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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>From the desk of NFBNJ President Joe Ruffalo.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Received from Brian Burrow, NFB.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> BRAILLE MONITOR<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Vol. 60, No. 4 April 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Gary Wunder, Editor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drive, by the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Mark Riccobono, President<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> telephone: (410) 659-9314<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> email address: <a href="mailto:nfb@nfb.org">nfb@nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> website address: <a href="http://www.nfb.org">http://www.nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> NFBnet.org: <a href="http://www.nfbnet.org">http://www.nfbnet.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> NFB-NEWSLINE. information: (866) 504-7300<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Follow us on Twitter: @NFB_Voice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Watch and share our videos: YouTube.com/NationsBlind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>orders for NFB literature should be sent to the national office. Articles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also be sent to the national<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>office or may be emailed to <a href="mailto:gwunder@nfb.org">gwunder@nfb.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about forty dollars per year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the Blind and sent to:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND KNOWS THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. YOU CAN LIVE THE LIFE YOU WANT;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> BLINDNESS IS NOT WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND-IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> OURSELVES.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ISSN 0006-8829<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>) 2017 by the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Each issue is recorded on a thumb drive (also called a memory stick<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or USB flash drive). You can read this audio edition using a computer or a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Library Service digital player. The NLS machine has two slots-the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>familiar book-cartridge slot just above the retractable carrying handle and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a second slot located on the right side near the headphone jack. This<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>smaller slot is used to play thumb drives. Remove the protective rubber pad<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>covering this slot and insert the thumb drive. It will insert only in one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>position. If you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try again.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(Note: If the cartridge slot is not empty when you insert the thumb drive,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the digital player will ignore the thumb drive.) Once the thumb drive is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inserted, the player buttons will function as usual for reading digital<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>materials. If you remove the thumb drive to use the player for cartridges,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when you insert it again, reading should resume at the point you stopped.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> You can transfer the recording of each issue from the thumb drive to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your computer or preserve it on the thumb drive. However, because thumb<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drives can be used hundreds of times, we would appreciate their return in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>order to stretch our funding. Please use the return envelope enclosed with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the drive when you return the device.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Palm-lined drive leading to front entrance of Rosen Shingle<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Creek Resort]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Orlando Site of 2017 NFB Convention<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The 2017 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>place in Orlando, Florida, July 10 to July 15, at the Rosen Shingle Creek<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Resort, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819-9357. Make your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>room reservation as soon as possible with the Shingle Creek staff only.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Call (866) 996-6338.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The 2017 room rates are singles and doubles, $83; and for triples and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quads $89. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>present is 12.5 percent. No charge will be made for children under<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seventeen in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The hotel is accepting reservations now. A $95-per-room deposit is required<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to make a reservation. Fifty percent of the deposit will be refunded if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>notice is given to the hotel of a reservation cancellation before June 1,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2017. The other 50 percent is not refundable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Reservations may be made before June 1, 2017, assuming that rooms are still<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available. After that time the hotel will not hold our room block for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention. In other words, you should get your reservation in soon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> All Rosen Shingle Creek guestrooms feature amenities that include<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>plush Creek Sleeper beds, 40" flat screen TVs, complimentary high-speed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>internet service, in-room safes, coffee makers, mini-fridges, and hair<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dryers. Guests can also enjoy a swimming pool, fitness center, and on-site<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>spa. The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort has a number of dining options,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>including two award-winning restaurants, and twenty-four-hour-a-day room<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The schedule for the 2017 convention is:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monday, July 10 Seminar Day<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Tuesday, July 11 Registration and Resolutions Day<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Wednesday, July 12 Board Meeting and Division Day<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Thursday, July 13 Opening Session<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Friday, July 14 Business Session<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Saturday, July 15 Banquet Day and Adjournment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Vol. 60, No. 4 April<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Contents<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Illustration: Cleaning Where No Human Has Cleaned Before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Walking a Mile: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Simulations<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Mark Riccobono<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Progress on the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act: The Regulations, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Law, and What They Will Mean for the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by John Pari<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Aira, the Next Technology Revolution in Devices for Blind People<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Michael Hingson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>What Do We Really Think of Sight?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Eric Duffy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>There's a List for That<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by David Andrews<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Urgency of Optimism<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Marc Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Dots from Space!: Voices from the Past<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Amy Mason and Anna Kresmer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>David Young is a Champion for Blind Iowans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Jim Omvig<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Independence Market Corner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Recipes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monitor Miniatures<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: A view of the unspoiled wilderness and clear atmosphere of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mars.]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: The picture taken by the Mars Rover shows the pristine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Martian vista marred by tracks left by the Rover.]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: NASA missions to the Moon have left not one but three of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these Lunar Rovers abandoned to deteriorate without care on the surface of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our closest celestial neighbor.]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Cleaning Where No Human Has Cleaned Before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> April is the month when we celebrate Earth Day, a tradition started<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>back in the early 1970s when we realized the vulnerability of our planet<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the need for humans to exercise some care for it. Many in that original<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>movement hailed from California, a state long known for its progressive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attitudes and the willingness to tackle big problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Always on the forefront of change, Californians, particularly members<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the National Federation of the Blind of California, have turned their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attention to other parts of the universe, creating the first-of-its-kind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mars Day. Why Mars, you might ask? The answer is best summed up by Ever Lee<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hairston, the president of the affiliate. "Well, we know what we have done<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to our own planet, but what is more disturbing but less well known is what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we have done to other bodies near us. We went to the Moon, walked on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Moon, and even golfed on the Moon. What did we leave: a sign saying we came<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in peace for all mankind-that's good, but think about the trash. We sent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ranger Seven to the Moon, admired its pictures as it soared toward the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lunar surface, but we didn't land it-no, we crashed it. Any thoughts about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>picking it up: not on your life. That first lunar module that carried<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Armstrong and Aldrin: when we were through with it, what did we do? We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>crashed it into the Moon, and after observing the seismic impact, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>haven't given it a single thought. We simply must be better neighbors in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the solar system and in the universe at large, and if we don't start it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>here, who will?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Brian Buhrow, a man with a technical background, good literary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>skills, and a keen sense of fairness and justice goes further: "At this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>point Mars is a pretty pristine place. It has a few foreign bodies on it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and a rover whose warranty is about to run out, but it's never too late to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>start reclaiming our trash and disposing of it in a manner befitting of at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>least one intelligent species in the universe. All of us want good American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>jobs and to build infrastructure, so why not create and deploy the first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>trash truck capable of interstellar travel? Perhaps we'll have to work on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>revising overtime rules for the waste disposal engineers, but we can do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this in a way that creates good, well-paying, and meaningful jobs for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Americans and at the same time dispel the myth that there are some dirty<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>jobs Americans just won't do. There can be no better project to demonstrate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>America's commitment to hard work and the harnessing of technology and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>being for the world that city on the hill made so popular by Former<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>President Ronald Reagan."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Not surprisingly there are some Federationists who gently offer some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cautionary advice. Lisamaria Martinez, the former president of the Sports<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and Recreation Division, worries that the gravity on Mars will be so much<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>less than that of Earth that those who work there will become accustomed to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the lower energy required to move about and heft objects into the space<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>receptacles that will carry the trash away. "The gravity on Mars is about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>.376 that of Earth. This means it will take just over one-third the energy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from our muscles to do on Mars what we do on Earth. Just how we will keep<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>muscle tone when working, eating, and sleeping will be so radically<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>different. Unless exercise is a part of our ambitious plan, I don't think<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our division can really get behind this, but I am confident that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation, given its tradition of negotiation in getting along with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>interstellar beings as evidenced by multiple incarnations of Star Trek, is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>up to the job."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For more information about Mars Day, call (111) MARSDAY or 627-7329.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Because of the intense effort in planning and advertising this event,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>please use only the number above. Members of the California effort are too<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>preoccupied to take calls for general information and have contracted with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the publicist for the dissemination of further information.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Mark Riccobono]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Walking a Mile: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Simulations<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Mark Riccobono<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: Since a central tenet of the National Federation of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Blind is to change the way people think about being blind and by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extension to increase the opportunity for those who are, we must think<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seriously about the tools we have to bring about this transformation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Simulating blindness has for some time now been a way in which we and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>others have sought to increase the public's understanding of what we need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from it in order to enjoy lives that are as rich and productive as those of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people who can see. In this article our President discusses the subject of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness simulation, how it is used, the reasons for its use, when it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>effective, and when it serves as a stumbling block that comes between blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people and our dreams. Here is what he says:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One of the highest aspirations of human beings is to understand one's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fellows, to know the world as they see it, and to share empathy without<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>judgment or condemnation. Long before I heard the word empathy I was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>familiar with the adage, "You can never really know a man until you have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>walked a mile in his shoes." Since we don't all have the same size feet,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what is the practical way to take this journey? Traditionally we have tried<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to do this by spending some time learning about and reflecting on another<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person's life situation: What is it like to have money? What is it like to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be without it? What is it like to have a disability?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For the past few decades the attempt to understand another person's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>life has been to try simulating it. Some of the most popular simulations<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have involved letting a nondisabled person spend some time as a person with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a disability. The motives behind these simulations are as varied as the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ways in which they are conducted, and here I'd like to look at what they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are, how well they work, and specifically what a simulation is intended to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>communicate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Given the complexity of life, a reasonable question to ask is whether<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simulations not meant to train but to inform can ever serve a purpose. They<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can, but making sure they communicate what we want them to takes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>considerable thought, a clear definition of what we want to communicate,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and an understanding of how much a person can absorb at one time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Let's look at a common disability simulation that seems to work, one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in which a person is asked to spend some time in a wheelchair. If I am a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>user of a wheelchair and want the public to understand the lack of access I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>face, putting someone in a chair and showing him how impossible it is to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reach a doorknob, walk a flight of stairs, or cross a street at which there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is no ramp works quite well. I have not asked him to function without one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of his senses; I have only asked that he sit in a chair and observe how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>many things are beyond his reach because we have failed to make simple<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environmental changes that will benefit everyone in a wheelchair and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>everyone who is a pedestrian. The problems become obvious and so do the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>solutions, ones society can implement with minor physical changes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If I spend an hour in a wheelchair, do I really understand the life<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the man who uses one? I do not. I have to take his word for the way it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>feels when people talk down to him, stand behind his chair to converse, or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>show the pity they feel for him when they define his existence as being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confined to that chair. To the extent that I am able to understand, that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understanding comes through observation, conversation, and through the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>building of a personal relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Of course the goal of his simulation is not to get me to understand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the condition that requires his use of a wheelchair, but to glimpse the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environmental changes to make dealing with it easier. I come away<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understanding why my city taxes go for ramps and why we require all public<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>facilities to have elevators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Before discussing the simulation of blindness, let's distinguish<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>between simulations to help blind people function without sight and getting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted people to understand blindness. We actively encourage blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students to do some or most long-term training under learning shades. If<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one has some vision, we encourage training that does not rely on it but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>relies on alternative techniques. In a society that is overly interested in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visual cues, most people are quickly conditioned to subconsciously believe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that vision is a requirement for success. Through our intensive training<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs we break down the misconception that vision is the requirement for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>success and build the understanding that a variety of techniques including<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a robust set of nonvisual techniques can empower a blind person to live the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>life they want regardless of their level of vision. At the end of training,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one's unreliable vision is no longer at the core of what he or she can do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but serves as a supplement, and the individual can make an informed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decision about which technique (nonvisual or visual) or combination of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>techniques is most effective. The loss of more vision due to age or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>deterioration through disease will be uncomfortable, but limited vision<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will not determine whether one can independently learn, travel, cook,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>clean, handle money, and a whole host of other things for which sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people use vision. What is key in training is that students are allowed to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proceed slowly in what they do under learning shades. There is time to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>explain the underlying philosophy in their use, they have the time to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>observe blind people doing what they will be asked to do, and the message<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is always that the students can and will be able to do what they need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>without vision. More importantly, the student has the opportunity to build<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an understanding of how to counteract the misconceptions and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>misunderstandings that come from interacting with a public who does not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understand blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Unless simulations are well planned in terms of what we ask people to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>do, what we tell them about blindness, and how long we have to work with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>them under shades, the experience is likely to be more negative than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>positive, reinforcing everything they have felt about the world of darkness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in which they believe we live.