells the World about It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Ann Sywensky<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Ann Sywensky is the mother of two children and the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>daughter of Tom Bickford, a well-known Federationist whose convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>presentation during our seventy-fifth year celebration was featured in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>August/September 2015 issue of the Braille Monitor. She credits her father<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with teaching her to think as a feminist and as an advocate. Ann is a non-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>traditional student pursuing a master's degree in education at Cedar Crest<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This paper, written for her class<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"Special Education Process, Transition and the Exceptional Child,"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>demonstrates what she has learned through her contact with the National<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Federation of the Blind and through the example of one of its staunchest<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>members. Here is what she says:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> For homework this week I was asked to research and find a landmark<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>special education court case that has informed the public on how to deliver<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>special education services. Here is my submission:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The court case I chose is J.M. and H.M. v. Oceanport Board of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Education. This case took place in New Jersey in 2011 with a decision<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>handed down in 2012. Hank is a child with a disability which renders him<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>legally blind, even though he has some sight. In 2008, as Hank entered<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>second grade, his mother and father noticed that he struggled with reading.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The longer he read, the more his eyes bothered him. In addition his fluency<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and comprehension decreased the longer he read. The parents approached the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>school district and asked them to provide Braille instruction for Hank.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hank was evaluated by the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Impaired (NJCBVI), the agency contracted by the school district to assist<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with visually-impaired students. The NJCBVI did not recommend Braille<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>instruction because they said Hank was better off in the "sighted world."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The school asked the parents why they wanted to "do that to him," as though<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>teaching him Braille was harmful, or negative.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Hank's parents continued to request Braille instruction over the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>course of the next three school years. They had Hank evaluated by other<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>experts and presented that data, but the school district still refused.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Finally Hank's parents got assistance from the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind (NFB). The NFB helped the family file a due process hearing in 2011.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The hearing lasted nine days in court, but the days were staggered across<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seven months. Finally, in 2012 the court declared that the school district<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>must provide Braille instruction for Hank. They found that the evidence<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>brought by the family was more research- and data-based than that of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>school district.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I am disheartened that it took such a long battle for this family to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ensure functional literacy for their son. Having a small amount of sight<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>does not always mean that the use of that sight is the best way to do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>things. With good instruction Hank should be able to read better and faster<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with Braille than with print. Educators must take a family's requests<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>seriously and must look at good data and recommendations to ensure proper<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>placement and services for blind students. Cane travel instruction and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille materials are two very important tools that can be used by people<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>even if they have some sight. Through the efforts of the NFB, IDEA (The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was amended in 1997 to state<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that schools must provide Braille instruction and the use of Braille to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blind children.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Thank you NFB for help with my homework!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> A Matter of Justice: Our Fight to Obtain Braille Instruction<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Holly Miller<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: This article appeared in Future Reflections Summer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2012 issue, and describes with more detail the battles between the Miller<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>family and the school and the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Visually Impaired. This was how the article was introduced the first time:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>When news of the judge's ruling in the Hank Miller case leaped over the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>internet, Federationists applauded across the country. Holly Miller's story<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is one of conviction and perseverance. Because his family refused to have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>low expectations, Hank Miller will get the chance to live up to his full<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>potential. You can read the Miller case online or download the judge's 69-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>page ruling. However, URLs are subject to frequent changes, and often you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>must pay a fee to download a case from a website. To download a free copy<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of this case, enter the case name (J.M. and H.M. v. Oceanport Board of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Education) in a Google search box or similar program, then from among the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>answers, tap on the link from <www.special-ed-law.com>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Holly Miller is a member of the board of the Parents of Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Children of New Jersey as well as a member of the NOPBC board. In addition<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to Hank and a seventeen-year-old son, Red, she has a greyhound named Louie<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>who is blind from birth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On August 18, 2008, I sent an email to the special services director<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of our school district, suggesting that our son, Hank, might need Braille.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hank was getting ready to enter second grade. I'll admit that at that point<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my husband and I weren't 100 percent convinced Braille was the answer for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>him, but we saw signs that Hank was having trouble reading print, and we<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>felt he should be evaluated.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Hank had enough vision to see large print, but eye fatigue limited<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the length of time he was able to read. It was a physical effort for him to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>see words on the printed page. The longer he had to read, the less he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>understood what he read.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Two months after I sent our original email, we were granted a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>meeting, at which the state-employed teacher of the visually impaired (TVI)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>gasped, "I'd hate to do that to him!" By that she meant Braille, of course.