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From President Mark Riccobono:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Dear Friends:<br>
<br>
We need your help to make sure that the clock is not turned back for
blind rehabilitation consumers. The Association for the Education and
Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) announced at the
end of the summer last year that it was taking over the agency
accreditation program formerly administered by the National Accreditation
Council for Blind and Low Vision Services (NAC). This would undo the
tremendous progress that has been made in allowing the blind to determine
our own destinies and control the programs that directly influence
us. <br>
<br>
The former NAC accreditation program did not consider, or serve the needs
of, blind people and was dropped by most agencies. While we support high
standards and certain accreditations, as described in
<a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm18/bm1801/bm180103.htm">
this Braille Monitor article</a> by Dr. Edward Bell, the NAC program was
based on low expectations of blind people and other flawed
principles.<br>
<br>
NAC represents the way the world was; the National Federation of the
Blind represents the world of today and the future. We demand a say in
the programs that serve us; we demand to be the ones who evaluate them.
NAC would turn back the clock, but we live in the present and are
actively using our time to shape the future. <br>
<br>
We are asking each of you reading this message to do two things: first,
read
<a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm18/bm1801/bm180102.htm">
this article</a> from the January issue of the <i>Braille Monitor</i>,
written by NFB President Mark Riccobono. Next, take one or more of the
actions that President Riccobono outlines at the end of the article to
let AER know that blind people will not stand for the revival of
NAC.<br>
<br>
It is time, once and for all, to say #GoodbyeNAC. Help us put the past
behind us and continue building a future where the blind have a say in
the lives we will live.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Mark A. Riccobono, President<br>
National Federation of the blind<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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