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I submit that, in most cases, understanding blindness by one who is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted is better communicated through observation than personal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experience. Ask a newly blindfolded person to travel the streets so she<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>comes to understand the value of traffic sounds, and her predominant<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emotion will be fear. Without understanding how blind people travel and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>having the confidence that she can do so safely, the experiment will scare<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>rather than inform. How then can we make a case for modifications that are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>necessary for our continued independent travel? The answer is for us to do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the traveling and for the person we are trying to influence to observe us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>When I am observed walking with my cane and run into a guidewire hanging<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>over a sidewalk at chest level, the person watching me understands the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>function of my cane, what it can and cannot detect, and how the problem I'm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experiencing can be solved if the guidewire did not pass over the sidewalk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or did so at an angle that wasn't impossible for a cane to detect. Now it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>becomes clear that the challenge is one for an engineer, and the work done<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will benefit everyone who walks that sidewalk be they blind or sighted.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Suppose I want someone with influence to understand the difficulty<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when I try to use an inaccessible program. If he is blindfolded and made to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sit at a computer, what simulation can we do? He may understand the concept<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of a screen reader, but will he know that most programs say a line when the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>insert and up arrow keys are pressed? Will he understand that movement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>between programs is done by pressing the alt and the tab keys and that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>determining which program has focus is accomplished by pressing the insert<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>key with the letter t? The answer is that he won't. His initial impression<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will be that using the computer as he knows it is impossible and that a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>number of complicated key presses is difficult when compared with the point<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and click methods that constitute the majority of his navigation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> On the other hand, suppose he observes me using a computer with a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>screen reader and a Braille display. When he watches the screen, hears what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I hear through computerized speech as I navigate, and listens as I read<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what is presented under my fingers in Braille, he is likely to understand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the problem that exists when I encounter graphics that aren't labeled,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>buttons that aren't identified, and programs that will not respond to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>keyboard presses. He will understand that navigation in addition to what is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provided by a mouse is required and can see how easily arrow and tab keys<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be used to efficiently navigate when I show well-designed programs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I have talked with many sighted people about the difficulties posed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by misguided individuals we encounter in airports and the extra stress it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>puts on blind people. The physical travel through airports is mostly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>straightforward, even if getting information generally posted on signs is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not. Although I have talked with people about the problems we encounter,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>there is no better simulation than traveling with a sighted person and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>letting them observe for themselves. As they watch the looks on people's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>faces; have the opportunity to tell people that they are not my caretaker<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but rather just a friend; witness me being grabbed, pushed, and pulled; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>overhear the difficulty of my getting a simple question answered they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understand in a meaningful way things that it was hard for them to believe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when I first told them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I think the question we really need to address is this: Do I want the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>general public to know what it is like to be blind? Not really. In the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>first place I don't think they can. Many sighted people are convinced the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind see darkness; the reality is that some blind people do not see<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>anything while many others see some unreliable combination of light,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>shadow, and color (that often varies from day to day). The understanding of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness is only complicated by people who have some usable vision and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>obsession of the sighted in understanding what those people see,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>particularly when that vision varies from day to day. Those who can see<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>think I live in a world which is dominated by the absence of light, a world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that deprives me of much that is meaningful. I contend my world has all the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>elements that make life worth living: the ability to experience love, to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know the joy of happiness, and to raise my family. I know both the joy and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the stress of being needed, the imperative of making a living, and what it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is like when my children look to me in their attempt to understand the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>world. In short, the important things in my life are the same as for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person who sees, with variations that are sometimes difficult but which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>never obscure the joy of being human.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I want the public to understand those parts of blindness that pose<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>obstacles they can help me overcome. I want them to see how training can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make all the difference and is deserving of their private and public<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>support. I want them to understand that for training to be meaningful it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>must be followed by opportunity. True opportunity means more than failing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to say no; it aggressively embraces the journey to determine how to say<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>yes. I want people to understand that independent travel is crucial and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that one important element that makes it possible is an environment in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which cars make enough sound that I can hear and respond to them. I want<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people to understand that living in my own home is important and that my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>home is just as much a castle for me as theirs is for them. To live<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>independently means being able to do the things they do: cook, clean, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enjoy the entertainments found in most homes. A challenge for me is that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most new home appliances use visual displays that make no allowance for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those who cannot see. Adding a function to make stoves, ovens,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers talk is not only<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possible but inexpensive and beneficial to all, including senior citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I want the public to understand that the internet presents great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities for access to information as long as the websites are built<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with equal access in mind. Otherwise, I need to spend twice as much time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>trying to book an appointment at the doctor, find information about city<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>services, read the calendar for the school our children attend, report<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>crime information, or dozens of other things people take for granted. These<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are areas in which the general public can help, creating a community<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>standard that considers unthinkable leaving out people whose inclusion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could so easily be accomplished through inexpensive design and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>manufacturing techniques, of which there are many examples.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To restate, in time I believe I can change people's perspective about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the meaningfulness I find in life, but that belief about living in a world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of darkness may be something they take with them to their graves. Perhaps<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>they can't really walk a mile in my shoes, but they can help me get to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>place where I can purchase those shoes and enjoy my journey through days of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>adventure, activity, and living life to the fullest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Even if we can effectively provide experiences to teach sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people about the artificial barriers we face in the physical and digital<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environments we encounter, we cannot fully get them to understand the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emotional experience of facing low expectations in society every day. A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>couple of years ago I was in a leadership program in Baltimore City. During<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that program we spent a morning in a "walk a mile" activity where we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simulated the experience of navigating the struggle of a low-income family<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attempting to meet the demands of life. The activity helped me understand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the barriers that poorly designed social services, lack of reliable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transportation, and burdensome supports put on a family with limited means.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>However, my real understanding has come from interacting with and knowing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people who live that experience daily and who can share all of the social<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bias they face. In other words, I think we need to be completely honest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that any simulation activity does not impact some of the most important<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understandings we want the sighted to know in their heart and their head-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us, that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>misunderstandings and low expectations about blindness are our biggest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>obstacle, that those misunderstandings create artificial barriers that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prevent us from fully participating, and those false limitations build into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>something that holds us back.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Short of training blind people to be blind, are there simulations we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can do that will let sighted people glimpse how we do what they do? I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>believe the answer is yes. We must make it clear that they are not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experiencing blindness but that we are giving them a taste of the way we do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some of our daily tasks. Having them sit in a chair, covering their eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and handing them coins can show how we identify them by touch. Dropping a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>coin on a hard surface and helping them learn the denomination by sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provides them another clue about how we manage money and adds to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>message that we have quality alternative techniques that serve well in our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>daily lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The tasks we give should not be threatening. If we want them to spend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some time using a cane, explain that they will not be encountering steps<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and that their job is to find the wall in front of them. Tell them their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>task is to navigate around a chair and how the cane is used to detect it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Get sighted people to measure something with a click rule and mark a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>precise spot. Teach them how blind people effectively pour liquids without<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>spilling, and give them an opportunity to practice. In a short amount of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>time I have been able to teach sighted people under learning shades to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pour, and when I have given them the option of using the same technique to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pour a cup of coffee for themselves many do so and have little trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>There are dozens of other examples, and we should find ways to share<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information about the activities that work best. The activities must be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>supported by meaningful dialogue with blind people in an environment set up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to facilitate honest communication. When those going through these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experiences have an opportunity to engage blind people around some of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>questions we know they are thinking about, a new avenue of understanding is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>created.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So far we have not touched on one critical facet that determines<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>whether a simulation of blindness is helpful or harmful, that being the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>motivation for performing it. This is further complicated by the fact that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simulations are often paired with fundraising. This incorporates all of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>baggage and emotional strings that come with the typical charity model-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people participate to help those less fortunate than they are. The biggest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>problem with simulating blindness is that it all-too-easily plays into the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sense of loss and ineptitude that people believe to be our lot in life and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the lives they would live were vision to disappear. This benefits<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizations whose goal is to reverse or eliminate blindness, the recent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>activities of the Foundation Fighting Blindness being a prime example. If<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the idea is to eradicate blindness by raising money for research, scaring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people is a powerful motivator. As much as all of us support research to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>preserve or perhaps restore sight, raising that money must not make living<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more difficult for we who are blind. Preserving sight should be supported<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on the many merits of vision and not on the portrayal of its absence as a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>significant barrier to the enjoyment of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So each of us must ask the question: At what cost is the way money is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>raised to do research too high? When we fight for the right of blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to be parents and an organization suggests that the sighted try being a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>parent for one minute with their eyes closed, the experience can only serve<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to emphasize the danger when a young child is not observed, a situation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bordering on leaving her unattended. The cost to blind people is too high!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>When one is encouraged to dine in the dark without first learning how to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>serve oneself, cut one's meat, or have the experience of finding one's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mouth with a fork, how can the mess and the message be reconciled with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people leading lives of independence in which we can feed ourselves,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>teach our children, and represent our employers without embarrassment when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the job calls for us to attend lunches and dinners? Again, the cost to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people is just too high! The potential to raise money through fear<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and pity is enormous, but so is the toll on the lives of blind people and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the efforts we make to convince others we are capable of living in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>world as competent human beings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Everyone has freedom of speech, but with that freedom comes the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>responsibility to speak truth, to do no harm, and to advantage rather than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disadvantage the people about whom one is speaking. Because we in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Federation of the Blind are the authentic voice of blind people-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>representing the broad diversity of people who experience blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>firsthand-we must raise expectations and lead the way regarding best<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>practice for simulation activities. We must also honestly evaluate what we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>do and whether it meets our goals, the test of our philosophy about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness, and ensure that it is authentic to the experience of a blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person who has had training and opportunity. We must make certain that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simulations we do meet this standard and should demand that others do the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>same. These should be our guiding principles as we teach the world what it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>means to be blind, and these should be the standards to which we hold other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizations who would diminish our lives and opportunities in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>misguided belief that a quality life can only be achieved if one is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: John Pari]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Progress on the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act: The Regulations, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Law, and What They Will Mean for the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by John Pari<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: John Pari is the executive director of strategic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>initiatives for the National Federation of the Blind, and he is the staff<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>member who has put in the most time, energy, and intense concentration on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the issue of silent cars. He shares the concern for the safety of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pedestrians that all of us carry in our hearts and in our heads, but he is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the person who has translated that concern into responses which distinguish<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the National