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Undaunted, we pressed for a learning media assessment. The assessment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was done, but the results were not presented to us until February. Even<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>though the reading stamina portion of the evaluation was left blank, we<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>were told that Braille was not appropriate for our son.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) presumes Braille to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>be the primary reading method for legally blind students. Yet, although<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hank is legally blind, we were forced to prove that Braille was appropriate<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for him.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Over the following months, we sent countless emails and letters and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>attended one meeting after another. We prepared for each meeting carefully,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>bringing articles and advocates. We secured an attorney. We switched<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>attorneys. Evaluations were done by both sides.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The school personnel and the professionals at the New Jersey Commission for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the Blind and Visually Impaired (NJCBVI) were immovable. Nothing we did,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>said, or presented swayed their firmly made-up minds. They told us that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hank was a sighted reader, that he was better off as part of the sighted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>world. They insisted that Hank's wonderful approach to learning would be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>thwarted if we forced him to learn Braille. "Why would you want to make him<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>more blind?" they demanded. They seemed to believe we were trying to do<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>something to him instead of for him. We jokingly called it Munchhausen by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille-a reference to Munchhausen by proxy, the phenomenon by which<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>parents deliberately cause their children to become ill.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> As the months-then years-went by, we emphasized repeatedly that our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>concern was Hank's inability to handle sustained reading tasks. We were<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>assured that sustained reading wasn't a problem, even though the district<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>never tested it. During this time, Hank was kept in the resource room for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reading, five days a week, ninety minutes a day. He spent 25 percent of his<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>school day in the resource room. When we asked why, we were given a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>multitude of reasons, but we were skeptical about all of them. The fact<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that Hank's eyes couldn't keep up with the regular classroom workload was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>never on the list.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The testing done by the school district showed that Hank had no<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>reading disability on a cognitive level. However, when we asked the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>district to evaluate his sustained reading, the evaluation never took<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>place. Our own experts did sustained reading evaluations, and we shared the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>results with the NJCBVI. These tests all showed that Hank did very well on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>short reading tasks, but when he read for longer periods of time (ten to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>twenty minutes), his speed, accuracy, comprehension, and retention fell<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>significantly. These results clearly illustrated that Hank's vision was the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>problem, not his mind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Despite our findings, the school district and the NJCBVI still<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>declared that Braille was inappropriate for Hank. It became apparent that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>nothing we could do would change their thinking. The only way Hank would<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ever get Braille instruction would be through a court order.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>By this time our story had caught the attention of Dr. Marc Maurer,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>President of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). With the might of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the NFB behind us, we filed for due process in June 2011. Our legal team<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>consisted of Jayne Wesler from Sussan & Greenwald in New Jersey and Sharon<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Krevor-Weisbaum and Jessie Weber from Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Baltimore.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The hearing lasted nine days, but those nine days were spread over seven<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>months. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but turn they did. On May 3,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2012, we received the decision from the administrative law judge. Hank<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would receive Braille instruction!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The judge found our evidence to be more research- and data-based than<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that presented by the NJCBVI and that it was supported by evaluations<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>geared toward Hank's specific disability. She found that both the district<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and the NJCBVI had a bias against Braille. "The comment that H.M. has to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>stay in a sighted world shows a bias against Braille because it infers that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille is a lesser medium than the technology that she recommends," the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>judge said in her ruling. "H.M. is a legally blind student who has<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>functional vision. He can live in the sighted world, learning and using<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Braille as an alternative reading tool, along with assistive technology. It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is more logical that doing so will enhance his learning rather than thwart<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The ruling ordered that Hank receive Braille instruction ninety<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>minutes per day, five days a week. This is very important, because studies<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>show that frequent and intense Braille instruction is critical for a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>student to master the code. Hank will also receive three years of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>compensatory education. This will take the form of summer instruction,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>including attendance at the Buddy Program at the Louisiana Center for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On July 10, 2012, nearly four years after we made our initial request<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for Braille, Hank had his first official Braille lesson. We cannot wait to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>see how his reading takes off from here. He is such a smart, inquisitive<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>boy, and it was terrible to watch him avoid reading because it hurt his<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>eyes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> We cannot begin to express how deeply thankful we are to everyone<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>involved in Hank's case. Even though we knew we were right, we did not have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the resources to prove it on our own. Without the NFB behind us, Hank never<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>would have gotten Braille instruction. It is our greatest hope that other<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>families can use our case as an example with their schools, avoiding the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>need to bring legal action.