Federation of the Blind by acknowledging our early work on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>issue, our innovative ways to bring it to the attention of people capable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of doing something about it, and riding herd over the process to make sure<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that it did not stall or go astray. Here is what John has to say about the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fight to get a bill enacted, the challenge of getting that act into a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proposed rule, and the difficulty in getting the Obama administration to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>publish a rule that the blind, other pedestrians, and the auto makers could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accept as reasonable, doable, and in the interest of all involved:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Much of what we do in the National Federation of the Blind focuses on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enhancing the quality of life for blind people through creating<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities and raising expectations. Anything that comes between blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people and living fruitful and fulfilling lives is something we target. But<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on rare occasions we are called on to do more than work on quality of life<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>issues and deal with the preservation of life itself. This was the case<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when we found that something essential to our independent travel was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>changing in a way that could take it away and could easily result in injury<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 2005 the buzz was all about hybrid electric cars. They were coming<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to market, and many things about them were appealing: they used less fuel,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emitted less pollution, and generated less noise. All of us were excited;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all of these things we viewed as positive. But when we learned that less<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>noise translated to no useable sound, a real issue of safety emerged for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind and sighted pedestrians alike that we could not ignore. Silent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicles are essentially stealth vehicles to blind people, and although it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is less obvious, they are nearly as dangerous for people who can see. This<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is because a pedestrian who can see is often alerted about where to look<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>based on what he or she hears. For an in-depth discussion about how the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation came to identify the problem of nearly silent vehicles, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>denials that a problem existed, the work to find allies, and the struggle<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to get a bill passed and signed by the president to address the issue, I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>urge you to read an excellent piece written by Debbie Kent Stein entitled<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"Belling the Cat: The Long Road to the Passage of the Pedestrian Safety<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Enhancement Act," which appeared in the June 2011 issue of the Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monitor. On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Pedestrian<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Safety Enhancement Act, requiring that the United States Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Transportation write regulations to implement a minimum sound that vehicles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>must make when traveling the streets of this country. The signing of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>act represented a big step forward in recognizing that it is desirable that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicles be quiet, but that they be no quieter than safety will allow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Throughout this article I will simply refer to this as the act. Even in our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most optimistic moments we realized that writing the regulations would take<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>time, getting them reviewed would be painfully slow, and the phase-in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>period would leave us unprotected far longer than we wished. Even so, few<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of us believed it would be 2016 before the final regulations were published<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and probably 2020 before the act is fully implemented.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In drafting regulations, four distinct issues had to be addressed:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>safety, stakeholder agreement, conducting and interpreting the research,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and embracing the global trend that would set the direction of carmakers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Although we tend to think of American legislation as something that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>primarily involves Americans and American policy, the automobile industry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is one of the few uniquely global marketplaces. In September 2009, before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the passage of the act and certainly strengthening the case for it, a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that hybrid electric vehicles were twice as likely to be involved in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accidents with pedestrians than their internal combustible engine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>counterparts. In a second report issued in October 2011, using a much<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>larger sample size, the same agency said that there was a 35 percent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>greater likelihood of accidents involving hybrid electric vehicles and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pedestrians. It also found a staggering 57 percent greater likelihood in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accidents involving quiet cars and cyclists.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In all, NHTSA produced three research reports that together totaled<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more than 900 pages. Separately and together, all pointed to the undeniable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conclusion that sound and safety are inextricably bound together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Guidelines for the industry had previously stressed the reduction of sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through the establishment of a maximum noise emission standard. Noise was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the enemy of the automotive engineer, a word so vile that there was no way<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to use it with these professionals and communicate anything hinting at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>something positive. "You will undermine your case for a minimum sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>standard if you say you want the car to make noise. You do not want noise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>You want usable sound, not noise." This was the message from one of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more vocal members at a meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers back<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in 2008, and his vocabulary lesson was one we took to heart.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What the reports issued by NHTSA made clear was that safety would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>require a minimum sound standard so that pedestrians would be aware of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicles in their vicinity and take reasonable precautions to avoid<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contact. What was needed was an addition to the law governing sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emissions by vehicles, a law that called for vehicles to be as quiet as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>they could safely be, but no quieter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> When the law was passed, it called for the issuance of a Notice of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to be issued no later than eighteen months after<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>its passage. The purpose of an NPRM is to alert interested parties about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what the regulations for new laws will look like, offering a chance for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those with an interest to comment on and influence how the final<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regulations will be crafted and the law enforced. But NHTSA did not issue a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proposal by July 1 of 2012. That meant that the final rule that should have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been issued by January 4, 2014, did not come out. The NPRM wasn't published<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>until January 10, 2013, the agency arguing that the complexity of the issue<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the research required meant that the time frames in the law for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implementation could not be met. The NFB made our response to the NPRM in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>March 2013, and it wasn't until December 2016 that the final rule, the one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which was supposed to be published in January 2014, was issued. In the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>interim the United States Department of Transportation commissioned a study<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to determine how many hybrid electric vehicles were being sold in this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>country, and that study concluded that, on average, 1,563 are sold each<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>day. These cars are not yet covered by the act or its regulations; luckily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some manufacturers have seen the writing on the wall and have implemented<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>systems to provide sound alerts. Although they may not comply with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regulations that have now been published, their presence is welcomed by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those of us who regularly place our faith in safely crossing streets on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what we hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So which vehicles are covered by the law and which by the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regulations? What are the key points of each? We make a distinction between<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the law and the regulations because the regulations are not just a detailed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prescription of how to implement the law, but differ from it in some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>significant ways. We are left to speculate as to why, but the rumor has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been floated that differences exist because of insufficient data to support<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>detailed regulations as envisioned in the law and that when such data<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>becomes available the regulations may be modified accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Here are the main points you should know about the act as it will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implemented: only four-wheeled vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are covered, meaning commercial trucks and motorcycles have been excluded.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>They are part of the law but not the regulations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fifty percent of vehicles produced after September 1, 2018, and 100<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>percent of vehicles produced after September 1, 2019, must meet the sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>standard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One issue that sparked significant debate even among allies for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>law was whether there should be a switch that the driver could use to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disable the audible alerts it mandates. We were opposed to what in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>industry is called a pause switch, but what has come to be called a kill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>switch by the blind. For us the issue is simple: the ability to hear a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quiet car should not depend on the judgment of the driver as to whether or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not a usable sound should be emitted by his vehicle. This would be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>equivalent to allowing a driver to make his car invisible simply because he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>believed he wouldn't encounter pedestrians, animals, or other cars along<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his journey.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In the current regulation there is no selectable sound from which a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>car owner may choose, though the law clearly allows for a set of selectable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sounds so long as those sounds are provided and certified by the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>manufacturer to meet the minimum sound standard. Although research<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>indicated that duplicating the sound of a standard internal combustion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>engine would be the most identifiable sound by the greatest number of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pedestrians, it also demonstrated that the sounds were not the most<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>effective in penetrating the noise found in most rural and urban<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environments. Both pedestrians and automobile manufacturers were concerned<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that leaving the sound that a vehicle would make to the discretion of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>automobile owners could lead to situations in which a vehicle would not be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>identified as a danger to be avoided. Discussions on blogs indicated that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>if owners were allowed to select their own sound, some would choose the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sound of a carousel, some an ice cream truck, and some the clatter of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>horseshoes. An arbitrary sound just would not do to provide certainty in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>identification. But a second concern was from the manufacturers. It was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that a sound provided by a driver might be considered offensive, and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>result would be the rejection by the public of all sounds. This would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reflect negatively on the manufacturers, the law, and the pedestrians it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was designed to protect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In the law provisions were made for vehicles to come with several<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>selectable sounds from which the driver of a quiet car could choose, but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the regulations make no provision for these other than to say that a 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Toyota Prius will sound like every other 2020 Toyota Prius. The same is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>true for a 2019 Chevrolet Volt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One point of contention between pedestrians and car manufacturers was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>whether a vehicle should emit some sound when not in motion. The car<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>companies contended that where there was no motion there was no danger. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation took the strongly held position that knowing of a car's presence<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>at a traffic light, a four-way stop, or any other kind of intersection was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>essential whether that car was moving or at rest. An informed decision to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cross requires that one be aware not only of vehicles on the move but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicles that are waiting for the opportunity to move. Both the law and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regulation make it clear that a vehicle is to emit a sound while stopped,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but the regulation does provide that no sound need be made if the vehicle<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is in park.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Although most hybrid electric vehicles do not use a manual<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transmission, those which do must make sound any time the key is on and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>parking brake is off. While we would have preferred that a quiet car make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some sound when the driver's seat is occupied, we have gotten most of what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we wanted in this section of the regulation, and it is a far cry from what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some of the manufacturers were demanding, provisions which, had they been<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>adopted, would have done much to negate the safety issues spawning the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>creation of the law.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> How loud must a vehicle sound be? From stationary to less than ten<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>km/h [kilometers per hour], it must create a sound that is at least forty-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>four decibels. A moving vehicle going from ten km/h up to less than twenty<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>km/h must generate a sound of at least fifty-one decibels. From twenty to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>less than thirty km/h, the vehicle must generate a sound of at least fifty-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seven decibels. At thirty to thirty-two km/h the sound emitted must be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sixty-two decibels. For vehicles traveling in reverse, a sound of forty-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eight decibels is required. These figures were based on significant testing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by NHTSA, and only time will reveal whether the published levels are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>appropriate to provide an adequate and reliable warning for pedestrians,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>particularly those who are blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> With traditional internal combustion engines most of the sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>generated by a slow-moving vehicle comes from the engine itself. At some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>point, no matter how a vehicle is powered, the majority of the sound comes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from wind and tire noise. This is defined in the act as the "crossover<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>speed." With quiet cars the issue that had to be negotiated was when the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>artificial sound could be stopped, and the sound from the movement of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicle would be sufficient. The rule as it stands today says that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>electronically generated sound must continue until a vehicle reaches thirty-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>two kilometers, or 19.88 miles, per hour. From the perspective of the NFB<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this is good news, a lower crossover speed would have been preferred by the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>car companies. What complicates arriving at any fixed number is the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>commendable attempt by the industry to reduce tire friction and wind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>resistance to increase how far a vehicle can travel with a specific amount<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of energy. When tire friction and wind resistance change, so too does the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sound generated. Numbers that are used today may be irrelevant tomorrow, so<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>again we may have to reevaluate these sound levels as we gain experience<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with new cars coming off the assembly line.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In negotiating what sounds a vehicle should make, blind people were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>committed to the idea that pitch shifting should be part of the car's sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emission. Pitch shifting is an easy way to detect acceleration and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>deceleration, and it is commonly heard with internal combustion engines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Although this provision was a part of the NPRM, it is not found in the law<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or the final regulation. Experience will again be required before we can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>say definitively whether the change in volume/amplitude will be sufficient<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to tell us what a vehicle is doing. If it is, the law can stand as is. If<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not, this may be something for which we press in future legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The car companies have filed a petition for reconsideration to extend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by one year the time by which they must fully comply with the law. Their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>argument is that the law envisioned a longer time in which to comply than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>does the regulation. If their petition is granted, it will be 2020 before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>full compliance is required. While we understand the need for protection<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the frustration of having watched as six years have passed, and knowing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that every day we extend that compliance date is one more day in which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicles are manufactured which make blind and sighted pedestrians<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vulnerable to stealth vehicles, we must freely admit that the law did offer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a three-year timeframe for compliance. We have to acknowledge that if we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were on the other side and the regulations suggested a longer period for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implementation than the law states, we might be the ones appealing for a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>change.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As complicated as all of this is, some points stand out clearly and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>require little explanation: we are the organization that brought this to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the attention of the press, the industry, the public, and finally those who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>exercise the levers of power in the government. We have worked to turn a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>two-page law, which necessarily speaks in broad, guiding generalities, into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a 375-page rule that seeks to be specific enough that manufacturers know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>precisely how to do what they must to make the streets safer for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pedestrians. We have first sought to do this in the United States but are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>working to get standards that apply worldwide for pedestrians, no matter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>where they may live. No issue so clearly demonstrates our commitment to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>safe and independent travel, and no issue has tested our perseverance more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than this one. At first we had no allies. The quiet car enthusiasts wanted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>less noise pollution, so they dismissed our concerns in favor of a quieter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environment. The car companies started by denying there was a problem but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eventually came to work with us. Bloggers asked why blind people would be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so negligent as to attempt traveling by ourselves, and some even suggested<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that if we had no more common sense than this, it might be better for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>intelligence of the world if we were no longer a part of it. But we know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>who we are, we will never go back, and we knew that with persistence,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ongoing education, the goodwill of the public, and the dogged determination<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to see this through from start to finish, we would prevail. Keep following<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these pages for further details, but take some time to celebrate what it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>means to be a vital part of the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Michael Hingson]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Aira, the Next Technology Revolution in Devices for Blind People<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Michael Hingson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: Michael Hingson is a man who can boast of many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accomplishments and who has made significant contributions in advancing the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cause of blind people while keeping his Federation philosophy and active<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>participation front and center. There aren't many blind people who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>electrical engineers, but Michael is one. There aren't many people who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>financial experts capable of making their living in the heart of New York's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>financial district, but Michael is one. There aren't many blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Californians who understand the techniques espoused by the National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation of the Blind to lead active and independent lives and who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>open to the positive changes that new technologies may bring, but Michael<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is one. Here is what he has to say about a new service being offered to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind which harnesses the power of technology, joins it with the humanity<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of a highly-trained professional to relate what he or she sees, and merges<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these in meeting the infrequent but difficult challenges that blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>face when the blindness techniques we use aren't quite enough. Here is what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>he says about Aira [pronounced I-rah]:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It isn't often that any of us can be involved with the birth of a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology that will significantly change our lives. Helping in that birth<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is an even rarer occasion. I had such an opportunity in 1976 when our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president at the time, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, asked me to accept a job with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Federation to coordinate the day-to-day operation of a joint project<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>between the National Federation of the Blind and Ray Kurzweil and his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>company, Kurzweil Computer Products Inc. to test and to bring the Kurzweil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Reading Machine to market. Out of our joint project, blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>throughout the world gained access to a technology that brought the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>personal reading of print into our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I never thought I would have a chance to help steer another great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>advance that offered as much potential for change as the Kurzweil Reading<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Machine. However, in early 2015 I received an email from Mr. Lawrence Bock<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>asking me to join the technical advisory board of a start-up company, Aira<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Tech Corp. Through conversations with Mr. Bock and the company's founder,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Suman Kanuganti, I learned that Aira had developed a system that could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provide blind people always-on information anywhere at any time. Far-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fetched? Perhaps, but as I delved into the company's operation and saw its<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>product in action, I realized that indeed the claims of its founders could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be true.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Here is how Aira works. The user puts on what is called a "wearable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>device," which in this case is a pair of glasses that contain a high<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>definition digital camera, miniaturized sensors, and the ability to connect<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to the internet using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections. The system also uses<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an app which resides on an iPhone or Android smartphone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> When the user wishes to use Aira, he or she activates the app, which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in turn establishes a Wi-Fi connection with the wearable device. Once this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>connection is established, the user can press a button within the app to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contact an Aira agent. As soon as the agent comes online, they see images<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transmitted by the glasses. The agent also sees geographical information<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and information about the user's surroundings on their special software<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dashboard. The user has two-way voice contact with the agent through the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>smartphone and can request whatever information they require. The agent,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through their dashboard, can access the internet, use the user's visual<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>surroundings, and incorporate other tools to provide answers to the user's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>needs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The information requested by users can be anything from asking for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>help with finding something in a store to requiring assistance while<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>traveling through an airport to seeking assistance in assembling a product<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>he or she has purchased. Literally agents can help with any task by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>providing visual descriptions and information wherever eyesight is needed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to create access for blind people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I became involved as an advisor with Aira because I saw the potential<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the product and also to ensure that the technology, when brought to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind customers, would be provided in the most effective way possible. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most significant concern I had about Aira was how the agents presented<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information to customers. Given all my years in the NFB and from all my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experiences with assistive technology, I know that good products and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>services work best when their feature sets consider what we who are blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want and need. Aira can either be a contributor to our independence and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>self-determination or it can be a barrier. If the agents, for example, are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>trained not only to provide information but to interpret that same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, then the product would be little more than the kind of service<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we presently get from untrained sighted people. For example, if I were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>using Aira to get information about a street intersection and the agent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>told me that it was now "safe to cross the street," then the agent would be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drawing a conclusion that I should be making for myself based on my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mobility skills. If, on the other hand, the agent said that the light had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>turned green and that they did not see any cars traveling across my path,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>then the agent would be giving me information I could use to determine on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>my own when to cross. This example is a simple one, but the point is that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the agent should be charged only with providing information and leaving all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decisions up to me, the user. One of my main tasks has been to help set the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philosophical tone for how the agents operate. To date fifteen agents have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>joined the Aira staff. Its hours of operation are from 7 AM Eastern time to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>7 PM Pacific time seven days a week. Over the course of this year Aira<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expects to offer 24/7 service.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Aira has had a visible presence at the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind national convention for the past two years and will be in Orlando<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>again this year signing up users and showing any interested attendee how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the product works. Aira is also gaining visibility with other organizations<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and agencies. Recently, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Aira Tech<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Corp was chosen by PC Magazine as the best new startup company at the show.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The one drawback to Aira for many blind people is the same one that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>faced Ray Kurzweil in the 1970s, although not to the same degree. There is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a cost to using Aira. At present, there are two pricing plans. Users can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have unlimited access to Aira for a price of $199 per month. A lesser price<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of $129 per month will give users eight hours of access, and Aira<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>anticipates a lower price plan in the next month. Aira is exploring ways to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lessen the cost challenge by securing insurance coverage as well as looking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for government agency subsidies for some of the Aira services. Aira is also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>working on rolling its free autonomous functionality through its artificial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>intelligence engine which is constantly learning. The National Federation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the Blind has partnered with Aira not only to help make the product the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>best it can be, but also to help find ways to make it available to all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Aira is only at the beginning of its existence. I am certain that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>over time the cost of the product will drop significantly. The cost aside,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Aira offers any blind person the most full and complete access to whatever<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information he or she might need. I personally have used Aira to move<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through airports, malls, and shops. While on a speaking trip I used Aira to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>explore a three-story guest house provided to me by an event sponsor. An<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Aira agent assisted me in assembling a laundry cart I purchased and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>received in the mail. I assembled the cart independently, with assistance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from Aira after I discovered that the instructions were only pictures with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>no text at all. I know of others who have used it to read the contents of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>computer screens and kiosks. At least one person has used Aira while<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bowling and when experiencing Disneyland, just to name a few; Aira's uses<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are only as limited as our imaginations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> You can learn more about Aira by visiting www.aira.io. On Aira's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>website is a link to a page you can visit to become an Aira Explorer and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>begin exploring the world around you in a way never available before. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>truly believe Aira is the next revolution in technology that will help us<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>further take our place as blind first-class citizens. I also believe that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Aira will grow to provide services outside the specific needs of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people, but Aira's core purpose and philosophy will always start with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>needs of the blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What Do We Really Think of Sight?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Eric Duffy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: Eric Duffy currently works for the New Jersey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a technological support<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>specialist. He is a former affiliate president, having recently served as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Many of us have come from backgrounds in which we were more dependent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on vision than we now consider comfortable or necessary. We value the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>alternative techniques that give us independence, still realizing that from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>time to time we need the help of people with sight or, as is becoming more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and more possible, the use of visually aware devices to help us. For some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people this creates an internal conflict-how dependent must I be on vision?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>When am I using vision when I could rely on the nonvisual techniques I've<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>worked so hard to master and to offer to other blind people as a way to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>become independent.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In this article, Eric Duffy discusses the extreme emphasis that was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>placed on sight by the family who loves him, his own journey to learn and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>use nonvisual techniques, and his awareness that in a balanced life there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>must be a merging of alternative techniques and visual ones to live the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>life he wants. Here is what he says:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> At times in our lives many of us have had to consider how much we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>value sight. Sometimes we ask ourselves this question because of an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experience we have had, and sometimes we ask because of a development in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the medical or technology fields. Most recently I have found myself<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pondering this question because of a visual interpreting service offered by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Aira.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Through a special pair of glasses or the camera on a smartphone, one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can connect to a live agent who is looking at a computer screen and who can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>see exactly what the camera on the glasses or phone can see. During an Aira<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>session the agent also has access to GPS on the user's phone, Google maps,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Shortly before sitting down to work on this article, I went to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>store that I had not been to before. I bought some storage bowls for my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>home and a coffeemaker for my son. That was the first time I have gone to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>store and shopped without the assistance of a family member, friend, or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>store employee. How did I do it? I did it with the help of an Aira agent of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>course.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I first heard about Aira at the 2016 National Convention of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Federation of the Blind, where I saw a demonstration of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service. At that point I asked myself what I would be saying about me and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness in general if I began using such a service. How would using it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fit into my own beliefs about blindness and my understanding of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind, which are very much one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the same? These two questions and the questions of several of my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>friends forced me to examine closely my attitudes about blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So I asked myself how much I value sight. In large part the answer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>defines how I feel about blindness. I was one of eight children and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>only one with a disability. I had very limited functional vision as a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>child. I did what I could to learn colors and to identify as many things as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I could using that vision.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> When I accurately identified colors, my parents were happy because I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could see. When I misidentified colors or objects, I could hear the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disappointment in their voices. They weren't disappointed with me; they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were disappointed because I couldn't see. That told me how much they valued<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sight. I went to an endless series of specialists in Philadelphia,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Baltimore, New York City, New Orleans, and too many cities to remember in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ohio, which is where I grew up. Although my mom didn't like to drive in big<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cities, she would do it if she had to in order to get me to an eye doctor.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>That told me how much she wanted me to see. Sight was quite valuable to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As a child I loved McDonald's. If I got close enough, I could see the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>McDonald's Golden Arches. One night as we were traveling in the car, my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>little sister asked if we could stop at McDonald's. My parents said they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>might stop at the next one they saw. My sister was quick to point out the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>next one that she saw, but my dad did not stop. I told my sister just to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>elbow me gently the next time she saw a McDonald's sign, and she happily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>agreed. When she not-so-gently elbowed me, I excitedly said, "There, I see<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it. I see McDonald's!" We stopped at that McDonald's.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> On more than one occasion as a child, I found my mother crying. She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>told me that she was sad because I couldn't see. She said that she often<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prayed and asked God to let me see even if she had to sacrifice her sight<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so that I might see. I learned how steep a price she would pay in order for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>me to see.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In junior high school I lost the little bit of vision I had. A doctor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>told my parents and me that he could remove a cataract and perform a cornea<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transplant and that I would get some vision back if he did so. My mom<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thought that the eyes were too close to the brain to take such a risk, so I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>learned that she feared my losing my life or something else happening to me<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and that her desire to keep me safe was greater than my having sight.