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Dan Hicks]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Driving a Nail<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Dan J. Hicks<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Dan Hicks is the immediate past president of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>National Federation of the Blind of Florida, and he and his wife Gloria<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>have long been strong and articulate Federationists. Here are remarks he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>made at the 2016 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Florida:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> It has been said that if you give a person a hammer, every job will<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>look like it needs a nail. It has also been said that ideas are like genes:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>they travel from mind to mind, propagating in something like the way genes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>travel from generation to generation. Genes that help to make an organism<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>stronger and able to survive to pass the genes on will be more common,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>maybe even prevalent. Ideas which prove beneficial to one mind will be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>passed to other minds. Hopefully, good ideas will drive out bad ideas. It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>doesn't always happen this way, but when it does, it can benefit everyone,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and real progress can be made. Thus does cultural evolution take place.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> More than thirty years ago, biologist Richard Dawkins used the word<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>"meme" to refer to an idea which spread from mind to mind in this fashion.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>When I was about nine or ten, my father gave my younger brother Dallis and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me each tool kits, complete with kid-size tools, for Christmas. He wanted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>us to learn to use and take care of tools, and I think he wanted to make<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sure we would keep our hands off his own adult-size tools. In the metal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>boxes were screwdrivers, a tape measure, a level, a saw, and a hammer. The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>saws were the weakest of the bunch, being small even by our standards.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Neither were they very sharp, fit only for cutting small pieces of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>softest woods. But all of the other tools were quite serviceable.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Mostly we used the hammers. It was made quite clear that we were not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to use them on each other.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> And, although these hammers were smaller than their full-sized<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>counterparts, they were far from light, capable of doing real work-and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>smashing fingers and thumbs. So, before we were allowed to use the hammers<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for the first time, my dad gave us a lesson on how he used one to drive a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>nail into a piece of wood.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> We scrounged the field in back of our house for scraps of wood,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>debating on just what we might build out of the mismatched pieces we found.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The only thing that I can recall completing was a strange kind of box-which<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we used to hold other scraps of wood.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> My dad had always been legally blind, and his vision worsened as he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>became an adult. Although Dallis has perfect vision, I have always been<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>legally blind. My dad possessed a great technique to avoid hitting one's<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fingers while driving a nail. This is the technique he showed us: position<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the nail where you want it to go. Tap it gently several times with the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hammer to get it started. When you feel the nail is in far enough to stand<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>on its own for a moment, take your hand away and give it a good whack with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the hammer-just one. Feel the nail with your fingers to make sure it is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>going in straight, and give it another tap. This will reorient the head of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the hammer with the head of the nail. Take your fingers away and give the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>nail another good whack!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Repeat these last couple of steps until the nail is just about in.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>You can finish with a few hard whacks once you are sure the nail will end<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>up exactly as you intended, but for most of the nail pounding, your motions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>will be an alternating tap whack, tap whack, tap whack!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I have always done it this way. It works well if you have no vision,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>low vision, or very good vision. I have shown this method to sighted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>friends and found them instantly adopting it as their default method of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>driving a nail. One guy told me his buddy looked at him strangely once when<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>he was using it, and he explained that he has never hit his thumb with the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hammer since he started using the hammer that way. His friend was convinced<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and immediately adopted the technique. So the meme has spread.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Still, I know there are other methods of driving a nail, and they<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>must work for those who use them. Whatever works is best for each tool<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>user.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> My wife and I recently moved from a residential area where, on just<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about every block, houses had been torn down, and new, larger, more<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>expensive homes were being built in their place. It gets hot here in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Florida. Builders often start work quite early in the day.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On many mornings as I walked to the bus stop, I would pass by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>construction sites where workers would be hammering. I would listen to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>them. Often I heard the crack of nail guns or the steady bang-bang-bang of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>nails being pounded in with steady, equal strokes. But, on more than a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>couple of occasions, I would hear what sounded like tap whack, tap whack,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>tap whack.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I wonder-did the person hammering in such a way pick up that meme<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>from someone who picked it up from someone, who picked it up from someone<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>... who picked it up from my dad, or was it from someone who taught the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>technique to my dad? Did that particular carpenter happen to come up with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the technique on his own? It's not a particularly radical idea. I could see<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it being invented many times over by people who don't like the feel of hard<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>steel impacting their fingers and thumbs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Or could it just be the sound of two workers who happen to have their<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pounding oddly synchronized, one of them hitting the nail much harder than<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the other? I prefer the other possibilities.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> My dad is now totally blind and doing more woodworking than ever<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>before, usually by himself. When I have visited my parents, I have been<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>astounded and impressed by the quality of the workmanship in some of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pieces he has completed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> He says he can't imagine hammering a nail any other way than that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>which he showed my brother and me more than forty years ago. I can't<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>imagine doing it any other way either.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Long-Term Training<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Danny R. Robinson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Danny Robinson lives in Oklahoma and has recently<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>taken advantage of the push to get blind people in Oklahoma to embrace<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>intensive training in the skills of blindness. What makes this article so<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>compelling is his honesty. Before training he thought he understood<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>blindness, reconciling himself to limitations he thought reasonable for a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person without sight. To his credit, when offered a different perspective,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>he did not get defensive, did not tell those trying to help him that he had<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>been blind long enough that he already knew everything significant there<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was to know about it. No, he listened to what they said and was brave<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>enough and sufficiently excited to see if what he was being told could<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>change his life. He risked to touch a dream, gave the time it required, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>now has quite a story to tell. Here it is:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I would like to start this by thanking Mr. Doug Boone for allowing me<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the opportunity to make the choice to go to the Louisiana Center for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind in Ruston, Louisiana (LCB). I was certainly apprehensive about making<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the decision to leave my wife, children, and the many duties on the farm. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was also concerned about leaving a newly acquired position in the agency.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>While I knew the day-to-day operations would continue without me, I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>wondered if any of the ideas I had about change would truly be effective.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>It wasn't until later that I would realize that I had just begun to think<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>about a term that Mr. Boone introduced me to called "possibility thinking."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services supports<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>participants in programs called long-term training; I would argue that the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>name or phrase should be "skills for the long term." The skills and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>abilities that I worked on during my thirty-day experience there could not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>have been gained and were not mastered in the previous sixteen years of my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>acquired blindness. One of the reasons for this was because the skill of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>independent travel by way of structured discovery was not offered in my<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>area. Honestly I was too busy focusing on work, family, and other<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>distractions to have learned it anyway. To me this is the beauty of being<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>able to go away to learn without having to worry about outside factors;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that is certainly not to say I was able to turn off my concern for what was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>happening while I was gone: it just was not right in front of me to stumble<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>over.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Another of those skills that I was able to really work on in a short<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>period of time was the acquisition of Braille skills. While I know I did<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not come out as a proficient reader of Braille, I can certainly now read a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>basic book or letter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The experience that I had personally-and please understand that I am<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not saying this is true for everyone-showed me that the majority of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>barriers that I faced both personally and professionally were placed upon<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>me by none other than myself! I began to see that these barriers existed<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>due to my lack of skills to operate independently and to use what already<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>existed physically. What do I mean by this: I would not travel<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>independently using all the transportation available to me: bus, train,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>plane, and other ways. I would not use these without having either my wife<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or a driver to take me. When someone asked if I had a pocket knife, I used<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to joke that my wife would not let me play with sharp objects. Honestly it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was my fear of cutting myself that caused me not to have one. It is truly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>these small things that determine our level of independence, and without<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>gaining the skills that I did during my time there, I would still be locked<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>in the warp of thinking I was independent, not knowing there could be more.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I can honestly say that it was not until my second week of training<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that I began to see what the term "possibility thinking" was all about. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>began to understand that travel, Braille, and independent living skills<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>were based in problem solving and thinking ahead about what could happen if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I learned to use the techniques being imparted to me by the staff. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>personally was too afraid and frustrated at times to figure this out in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>first week. By the third week I was traveling most places under sleep<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>shades by myself without the staff having to look over my shoulder. I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>so proud of my accomplishment in this area that I made a special effort to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>travel to and from the stores by myself. I can say that the feeling of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>empowerment is almost unexplainable to anyone who has not faced all of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fears of blindness internally and those fears placed upon us by others.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Most people want to keep a blind person safe, so they tend to remove<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all of the responsibilities that might involve something considered<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>dangerous or a task that they would not consider blind-friendly. The tasks<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I did in my life prior to training were those that society believes a blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person could do. I would add that I have been amazed through the years by<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>how many professionals I have worked with who always ask "What can a blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>person do?" I would have to step back and laugh because I thought I was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>actually being an example.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Today I have the privilege of saying that I am as independent as I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>want to be, not limited by the lack of skills and the limited perception of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my abilities, but by the choices I make to learn as I go. I choose when I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>want to go somewhere, not allowing the lack of skills to hold me back. I<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>thought my life was over when I gave up the keys to my car; now I realize<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that you can take my keys, but you cannot take my skills away. Please let<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>my experience and my life speak to you about what it is to wake up to the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>idea of "possibility thinking" and go to bed knowing that you are doing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>everything you can to make it your reality.