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What did I think? I wanted to have the surgery. I knew what my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>parents thought about blindness. I knew that even at the Ohio State School<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the Blind those who had some vision were expected to do things and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>allowed to do things that the totally blind students were not. I knew how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>valuable sight was.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> How does all of this relate to Aira? When walking into a crowded<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>room, most blind people I know don't think twice about taking directions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from someone with sight when looking for an empty seat. Getting assistance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from someone with sight is the only practical way to do shopping. How many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of us take the elbow of a sighted person (or for that matter even a blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person with usable vision) when walking through a noisy and crowded room?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>How many of us are willing to accept sighted assistance when going through<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a buffet line? Most of us need sighted assistance when at a restaurant that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>does not offer Braille menus. Many of us have at one time or another paid<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>readers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Many of us use apps on our smartphones to identify currency. There is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an app that will let us know if the lights in a room are on or off. Working<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with our friend and colleague Ray Kurzweil, the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind has developed an app that enables us to read the printed word, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>KNFB Reader. To do these things we rely on the cameras on our phones and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>artificial intelligence. In short, we rely on artificial vision. Yet none<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of us question whether or not we should use these apps, and I think that is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the way it should be.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Recently I called Aira and asked them to perform a relatively simple<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>task on the internet for me. A friend asked me why someone with my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology skills would use Aira to do something that simple. My answer was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>immediate: "Because I could." I said we both know that we have the skills<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and confidence to walk to some of the places to which we wish to travel,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but we also have the ability to use buses and trains. We could ask someone<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to drive us. We could in fact hire someone to drive us in a taxi. In fact<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we usually find it more convenient and less expensive to use one of those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>new-fangled ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber. All of these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>solutions insert sighted people and technology between us and walking to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our destination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> After completing my shopping trip today, I told my son and Claire,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Aira agent, how happy I was to do my shopping without assistance from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those around me. However, after discovering that I had left my iPhone in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Uber vehicle, I was delighted to have my sighted son go and retrieve it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for me. I could have done it, but it was more convenient and less expensive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for him to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Aira provides sight assistance only when you request it. It is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available when you need it, and there is no waiting until later when it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more convenient for someone to provide the visual information you have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>requested. Aira has not made me more dependent on sight; rather, it has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>changed the way I do some things. As far as I am concerned, this is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>change for the better.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> There's a List for That<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by David Andrews<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: David Andrews occupies one of the most active roles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in our organization but with little visibility to members who are not a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>part of a Federation list. He has the unenviable task of reading almost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>every message that goes across our lists, and he does what he can to keep<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>messages on topic and to deal with the most egregious of them when someone<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>unfamiliar with or hostile to our mission tries to cause problems for list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members. Our lists are a tremendous resource, and so too is our friend,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>colleague, and Federationist David Andrews. Here is what he says:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Those of you who have read the Braille Monitor for a while will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>remember that in the 1990s and early 2000s we used to publish articles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talking about new lists on nfbnet.org. However, with the growth of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology and its use, the proliferation of our lists, and the increased<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>use of social media, this is no longer feasible. Consequently, we are going<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to publish short monthly columns that talk about mailing lists in one area.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>That area can be geographic, such as a state, or it can be a topic, such as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology or blind kids. We will alternate between geographic and topical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>presentations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As you may know, the site http://www.nfbnet.org offers hundreds of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lists that discuss specific topics. These vehicles are often called<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>listservs or listserves, make your choice. Technically, Listserv is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>software package, not a list, like Kleenex is a brand, not a generic term<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for facial tissue. Personally, I prefer to call them "internet mailing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lists."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A list is something you subscribe to or join. It has a specific<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>purpose and can be public or private, announce-only or open for discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Once you subscribe, your email address is on the list, along with that of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>everyone else who has joined. If it is an open list, anything you or anyone<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>else who is subscribed writes is sent to all the other members. And if you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reply to a message, it automatically goes to everyone else who is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscribed to the list. If it is an announce-only list, the number of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people authorized to post is limited, and the list is only used for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>announcements, not discussions or questions. Overall, internet mailing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lists are an easy, efficient, and quick way to get information out to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thousands of Federationists and others in the blind community. It is a good<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>way for local chapters, state affiliates, committees, divisions, and others<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to communicate and hold discussions. Who doesn't have email?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> An alphabetical list of all our public internet mailing lists can be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>found at http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/. There are approximately<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>240 lists on the page, so finding something can be a little overwhelming-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hence this monthly column. As you can see from the webpage, each list has a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>list name and a short description. The list name is also a link and takes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>you to an info page from which you can subscribe. You can go directly to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>list's info page with the URL<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/listname_nfbnet.org, where<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"listname" is the aforementioned list name. You can also go directly to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>list's archive with the URL<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/listname_nfbnet.org. Finally, you can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscribe directly to a list using email by sending an email to listname-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>request@nfbnet.org and put the word "subscribe" in the subject line by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The NFBNet.org server also contains three lists to which you cannot<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscribe, but you are probably receiving an occasional email from them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>They are NFBNET-Members-List, NFBNET-Master-List, and NFBNET-Students-list.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>These lists are generated dynamically as needed. Their membership is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>automatically taken from the other lists on NFBNET.org. The Members List is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>composed of those lists concerned with the NFB and its business. The Master<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>List is composed of everybody on all lists on the server-there are a few<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>non-NFB lists that others may be on-generally dedicated to a specific<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>topic, and the Students List is composed of people from all our student-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>related lists. We used to send important messages to all the lists that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>might be interested. This was time consuming for me and resulted in a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person getting multiple copies of a message if she was subscribed to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>multiple lists, as many people are. This way you just get one message. You<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can ask to be excluded from these lists; however, they are the best way to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>keep up with what is happening in the Federation and with breaking events.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>We sometimes need to contact legislators on short notice, and other things<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>frequently need immediate attention, and this is the best way to inform<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thousands of Federationists easily and quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The NFBNET server also supports approximately forty-five websites for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>state affiliates, local chapters, and divisions of the NFB. There are also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>approximately eighty private lists that support various affiliates,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>chapters, divisions, and projects run by the Federation. These are private<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>spaces where people can openly discuss things only of interest to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Membership on these private lists is by invitation only, and their archives<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are not public.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Next month we will get started by telling you about the lists for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>state of Maryland. Our lists are valuable resources, and the more we know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>about them the better able we are to make full use of them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Marc Maurer at the 2008 National Convention]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Urgency of Optimism<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> An Address Delivered by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Marc Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> at the Banquet of the 2008 Annual Convention<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> of the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Much has been written about the balance between optimism and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pessimism-as if these two approaches to living were opposite, mutually<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>exclusive but equally viable methods of thought.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> McLandburgh Wilson said:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Twixt the optimist and the pessimist<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The difference is droll:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The optimist sees the doughnut<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> But the pessimist sees the hole.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Frederick Langbridge said,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Two men look out the same prison bars:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One sees mud and the other stars."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> However, some imaginative thinkers have suggested that optimism is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not simply a way of looking at a set of circumstances, but a positive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>element of power.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> William James said, "Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Nicholas Murray Butler said, "Optimism is essential to achievement,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Colin Powell said, "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For optimism to be an element in the acquisition of power, it must be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more than a cheerful cast of countenance. Rather it must consist in a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>commitment to bringing into being a future containing elements of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possibility that have not been a part of the past. Optimism and reality may<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(properly understood) be inseparable. If reality signifies all that has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>currently been created, this measure of existence is frozen in time. If, on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the other hand, reality denotes both that which has been built and that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which can be brought into being, the potential for growth encompasses a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>much more magnificent formulation of life than would otherwise be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>comprehensible. In other words, the grandest understanding of reality<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incorporates the optimistic anticipation of innovative thought, and it also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implies commitment and effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Anaos Nin said, "Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>highest form of living."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Douglas Everett said, "There are some people who live in a dream<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>turn one into the other."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Although a goodly number of Americans have been pessimistic (Henry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>David Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grave with the song still in them."), ours is an optimistic nation. We have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>traditionally held the view that we could conquer the frontier, govern our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>futures, or invent the tools for our own success. There is even an American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expression for this faith-Yankee ingenuity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Just as individuals have a life cycle, the theorists tell us that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizations do. They are established; they grow; they mature; they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prosper for a time; and they cease to exist. At least a part of the reason<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the continued existence of an organization depends on its optimism.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Every organization must possess a purpose and the faith that the purpose<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be achieved. When that faith dissipates, the organization dwindles,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>becomes dormant, and ceases to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As we have observed in the National Federation of the Blind,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>leadership is one vital element of progress. As an organization must have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>faith in its future, the leaders of the organization must be optimistic.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Pessimism signifies atrophy. Operating the same old program in the same old<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>way will not encourage growth. Optimism and an openness to imagination must<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be a part of the leadership. Every organization is faced with the same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>imperative: build or wither, grow or die. The openness to imaginative<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thought and the faith to believe that better, more effective programs can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be created are part of the spirit of the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Reflections on optimism and discussions about blindness are rarely<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>found in the same place. People who write or speak about blindness often<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grieve, sometimes weep, and frequently employ the most dismal descriptive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>words to signify the potential for blind people. It is extraordinarily rare<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for somebody to write or think, "Oh good, a whole bunch of blind people!"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>In fact, a convention of blind people is, in the minds of many, an anomaly-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>almost a contradiction in terms. At conventions people are supposed to have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fun. But, if most of the people at the convention are blind, how ineffably<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dismal could this be? Adding one miserable life to another in thousands of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>iterations simply magnifies the horror of it all. Blind people who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>optimistic about their future-they must be deluded or liars. How could any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>substantial group of people wake every day facing the disadvantages that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness brings and at the same time maintain optimism in their hearts? Is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>there any group so naove as to take this position?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Well, one group of this character does exist. We have created it. It<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is the most powerful force ever established in the field of work with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind in the United States, and it has a purpose that will not be abridged<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or thwarted or denied. That purpose is hard to achieve but simple to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proclaim-it is that the blind will have recognition, that we will be known<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the vital human beings we are with all of the talent, the energy, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the joy that we possess-that equality must and will be ours. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organization we have created, the organization that carries this banner,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the organization with the optimistic drive to change our lives for all time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is the National Federation of the Blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Some people depict the blind as unemployed, isolated, frequently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>uneducated, and beset with characteristics denoting inability. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>assertion that this summation is reality is made by some of those dealing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with programming for the blind. A senior official of the Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Education responsible for rehabilitation of the blind said within the last<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>few years that the 70 percent unemployment rate for blind people has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>remained unchanged for decades.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Why, I wondered, has this figure remained so high? Do blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not want to work? Are blind people lazy, lackadaisical loafers who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>turning down good jobs so that they can continue to receive government<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>benefits, or has the system failed? Are rehabilitation programs unequal to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the challenge? Are the programs conducted by the Department of Education<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>unproductive? Is the 70 percent unemployment rate for blind people an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>indication of a lack of leadership?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Not on your life," said this high official in the Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Education. "This rate of unemployment is an indicator that blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cannot achieve success unless they are among the most talented 30 percent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the blind in society. Continuing to spend money on programming for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind," he said, "is a waste of state and federal resources."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Rehabilitation for blind clients costs more than rehabilitation for those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with other disabilities. Therefore specialized programs for the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>should be eliminated because they cost too much. Never mind that these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs produce positive results, create tax savings by limiting the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>number of people receiving federal and state support, and bring trained and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talented blind people into the workforce. They should be eliminated because<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>they cost too much, he told me. This federal official in the Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Education gave up on 70 percent of the clients assigned to the programs he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is expected to supervise. He thinks that handing out government benefit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>checks to blind people is better than training them to work for their own<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lives. With such an attitude, with such a failure of optimism, with such a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lack of faith in the clients the Department of Education is expected to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>serve, it is not the least bit surprising that the programs of this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>department are failing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sometimes it appears that certain officials of the Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Education are seeking to punish the blind for demanding equality. Sometimes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it appears that these officials are saying, "You can demand equality if you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want to, but if you do, we will cut funds from your programs. If you do as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we say-if you behave as we require-if you are docile, subservient, properly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grateful blind people-we will grant you a modicum of support. However, if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>you want to be pushy, obnoxious, and uppity; if you want to be demanding<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and insistent, you will be sorry."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fortunately, though the Department of Education is responsible for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>making policies regarding programs it conducts, it has no power to make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>policy for the blind. We of the National Federation of the Blind determine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our own policy and create our own destiny. Those who serve in government<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are responsible to the people who put them there, not the other way around.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The blind of the nation have a right, perhaps even a duty, to examine the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>performance of the officials who are selected to conduct the programs to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>serve us. Those public officials are responsible to us to demonstrate that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>they have served well enough to continue to remain in office, and we demand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an accounting.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> At the time of the founding of the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in 1940, almost no blind people in America were employed. By the late 1950s<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>estimates were that 3 or 4 percent of the blind of the nation had jobs. By<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the mid-1970s this estimate had increased to 30 percent. In certain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs the number of blind people who receive employment after training<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is above 80 percent, and some approach 90 percent. What makes these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs successful? They listen to the blind; they are responsive to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>needs and wishes of blind people; they learn from the organized blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>movement; they form partnerships with the most powerful entity dealing with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness in the nation. Do officials in the Department of Education know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these facts? Do they care? Have they studied the factors that are part of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the success for the most productive programs?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Those who believe that inability or isolation or dismal despair<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>describe our lives do not know us and cannot speak for us. We are the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind, and we will make our own way and live our own lives. We will do it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with the support and encouragement of those who understand the reality we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>face. We will welcome partners from government or private programs for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind who have the faith to believe in us. We will conduct our activities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with the fundamental faith that blindness cannot inhibit our progress and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with the optimism to know that we can face whatever obstacle may come. But<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>above all else we will build our own future, and nothing on earth can stop<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>us!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One of the elements necessary to the public acceptance of the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as equals in society is a correct understanding of what blind people are.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>How are the blind perceived almost a decade into the twenty-first century?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A report circulated by Fox News in May of this year describes an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incident in which a blind man was refused the opportunity to ride on a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>roller coaster because of blindness. The report says that the blind man had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>already ridden the roller coaster three times that day. When the owner of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the amusement park discovered that the blind man was seeking a fourth ride,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>management refused. Management personnel said that safety requires a person<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to assume certain positions during a roller coaster ride. These positions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be anticipated only by those who can see well enough during the course<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the ride that they can anticipate the twists and drop-offs before they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>happen. Furthermore, if the roller coaster were to malfunction, management<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>said, a blind person could not easily escape from the contraption without<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>danger.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The denial of the opportunity to participate in the experience of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>riding a roller coaster is an example of the idiocy that blind people often<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>face. The blind man in question had already ridden the roller coaster three<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>times without incident or injury. The owner of the amusement park ignored<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the evidence. He had already decided that blind people were not welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Evidence was irrelevant.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Of course evidence is not required from the sighted. If sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people need not provide any evidence of their capacity to ride, blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people should not be expected to provide it either. Nevertheless, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>evidence was there. Consequently, this is a case in which double<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>discrimination has taken place. I am pleased to say that we in the National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation of the Blind assisted in giving this case the publicity it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>deserved, and the amusement park owner has changed his mind. The blind are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>welcome to ride.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 1997 the Portuguese Nobel Prize winning author Josi Saramago<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>released the English version of his novel, entitled Blindness. The premise<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in this book is that the members of society become blind unexpectedly,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>totally, irreparably, and instantly. The description of society as an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>increasing number of its members become blind is one of filth, greed,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>perversion, and vice. Blind people are depicted as unbelievably incapable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of everything, including finding the way to the bathroom or the shower.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Saramago wants a world view that serves to offer an allegory for the worst<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>description he can possibly imagine. He selects blindness as his metaphor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for all that is bad in human thought and action. He describes the blind as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>having every negative trait of humanity and none of the positive ones. He<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>argues that this is an allegory for a picture of the reality of the world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>today. The book was used as the basis for a movie of the same name, which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>has been shown at the Cannes film festival this spring. The only positive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>element to the release of this film is the almost universal reaction of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>critics that it is a failure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The depiction of the blind in this movie is fundamentally flawed for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>two reasons. First, blindness does not denote the characteristics the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>author attributes to it. The capabilities of those who become blind remain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>essentially the same after they lose vision as they were before they lost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it. Although the loss of any major asset (including vision) will bring a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>measure of sadness to some and despair to a few, it will also stimulate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>others to assert their will. Blindness can be a devastating loss, but it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>also has the power to galvanize some to action. The reaction to blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is not the least bit one-dimensional. Therefore the description is false.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In addition to this, the viciousness attributed to the blind is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inconsistent with the assertion of incapacity. Viciousness demands both<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>venality and ability-at least organized viciousness does. To say that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind are completely incompetent and to assert that they have the ability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to organize for the pursuit of vice is a contradiction in terms.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> But leave the internal inconsistency. The charge that loss of vision<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>creates a personality alteration of sordid and criminal character is in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>itself sordid and defamatory to an entire class of human beings. To give a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>man who writes such foolishness the Nobel Prize for Literature belittles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what has often been regarded as a prestigious award. For as long as I can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>remember, certain comedians have thought it good sport to make fun of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind, and as pernicious as this may be, most authors have not sought to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make us objects of fear and revulsion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The description in Blindness is wrong-completely, unutterably,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>irretrievably, immeasurably wrong. That such falsity should be regarded as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>good literature is revolting and amazing. We know the reality of blindness,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we know the pain it can bring, we know the joy that can come from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>correcting the misinformation about it, and we are prepared to act on our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>own behalf. We will not let Josi Saramago represent us, for he does not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>speak the truth. He does not write of joy or the optimism of building a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>society worth calling our own. We do, and we will.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> On November 13, 2007, an article appeared in USA Today entitled,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"Blinded by War: Injuries Send Troops into Darkness," which describes the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incidence of eye injuries to military personnel facing enemy combatants in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Iraq and Afghanistan. This article indicates that current conditions for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>combat cause a higher proportion of injuries to the eye than in previous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conflicts. Though the article is quite sympathetic to the troops who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blinded, it contains a reiteration of many of the myths and stereotypes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that have inhibited progress for the blind during the course of recorded<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>history. Brief portrayals of the lives of three soldiers are part of this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Here are excerpts from the article: "About 70 percent of all sensory<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>perception is through vision, says R. Cameron VanRoekel, an army major and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>staff optometrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. As a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>result the families of visually impaired soldiers wrestle with a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contradiction: The wounded often have hard-driving personalities that have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>helped them succeed in the military. Now dependent on others, they find it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>difficult to accept help."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I interrupt to say that though the army major may not know it, blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people do not necessarily lead lives of dependency, some blind people have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hard-driving personalities, and the old story about visual perception being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the primary method of learning is a myth of long standing but little<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>credence. However, there are other pieces to the article.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Even now, more than a year after her husband's return from Iraq,"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[the article continues] "Connie Acosta is taken aback to find her home dark<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>after sunset, the lights off as if no one is there. Then she finds him-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sitting in their Santa Fe Springs, California, house, listening to classic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>rock. Sgt. Maj. Jesse Acosta was blinded in a mortar attack twenty-two<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>months ago. He doesn't need the lights. That realization often makes Connie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cry. 'You kind of never get used to the fact that he really can't see,' she<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>says. 'He has no light in his life at all.'"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Again I interrupt. If the article is merely reporting that this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>soldier is blind, I would have no argument with the fact. However, more is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implied than the fact of blindness. The meaning is much broader and much<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more devastating. The spiritual, the poetic, the inspirational, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>romantic aspects of life are no more for this combat victim, implies USA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Today. Of course USA Today is only a newspaper. Its reporters have no<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extensive experience with blindness, and its editors have not studied in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this realm or learned what reality is for the blind. Personnel at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>newspaper have lived with the myth of deprivation, and this is what they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>report. They cannot comprehend that something else might be at least as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>important.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Is it really fair to say for those of us who are blind that we "have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>no light in our lives at all" with all of the unspoken implications<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contained in this phrase? Is sight essential for poetry? Can there be no<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inspiration without the visual sense? Is romance a thing of the past? Is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the song of the spirit only a faint echo in the lives of blind people when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>compared with that robust clamor which thrills the inner being of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted? When blindness comes, does it invariably signify meaningless<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>emptiness? This is what the article would have us believe. Consider what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the reporter says. "Nothing in the house can be moved [the article<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>continues]; he's memorized the location of every chair and table."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The final segment of the article poignantly sums up the grief. This<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is what it says: "The only good news for now is when he sleeps, Castro<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>says. 'I've had dreams where I know I'm blind and, guess what? I've<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regained my vision,' he says. Reality floods back each morning. 'There's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not a night that I don't pray and ask God, when I wake up, that I wake up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seeing.'"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> This is the report from USA Today about the prospects for blinded<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>veterans. The only good news is the dream of waking up seeing; everything<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>else is bad. To imagine a life consisting in its primary elements of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>waiting from the time of each waking moment for the next hour when sleep<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be coaxed to disguise the reality of daily existence with a dream world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is to accept despair. What we say to this soldier, to USA Today, and to all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>human beings who have become blind is: "Don't you believe it!" Your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reporter has missed the good news. Blindness is indeed a loss, but it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the loss of sight only, not the loss of the ability to live. Nobody can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>give us hope unasked, and nobody can create for us the kind of spirit that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will give meaning to what we do or who we are. However, the hope is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>abundantly available for those who seek it; the joy is part of the world we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can build; and the future is as bright with promise as any imagination that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>exists or has ever existed. This is what our experience has demonstrated;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this is what we know; and this is the story that should have been reported.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Incidentally, I get a little tired of the argument that 70 percent or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>80 percent or 83 percent or 90 percent of all information comes through the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eye. The implication is always that, although blind people have some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, we have only 30 percent or 20 percent or 17 percent or 10<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>percent of that which all other people have. This is false, and I find<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>myself annoyed with the necessity of responding to this idiotic notion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>repeatedly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I am told that the beginning of this argument came from an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>advertisement in 1923 put together by Thomas Edison. He was trying to sell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>film projectors to school systems. In an effort to sell his projectors, he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>said that "83 percent of all knowledge comes through the eye." I wish he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>had found a better way to sell projectors. Though I presume sighted people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>might learn 70 percent of all they know by using their eyes, I also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recognize that this is not the only way to learn. All of us learn through<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>such senses as we have, and we learn through using such mental capacity as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we possess. Sense impression is necessary for learning, but it is only one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>element in the process. Identifying and manipulating information involves<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pattern recognition. Sometimes visual observation helps in recognizing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>patterns, but other ways to recognize them also exist, and imagination is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>at least as valuable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Even though I have been thinking seriously about the subject of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness for almost forty years, I am still amazed by some of the things<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that people believe about blindness. When I read articles like this one, I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>think to myself, "Did you say that, did you really say that, how could you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>say such things about the blind?" Can you really think that our lives are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meaningless, or empty, or without romance or poetry or passion? Have you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>observed any of us for more than a moment? Do you know the struggle that we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>face to gain recognition for our talent? Have you heard the ripple of our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>laughter or the cadence of the song we sing? If you believe that romance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and passion are possible only through the eye, your experience lacks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>perspective and imagination. Love, joy, a fascination with the arts and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sciences, exploration of the unknown, and the unquenchable determination to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>build a better life for ourselves and for others-these we claim as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>belonging to us, belonging to the human spirit which is ours. In your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reporting you have not included these factors as a part of our lives, but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we know that we possess capacity, and we will not let you forget it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To give perspective to the thought of blind people and romance,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>consider the testimony of a Federation member who, as a college project,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decided to find out how blind people fall in love. Here is a portion of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>notice that this student distributed to a number of blind people in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Northeast:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> This year I am a senior, and I will be working on an honors<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> thesis investigating the attraction and courtship process for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> individuals without sight. The purpose of this project is to explore<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ways in which blind individuals use senses other than sight in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> choosing partners and in maintaining intimate relationships.