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I would like to leave everyone with a short poem I wrote years ago<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for a class in my undergraduate program, not knowing then what it would<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>mean to me now:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Lonesome, like blind, is a mere state of mind,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>You are lonesome if you choose to be,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>You are blind if you choose not to see,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>If you open your mind, you could never be blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>And lonesome you will never be.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I can confidently say that I will never be lonesome because I belong<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to an awesome family at the Louisiana Center for the Blind and the Oklahoma<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Department of Rehabilitation Services because I chose to open my mind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Julie Deden]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> A Thank You for What You Are Giving to Our Grandson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by LaVonne Butler<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: The work we do at NFB training centers is, to say<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the least, transformative. Here is a letter from a grateful grandparent<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>that speaks to what contact with positive blind people can do in the life<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of a young person trying to find his way. Julie Deden is the executive<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>director of the Colorado Center for the Blind, and it is to her that this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>thanks is directed:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>March 1, 2016<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Julie Deden<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Colorado Center for the Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Dear Julie:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>John and I came to Littleton this past weekend to visit Alex. We were so<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>very pleased. There is an expression about watching your prayers be<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>answered, and we felt like we were doing that in the time we had with him!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>He is happy, confident, and more content then we have ever seen him. His<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>friend Shelby came to lunch with us Saturday, and it was so delightful<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>listening to them talk of their time there at the center.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I do not even know where to start sharing it with you. I guess first<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>was the way they discussed how familiar they were with the area. They<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>talked about their favorite places to eat. We would say, "How do you get<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>there?" The answer was the bus or the light rail. They used their canes so<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>comfortably. There was no reaching for someone to offer support and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>direction! I could not believe it when they were talking about being at the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>bus stop at 7:00 AM to catch the bus to go to class. When we walked into<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the apartment Alex shares with Alex Garcia, we were thrilled with how<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>spotless it was. Alex was invited to dinner the night we were there and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>invited to a friend's place for a card game. He seems quite social and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>confident. They discussed their classes. They talked enthusiastically about<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>skiing. Shelby had a fantastic video someone had taken of her skiing, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>it was put to music. Alex says he loved skiing. He discussed his math tutor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and how surprised he had been to find out he really liked math. She has<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>volunteered to be available to him when he goes to school by Skyping.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> During one conversation we were having with Alex, he mentioned that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>actually he found that he was quite charismatic. He is, and it is nice he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is developing in a way to be aware of it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I want to compliment you Julie on how comfortable he feels with your<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>open door policy. A couple of times he mentioned that if he needs to, he<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can walk in and see Julie. He feels secure that he is welcome to come in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and speak to you about any issue he is dealing with. But, most importantly,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>he knows that you care sincerely!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I feel I am not adequately putting into words the sincere feelings of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>appreciation and happiness for all you have done to help not just Alex but<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all of these individuals who have come to your center for training. One<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>memory I will always carry with me is the happy, excited faces of Alex and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Shelby as they shared with us the adventures they were having at the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>center. They were alive, they were living their life, and they felt<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>confident this was just the first step toward the independent, fulfilled<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>future that is waiting for them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Julie, please accept my sincere and deepest appreciation for what you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and the center are doing!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blessings,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>LaVonne L. Butler<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Amazon, Blind Federation Reach Agreement on Accessibility<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Mark Sherman<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: This article first appeared in Special Education<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Today on March 8, 2016. It is gratefully reproduced with the permission of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the publisher.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> For several years, the National Federation of the Blind has been on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Amazon's case for e-books and e-book distribution systems that are not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>fully accessible. In 2013, for example, it wrote to state education<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>departments, saying, "The inaccessibility of Kindle e-books will grossly<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>inhibit blind and print-disabled students from attaining the goals set<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>forth in the Common Core State Standards. Moreover, school districts in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>your state that introduce Kindle e-books into the curriculum will, as<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>explained below, be violating federal law." Likewise, NFB protested last<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>year when the New York City Education Department was considering entering<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>into a contract with Amazon.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "Amazon's lack of regard for accessibility when creating Kindle e-<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>book content would leave blind students and teachers far behind their<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>sighted peers if NYC DOE chooses to proceed with the proposed contract with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Amazon," it said in a letter dated Aug. 13. On March 2, however, NFB<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>announced an agreement under which it would help the company avoid such<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>problems going forward.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "Amazon and the National Federation of the Blind will collaborate on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>improvements to Amazon's education content, platforms, and applications,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and will meet on an ongoing basis to review progress and exchange ideas and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>feedback," it said. "Initial results of this collaboration are expected<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>this year and beyond."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Amazon welcomes the agreement, according to spokeswoman Stephany<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Rochon. "We are seeing more educational institutions embrace digital<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>learning, and this shift provides a great opportunity to improve<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>accessibility for blind students," she said in an email. "We look forward<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to collaborating with the National Federation of the Blind to work together<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>on Amazon's education content, platforms, and applications for the blind."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Rochon did not discuss the contract with New York City except to say, "We<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>look forward to working closely with NYC DOE to serve the educational needs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of all their students."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Allen Harris<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> From the Editor: Allen Harris is the chairman of the Kenneth Jernigan<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Fund Committee and was one of the people who came up with the idea of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>honoring our former president and longtime leader by establishing a program<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to promote attendance at the national convention, where so much inspiration<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and learning occur. Here is Allen's announcement about the 2016 Kenneth<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund Program:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Have you always wanted to attend an NFB annual convention but have<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not done so because of the lack of funds? The Kenneth Jernigan Convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Scholarship Fund invites you to make an application for a scholarship<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>grant. Perhaps this July you too can be in the Rosen Centre Hotel in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Orlando, Florida, enjoying the many pleasures and learning opportunities at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the largest and most important yearly convention of blind people in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The three biggest ticket items you need to cover when attending an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>NFB national convention are the roundtrip transportation, the hotel room<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for a week, and the food (which tends to be higher priced than at home). We<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>attempt to award additional funds to families, but, whether a family or an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>individual is granted a scholarship, this fund can only help; it won't pay<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all the costs. Last year most of the sixty grants were in the range of $400<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to $500 per individual.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> We recommend that you find an NFB member as your personal convention<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>mentor, someone who has been to many national conventions and is able to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>share money-saving tips with you and tips on navigating the extensive<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>agenda in the big hotel. Your mentor will help you get the most out of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>amazing experience that is convention week.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Who is eligible?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Active NFB members, blind or sighted, who have not yet attended an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>NFB national convention because of lack of funding are eligible to apply.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> How do I apply for funding assistance?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 1. You write a letter giving your contact information, and your local<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>NFB information, your specific amount requested, and then explain why this<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>is a good investment for the NFB. The points to cover are listed below.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 2. You contact your state president in person or by phone to request<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>his or her help in obtaining funding. Be sure to tell the president when to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>expect your request letter by email, and mention the deadline.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 3. You (or a friend) send your letter by email to your state<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>president. He or she must add a president's recommendation and then email<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>both letters directly to the Kenneth Jernigan Convention Scholarship Fund<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Committee. Your president must forward the two letters no later than April<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>15, 2016.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Your letter to Chairperson Allen Harris must cover these points:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.Your full name, and all your telephone numbers and label them-cell phone,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>home, office, other person (if any).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.Your mailing address and, if you have one, your email address.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.Your state affiliate and state president; your chapter and chapter<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>president, if you attend a chapter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.Your personal convention mentor, and provide that person's phone number.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.Your specific request:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Explain how much money you need from this fund to make this trip<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>possible for you. We suggest you consult with other members to make a rough<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>budget for yourself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The body of your letter should answer these questions:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> How do you currently participate in the Federation? Why do you want<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to attend a national convention? What would you receive; what can you share<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>or give? You can include in your letter to the committee any special<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>circumstances you hope they will take into consideration.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> When will I be notified that I am a winner?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> If you are chosen to receive this scholarship, you will receive a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>letter with convention details that should answer most of your questions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The committee makes every effort to notify scholarship winners by May 15,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>but you must do several things before that to be prepared to attend if you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>are chosen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 1. Make your own hotel reservation. If something prevents you from<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>attending, you can cancel the reservation. (Yes, you may arrange for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>roommates of your own to reduce the cost.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 2. Register online for the entire convention, including the banquet,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by May 31. (Note: This is not refundable if you do not attend convention.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>You may want to register between May 15 and May 30.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 3. Find someone in your chapter or affiliate who has been to many<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>conventions and can answer your questions as a friend and advisor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> 4. If you do not hear from the committee by May 15, then you did not<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>win a grant this year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> How will I receive my convention scholarship?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> At convention you will be given a debit card or credit card loaded<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>with the amount of your award. The times and locations to pick up your card<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>will be listed in the letter we sent you. The committee is not able to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>provide funds before the convention, so work with your chapter and state<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>affiliate to assist you by obtaining an agreement to advance funds if you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>win a scholarship and to pay your treasury back after you receive your<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>debit or credit card.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> What if I have more questions? For additional information email the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>chairman, Allen Harris, at <kjscholarships@nfb.org> or call his Baltimore,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Maryland, office at (410) 659-9314, extension 2415.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Above all, please use this opportunity to attend your first<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>convention on the national level and join several thousand active<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Federationists in the most important meeting of the blind in the world. We<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>hope to see you in Orlando.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Recipes<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> This month's recipe comes from the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of Alabama, proudly showcasing one of their members who has built his own<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>business.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>[PHOTO CAPTION: Ivan Walker with his mother Minnie]<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Chef Ivan's Chicken Tetrazzini) <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> by Ivan Walker<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Chef Ivan Walker is a blind chef and owns Southern Fusion Catering in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Mobile, AL. He's also a personal chef, and offers private cooking classes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Chef Ivan is an active member of NFB's Mobile chapter, a graduate of The<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Art Institute of Atlanta, and the Louisiana Center for the Blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 whole roasted chicken (medium diced)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 box linguine pasta (chopped)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 fresh green bell pepper (medium chopped)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1-1/2 cups fresh mushrooms (sliced)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2 cans cream of chicken soup<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>2 cans cream of mushroom soup<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>3/4 cup parmesan cheese <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 cup French's Crispy Fried Onions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1/2 tbsp. roasted garlic<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 tbsp. Italian seasoning <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>1 tsp. salt or seasoning salt<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Method: First, sauti green bell pepper for two minutes on medium<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>heat, then add mushroom and roasted garlic. Continue cooking vegetables on<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>medium heat, and add Italian seasoning, salt, cream of chicken, cream of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>mushroom, and reduce heat to simmer for seven minutes, stirring<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>occasionally. Add roughly chopped pasta to a large mixing bowl and diced<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>chicken. Next, carefully pour the sautied pan mixture into the mixing bowl,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>being sure to mix thoroughly. Spray a nine-by-thirteen-inch casserole dish<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>generously with pan spray. Next, spread half the mixture evenly in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>casserole dish and layer half the cheese on top. Repeat until all of the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>pasta and cheese is used. Lastly, top the cheese with the French's onions<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for twenty<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>minutes, then enjoy! Serves four to six.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Monitor Miniatures<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> News from the Federation Family<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>New Federation Book Available:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The Power of Love, How Kenneth Jernigan Changed the World for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind has been published recently by iUniverse.com and is available in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>electronic format and in paperback from several online sellers. Amazon.com,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Barnes&Noble.com, Googlebooks.com, and several less-well-known sellers are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>all selling the electronic book for ten dollars or less, and paperbacks for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>somewhat more. This book includes twenty-nine chapters written by students<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and associates of Dr. Jernigan. It was edited by Ramona Walhof. For those<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>who knew Dr. Jernigan, it will bring back fond memories. For those who did<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>not know him, this book will offer insight into his activities and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>techniques that were so effective for the blind and for the Federation. Dr.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Jernigan served as President of the Federation from 1968 until 1986 with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>only one year interruption in that service, and he enjoyed working with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>people in many capacities. Both Federationists and nonmembers have learned<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>from him directly, from his writings, and from his students and associates.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>We urge you to read this book and tell your friends about it. Go ahead and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>announce it on social media!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In Brief<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>have edited only for space and clarity.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Vacancy at Oklahoma School for the Blind:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Job Announcement # 16-108 RE-ANNOUNCEMENT OF 16-047<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Position Title/Level/Code: School Superintendent, 1825<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Location: Oklahoma School for the Blind, Muskogee<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Number of Positions/PIN: (1) - Unclassified / 80500604<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Annual Salary Range: $80,600 to $93,600<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> On-campus housing will be provided to the selected<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> candidate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Beginning Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2016<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ending Date: Open until filled<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Essential Functions: Under administrative direction of the Director<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of the Department of Rehabilitation Services, the incumbent plans, directs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and coordinates all program activities at the Oklahoma School for the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind. The duties include planning, directing, and coordinating the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>educational, recreational, vocational, and residential programs;<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>developing, preparing and monitoring the annual budget and supervising<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>professional staff. Previous applicants will need to re-apply.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Education and Experience Requirements: A master's degree from an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>accredited college or university, an Oklahoma School Superintendent<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Certificate (or proof of application for an Oklahoma School Superintendent<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Certificate) and minimum of four years of experience, of which two years<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>must have been as a teacher and two years as a school supervisor or<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>administrator, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>NOTE: An Oklahoma School Superintendent Provisional or Emergency<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Certificate must be obtained prior to employment from the Oklahoma State<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Department of Education for those candidates that do not possess an<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Oklahoma School Superintendent Certificate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Method of Application: Risumis or vitae and an Oklahoma School<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Superintendent Certificate (or proof of application for an Oklahoma School<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Superintendent Certificate) will be accepted and must include educational<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and work background listing places of employment, beginning/ending dates of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>employment, and description of duties performed. Please submit references<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>along with risumi. Information should include a telephone number where you<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>can be reached during office hours, your mailing address, and the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>announcement number and position for which you are applying.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> Send to: Department of Rehabilitation Services, Attn: Human<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Resources, 3535 NW 58th Street, Suite 500, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> If you have any questions regarding this position or the application<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>process, contact Calvin Small at (405) 951-3527 or Stephanie Roe at (405)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>951-3454.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> An Equal Opportunity Employer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The Hadley School for the Blind Gets a New Name:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> To better reflect the diversity of students it serves and how it has<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>evolved over the years, The Hadley School for the Blind announces that it<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>has changed its name to Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Impaired. Founded in 1920, Hadley remains the largest provider of distance<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>education for people who are blind and visually impaired worldwide.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "Nearly a century after our founding, Hadley serves a broad spectrum<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>of individuals with vision loss, including those with low vision. Although<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>we will always support people who are blind, there is an ever-growing<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>population of older adults experiencing age-related vision loss who may<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>never become fully blind. As part of our evolution, we are expanding our<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>programs and services to meet their needs," said Hadley President Chuck<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Young.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The name change also better informs the public that Hadley's programs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and services are geared to individuals ages fourteen and up.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "The word 'school' implies a brick-and-mortar facility for young<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>children, whereas the word 'institute' speaks to education, but defies<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>space and place. The term 'institute' is broader and more appropriate for a<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>distance education organization serving 10,000 students in more than 100<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>countries," said Hadley Board of Trustees Chair Dewey Crawford.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The term "institute" also provides an umbrella with which to discuss<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the many programs and services Hadley offers and the many audiences Hadley<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>serves: people who have long been visually impaired and those new to sight<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>loss, families of persons of all ages with varying degrees of vision loss,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>and blindness service providers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> In tandem with the name change, a catchy new tagline, "Educating-for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>life," will be used to highlight Hadley's mission to promote independent<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>living through lifelong learning, as well as its dedication to educating<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>students on life skills and helping them reach their full potential.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "We love the double meaning in this tagline," adds Young. "It<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>concisely says what we do and why we do it."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> A more contemporary logo was developed, as well, to illustrate how<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hadley has changed, while remaining true to its roots. The graphic<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>represents the Braille letter h, honoring Hadley's longstanding commitment<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>to Braille excellence. The graphic also is reminiscent of stained glass in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>prairie architecture, a homage to the North Shore of Chicago, where<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hadley's offices are located.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> "As we approach our Centennial in 2020, we want everyone to know just<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>how far we have come," says Crawford. "It's indeed a brand new day at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hadley."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> To learn more, visit <www.hadley.edu/rebrand>. See updates to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Hadley's website at <www.hadley.edu>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>International Group for Parents, Teachers, and Others Interested in the<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Blind:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Adrijana Prokopenko writes to say: I recently created a Facebook group for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>teachers and parents of blind children and for university students who are<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>studying to become teachers of the blind, as well as professors,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>psychologists, counselors, doctors, volunteers, or anyone else who is<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>connected to them in some way. They should feel free to join no matter if<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>they are blind or sighted. The group can be found by searching "Students,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>teachers, and parents of the visually impaired."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>New State Resource Handbooks Available:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I have created twelve screen-reader-friendly resource handbooks<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>containing resources pertaining to the blind and visually impaired for use<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>by consumers and professionals. This handbook is for the residents of<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>specific states and includes the many organizations for the blind and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>visually impaired covering areas such as employment, housing,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>transportation, and more. Currently the handbooks are for Alabama, Alaska,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Texas, Oregon,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Ohio, and Illinois.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> The handbooks include contact information on the local, regional, and<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>national level. For more information on pricing and formats please contact<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Insightful Publications by email at <insightfulpub@gmail.com>, by phone at<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>(808) 747-1006, or by visiting <http://www.in-sightful.com/orderpage.html><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>for more information on pricing, formats available, and state resource<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>handbook order form.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> ----------<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> NFB Pledge<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>abide by its constitution.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>