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It is argued that sight is the most important factor in how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> people fall in love. What about those of us who lack the benefit of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> eye contact and visual cues? I want to explore the roles of other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> senses in the process of falling in love. This question is of great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> personal interest to me because I was able to experience 'love at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> first sight' when I met my future husband, despite the fact that I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> could not rely on my sense of sight. I am very interested in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> investigating the variety of ways that visually impaired individuals<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> fall in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These are statements from the notice created by the student. She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>takes for granted that blind people have romantic interest, and she seeks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>less to know whether it exists than how it operates. I suspect that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>research has already been concluded. However, if more evidence is required,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I will let you know.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The National Federation of the Blind receives unsolicited proposals<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to support, endorse, or help to promote individuals, books, films, or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>projects about blindness on a very regular basis. Some of these make sense<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and get our support, but others have no redeeming social importance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A few months ago we received a proposal that the National Federation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the Blind become a promoter of a project known as "Charlesville," a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>housing community to be built in Georgia adapted to the specialized needs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the blind. The slogan of Charlesville, which gives an idea about the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>project, is: "A Community Where the Blind Can Really See." The promoters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>plan to construct 164 homes for the blind in a housing development along<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with a theater, places for other small businesses, a supermarket,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>playgrounds, and a "work facility." The proposal, laid out in a substantial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>notebook, contains statements such as, "Homes...will have Voice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instructions to assist the Blind in being able to see in their homes, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>well as in their outside yards," and "The streets will be designed to have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Voice controls to assist the Blind in seeing where their neighbors live,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their playgrounds are, as well as their work facility." One other statement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the notebook is, "Our firm has been given the 'Vision of Creating Home<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ownership, and Employment' in Charlesville where the Blind can see<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>themselves become normal independent citizens of our great country."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Such are statements from the planners of Charlesville. And you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thought you were normal; you thought you were independent-not unless you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>live in Charlesville. Move to Charlesville or you're not even a citizen of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this great country of ours, according to the movers and shakers of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Charlesville.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I spoke with the people who sent this proposal to the Federation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>They told me that they understood the problems of blindness; they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sympathized with the plight of blind people; and they wanted to construct a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>living community in which the blind could have an experience of home as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>close as possible to that which is experienced by the sighted. With this in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mind they imagined that specialized technology would be installed which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would explain to the blind the interiors of their houses. Other technology<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would explain what was in the neighborhood. The explanations would include<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>audible descriptions of where each neighbor lived and where each<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nonresidential building could be located. Special blind-friendly technology<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to control the streets would be one of the features of the community,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>though what this technology would do had not yet been completely planned.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The mind boggles at what might be incorporated in the audible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>descriptions of the neighbors. It is tempting to try to offer certain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>imaginative examples, but those that you have already constructed are no<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doubt equally good. I confess that I found myself intrigued by the notion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that the streets themselves could be controlled. What would a human being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want the streets to do? Although I did not express these thoughts to those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visiting the National Federation of the Blind, I wondered if they meant<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that control gates would be installed at street crossings similar to those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>used for railroad crossings. When a blind person planned to cross the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>street, the press of a button could bring down the control arms, halting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>traffic and providing a tactile railing or fence for the blind person to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>follow from one side of the street to the other. Indeed, the concept of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>controlling the streets tickled my fancy. I wondered if I should suggest to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these planners that they build their community so that a blind person<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stepping out for a walk could instruct the streets to go downhill. Maybe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the new slogan for Charlesville could be, "The Community for the Blind:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Where All the Streets Go Downhill."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Those creating the community thought that having sighted people to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>assist the blind with their medications might be useful as well as having<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individuals dedicated to leading the blind from place to place. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>planners wanted to know if I had any suggestions for other specialized<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technologies or services, and they asked for a grant of more than a million<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I doubt that it will come as a surprise that I decided not to get the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>checkbook. I was polite, but I wondered if the people making the proposal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>had read any of the Federation's literature. We do not recommend that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind be segregated from society. We do not believe that specialized homes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are required for the benefit of the blind. We do not recommend that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>communities be built to isolate the blind even with voice-controlled<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>streets, whatever this might mean.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The concept of a segregated community is not merely offensive but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>also dangerously socially irresponsible. Some years ago in Japan, Dr.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Kenneth Jernigan, who was totally blind, and Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>walking along the sidewalk. A bicyclist almost struck Dr. Jernigan. In the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>brief heated discussion that followed the near-accident, the bicyclist said<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that a portion of the sidewalk had been set aside with tactilely raised<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>identifying marks for the blind. This is where the blind should be, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cyclist said. Implied in the statement is the further thought that blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people should not be permitted outside the specialized areas designated for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Some people have advocated for a special college for the blind. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>argument is that the needs of blind students are sufficiently different<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from those of other students that a college designed to serve the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would be a significant advantage. Books could be provided in Braille or in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recorded form. Blind people could have assurance that the lectures, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>handouts, and the laboratories would be designed to ensure accessibility in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nonvisual ways. However, we in the National Federation of the Blind have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>never endorsed such a concept; we have actively opposed it. No matter how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>useful it would be to have Braille books and tactilely labeled laboratory<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>equipment, a college for the blind would segregate and isolate the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from society rather than integrate us into it. We want to be a part of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>society in which we live. We want to attend the colleges and universities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of our own choice. We want our intellectual capacity to be recognized for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the value that it has. We want all colleges to understand the necessity of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>making their educational curricula accessible to us and useable by us. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will fight for our right to be included in all aspects of community life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>We oppose segregation for the blind, we oppose all schemes that would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>isolate us from the communities in which we live, and we promote full<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>integration of the blind into society on the basis of equality. We demand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>equality of opportunity for all blind people, and we will settle for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nothing less.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sometimes people ask me how I approach blindness. It is as much a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>part of me as dozens or hundreds of other characteristics. I don't forget<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it, but I don't concentrate on it either, most of the time. Other people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>often magnify this one characteristic out of all proportion to what seems<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reasonable to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In the early 1980s I was conducting a law practice in Baltimore,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Maryland. Each business day I traveled to my office, very often by bus, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>each evening I returned home, using the same method of transportation. One<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>summer evening I was standing at a bus stop in downtown Baltimore. I was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dressed in a suit, which is my customary work attire. I had a briefcase<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with me, which is almost always a companion of my travels. I was also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>carrying a can of coffee. I had run out of coffee at home, and I needed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this can, which, fortunately, I had on hand at the office. The evening was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>warm, and the bus was late. Because I had remained in my office to complete<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some work, the rush hour had already passed, and I was feeling weary. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>breeze came off the hot asphalt and did little to dissipate the warmth. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was the only one at the bus stop, which suited me because I could review<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the events of the day without having to worry about fellow bus passengers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or other distractions. A person came up to me and peered at me from one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>side. Then the person walked around to my other side and peered again. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was standing next to the pole that had the bus stop sign on it. My<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>briefcase was sitting on the ground next to my left leg, I was leaning on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>my cane, and I had the can of coffee in my hand. After I had been examined<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from both sides, a man's voice said to me, "Where's the slot?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "What?" I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To which my companion responded, "Where do you put the money?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Although I was startled by these questions, I realized suddenly that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>he wanted to put some change into the canister I was holding. He thought I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was begging. What else would a respectably dressed blind man with a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>briefcase and a coffee can be doing?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "This is my coffee," I said, and my companion left.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sometimes we let others make us believe that blindness matters more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to us than reality would suggest. Sometimes we let fear of the unknown<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>control us, and we attribute the fear to blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One of the presentations that I have made as president of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Federation of the Blind deals with the topic of getting lost. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have been lost many times, and I expect to be lost many more. In my younger<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>days I thought that being lost was bad. However, I have learned that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accepting the uncertainty of being lost means that I can find new places,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meet new people, have new experiences, and expand my horizons. I also tell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>other people it is perfectly all right to be lost. How different is this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attitude from the one that I found on the Internet recently. Here is what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one blind person said:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If I don't know a state, I won't take buses anywhere. Why on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> earth would I wish to get lost? I wouldn't even know how to tell the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> transportation where I wanted to go. I would ask others if they are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> going the same way I wish to go. If not, there isn't any reason to go<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> there then. I would just stay home where I know I could get help if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> needed and not feel afraid of getting lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Many of us may have faced this kind of fear as part of learning who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we are, and many of us may face it again. Nevertheless, with the support of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one another we know that we can solve the problems that come to us, large<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or small, dramatic or mundane. Though I sometimes find myself in unfamiliar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>surroundings, I never find myself without capacity, and I never encounter a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>day in which my colleagues in the Federation are not willing to help me if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I need it. I realize that I have the ability to learn what I need to know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to get from the place where I am to the place where I need to be.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Furthermore, I will always want to know what we can do to build a brighter,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more productive future. I will always want to know what is around the next<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bend in the road or over the summit of the next hill. I will always want to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know what I can do to bring joy to my friends. I will always want to know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>how I can show them that there is excitement in being lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Optimism is an element in the acquisition of power, and the power<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>once derived fosters optimism. The power of optimism stimulates the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>optimism of power. Optimism is one element of our faith. It is inherent in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all that we say and all that we do. Because it has come to be such an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>integrated part of our thought process, we sometimes fail to recognize the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>urgency of optimism.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For all time blind people have been regarded as dependent,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incompetent, and subnormal-some would even describe us as subhuman.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>However, we know better than to accept such a description of us, for it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>false. We have decided to correct the error of the authors who tell us that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we are base and unhuman, of those rehabilitation officials who write off 70<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>percent of us as fundamentally incompetent, of the newspaper reporters who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tell us that our lives are empty and meaningless, and of the amusement park<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>operators who believe that we can't even ride a roller coaster. We have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>made this decision because we know the strength which is within us, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>share the spirit that is part of us, and we feel the determination to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>create the factors that will shape the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Who can tell us what our lives will become? Nobody can do this except<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>us. There are those who would like to dismiss us, but we will be heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>There are those who would like to instruct us, but from our experience we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have gained more information than they can hope to accumulate. There are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those who would like to control us, but if they try, they will do so at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their peril. Partners we seek from every aspect of public and private life,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but those who would seek to dictate to us what our lives should be will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tolerated not at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As we face the struggles of the time to come, we know with absolute<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>certainty that we will take whatever action is necessary to confront those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>who would stop our progress or belittle our ambitions. We will make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>whatever sacrifice is necessary; we will pay whatever price is required. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will demand the equality that must and will be ours, and we will never<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cease our efforts until we have it. We have the will, we have the strength,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we have the optimism. The future belongs to us; we will make it our own!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Leave a Legacy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For more than seventy-five years the National Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>into reality, and with your support we will continue to do so for decades<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to come. We sincerely hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>movement by adding the National Federation of the Blind as a partial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>beneficiary in your will. A gift to the National Federation of the Blind in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your will is more than just a charitable, tax-deductible donation. It is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>way to join in the work to help blind people live the lives they want that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>leaves a lasting imprint on the lives of thousands of blind children and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>adults.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>With your help, the NFB will continue to:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Give blind children the gift of literacy through Braille;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Promote the independent travel of the blind by providing free, long<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> white canes to blind people in need;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Develop dynamic educational projects and programs that show blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> youth that science and math are within their reach;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Deliver hundreds of accessible newspapers and magazines to provide<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> blind people the essential information necessary to be actively<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> involved in their communities;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Offer aids and appliances that help seniors losing vision maintain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> their independence; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Fund scholarship programs so that blind people can achieve their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Plan to Leave a Legacy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Creating a will gives you the final say in what happens to your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possessions and is the only way to be sure that your remaining assets are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>distributed according to your passions and beliefs. Many people fear<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>creating a will or believe it's not necessary until they are much older.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Others think that it's expensive and confusing. However, it is one of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most important things you will do, and with new online legal programs it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>easier and cheaper than ever before. If you do decide to create or revise<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>beneficiary. Visit <www.nfb.org/planned-giving> or call (410) 659-9314,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extension 2422 for more information. Together with love, hope,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>determination, and your support, we will continue to transform dreams into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Dots from Space!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Voices from the Past<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Amy Mason and Anna Kresmer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: This is episode four from our monthly serial "Dots<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from Space!" If you missed any of the earlier episodes, refer to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>January, February, and March issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Drawn ever onward by the mysteries left behind by the previous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inhabitants, the team rolls through the maze-like corridors, paneled in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>smooth wood, to the far side of the empty building. At long last they reach<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the end of another seemingly endless hallway and discover that they are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>standing on the remains of a large deck. Watery sunlight shines down on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>explorers as they spread out to examine the debris strewn across the deck,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>while the soft breeze brings the sounds of water in the bay to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "There's nothing here but dirt and rocks, ma'am," Lieutenant Commander<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Jot calls out, as she forms a trowel and eagerly begins to shove some of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the detritus away.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Wait! There's something over here! You'd better come take a look at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this everyone." The triumphant urgency in Counselor Mote's voice leaves the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>entire team with little choice but to clamor to see what she has found.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Report, Counselor," Captain Dottie commands.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The counselor rolls a few feet to the side to reveal the twisted metal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>remains of a large charcoal grill lying on its side on the ground. Putting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>her trowel to good use, the lieutenant commander begins to sweep away the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dirt to reveal grilling tongs, now long rusted, and a heavy-duty grilling<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>glove riddled with holes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Eager to show off, the counselor quickly explained. "It appears to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the remains of a rudimentary cooking method, Captain. Unlike our species,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which can simply absorb nutrition from the materials we come into contact<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with, I surmise that the inhabitants of this world burned their food with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fire and then ingested it."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "A most inefficient system indeed," mused Doctor Spot.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Young Bean, curious as always, reaches into the pile of rusty metal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>utensils and pulls out the crumbling remnants of a pair of sleepshades.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"What do you suppose this was used for? And why would they need it for food<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>preparation?" he asks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The crew all ponder this question for a moment, but it is Counselor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mote, rolling her rotund body in a small circle on the ground in her haste<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to be first, who beats them to the punch. She pulls the sleepshades from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ensign's appendage and plasters the mask to the surface of her body,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the impression of a nose and mouth appearing below it. "Isn't it obvious?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>This is a ceremonial mask used to ask their deities to bless their food!"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Interesting theory Counselor, however, I think there is a simpler<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>explanation. Their mission was to teach others that there were alternatives<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to using sight to complete everyday tasks. I believe that this device was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meant to discourage the use of sight during educational activities."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Sight, Doctor?" asks Lieutenant-Commander Jot.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "From the evidence that we have gathered on this planet so far, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have discovered that most of the inhabitants used the perception of light<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to interact with their environment. However, not everyone used this method.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Those that did, used what was called 'sight.' While those who did not or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could not rely on this sense used alternative techniques and called<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>themselves 'blind.'"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "And what are you basing this theory upon, Doctor?" Captain Dottie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inquires.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> "Simple, Captain. I read it in this article I found in the hallway."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[Note: Link to "The Hierarchy of Sight", by Eric Guillory, Future<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Reflections, Volume 33, Number 2,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr33/2/fr330211.htm]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Iowa Congressman David Young]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> David Young is a Champion for Blind Iowans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by James H. Omvig<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From the Editor: James Omvig is a man with a long history of work on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>behalf of blind people and whose mantra has long been "Let's go build the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation." This he has done in every part of the country in which he has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lived and in every part he has visited on behalf of the organized blind of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>America. Jim has spent more than eight decades on this earth and has more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than his share of health issues, but he still manages to put the work of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the National Federation of the Blind as one of his highest priorities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Jim did not attend the 2017 Washington Seminar, but he felt an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>obligation to carry forward the issues highlighted there. Here is an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>article which appeared in the Des Moines Register on March 2, 2017. Hats<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>off to you, Jim, and thank you for writing:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> National Federation of the Blind of Iowa, Letter to the Editor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Through the National Federation of the Blind, the world's oldest and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>largest educational and civil rights organization of blind people, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind of America are working continuously to achieve security, equality,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and opportunity for the blind. As we advance, many challenges still lay<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ahead. One of the most significant is the barrier the blind face with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible technology. In the ever-changing market of computers, tablets,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and phones, keeping devices accessible is always a work in progress for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFB.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One recent issue the blind have encountered is the high cost of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>custom-made, accessible technology such as Braille displays, screen-reading<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>software, and other technology that is specifically designed for the use of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind. These necessary devices can be extremely costly, making it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>difficult for the average blind person to afford them. Leaders of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation have therefore developed the Access Technology Affordability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Act, which will be introduced into the Congress soon. It would offer a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refundable tax credit for blind purchasers of specialized technology to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>help defray cost and therefore help blind people have equal access to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> At the Federation's recent Washington Seminar, hundreds of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people from across America traveled to Washington, DC, to educate US<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>congressmen and senators about this urgent need. After he learned of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>problem of the exorbitant costs associated with this technology, Rep. David<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Young agreed to be our champion sponsor of the Access Technology<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Affordability Act. Congressman Young has repeatedly advocated for the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and our causes and has sponsored legislation on our behalf several times<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We wish to offer a public thank you to Young for his understanding,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his help, and his support.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>- James H. Omvig, National Federation of the Blind of Iowa<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Independence Market Corner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The NFB Independence Market is the conduit through which our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organization distributes our literature about blindness and how to adapt to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>living successfully with severe vision loss. Our members and friends use<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our literature to share our can-do approach to blindness to encourage other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people and to educate the general public about the abilities of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Through the Independence Market the NFB also makes available some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>products, which enhance the independence of blind and vision impaired<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individuals. Perhaps the product which has the greatest impact on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>independence of blind people is the long white cane. Once someone has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>learned to use the long white cane effectively, that blind person can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>travel safely and comfortably both in familiar and unfamiliar places. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>freedom gained from such independent mobility has a tremendous effect on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the self-confidence of blind people. It is, therefore, not surprising that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the white cane has become a symbol of our independence and self-reliance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Over the years the NFB promoted longer and lighter weight canes, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our members found the longer, lighter canes easier to use. The additional<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>length provides users more advanced warning of obstacles in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>environment, giving them the confidence and competence to walk at a faster<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pace. Knowing that one's longer cane will detect the top of a flight of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>steps with enough reaction time to approach the first step with ease<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contributes to a blind traveler's sense of safety and security. The NFB<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recommends that a cane is long enough that it reaches between the chin and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the nose of the user. Some people who walk very fast prefer even longer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>canes. The NFB also pioneered the use of canes for young blind children,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>even toddlers. If young blind children already have canes in their hands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when they start walking, then the cane becomes a natural tool to explore<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their environment. And once such early cane adopters reach the self-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conscious teen years, they have already internalized the knowledge that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>using the long white cane enables them to move around safely and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>independently.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The NFB Independence Market sells several types of long white canes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ranging from rigid ones to telescoping and folding ones for all ages and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sizes from toddlers to tall adults. All our light-weight canes are hollow<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and made either from fiberglass or a carbon fiber composite.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane, written by longtime<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>member Tom Bickford, is a good introductory guide for those unfamiliar with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>using a long white cane as a mobility aid. This book gives good tips for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>using a long white cane in various everyday situations. The text is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available on our website at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>https://nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/books/CFCANE/canetc.htm. The book<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can also be obtained in Braille or print from the Independence Market free<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of charge. Audio copies may be borrowed by NLS patrons from their local<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>library for the blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For more information about the products and literature available from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Independence Market or to request a catalog in Braille or in print<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visit us online at https://nfb.org/independence-market. You may also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contact us using email at independencemarket@nfb.org or by phone at (410)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>659-9314, extension 2216, Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Eastern Time. Our staff will be glad to assist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Recipes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Recipes this month were provided by the National Federation of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind of Florida.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Corn Casserole<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Sylvia Young<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sylvia Young has been a sighted member of the NFB for about six<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years. She now serves as the Tallahassee Chapter and state affiliate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>secretary. She and her husband James have been married for seventeen years<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and have nine children and thirteen grandchildren in their blended family.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 can whole kernel corn<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 can cream style corn<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup sour cream<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 eggs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup grated cheddar cheese<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 box Jiffy cornbread mix<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 stick of margarine (melted)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased pan or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dish. Bake for forty-five minutes to one hour at 325 degrees. Let stand for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ten minutes before serving. You may slice it or scoop it out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Traditional Lasagna<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Scott Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Scott Wilson is a passionate cook, parent of two children, and a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>successful business owner for more than ten years. In his copious free time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Scott enjoys learning new things, like languages. He currently speaks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Irish, with more languages to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 pound ground beef<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3/4 pounds bulk pork sausage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 garlic cloves, minced<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon Italian seasoning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 large eggs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 cups (24 ounces) 4 percent small curd cottage cheese<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 carton (8 ounces) ricotta cheese<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>6 slices provolone cheese (about 6 ounces)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble beef<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and sausage until no longer pink; drain. Add next seven ingredients. Bring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, one hour, stirring occasionally.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Meanwhile, in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add parsley; stir in cottage cheese,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ricotta and parmesan cheese. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cup meat sauce in an ungreased thirteen-by-nine-inch baking dish. Layer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with three noodles, provolone cheese, two cups cottage cheese mixture, one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cup mozzarella, three noodles, two cups meat sauce, remaining cottage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cheese mixture and one cup mozzarella. Top with remaining noodles, meat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sauce and mozzarella (dish will be full). Cover; bake fifty minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Uncover; bake until heated through, twenty minutes. Let stand fifteen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>minutes before cutting. Yields twelve servings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Yellow Squash Casserole<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Alicia Kilby<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Alicia Kilby is a homemaker. As a single, disabled mother of two<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>young children, she tries to be creative and likes to explore new recipes,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>keeping in mind children's tastes are sometimes narrow and limited. She's a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>responsible, independent, part-time student working on a degree in social<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>work. She is also a volunteer and mentor at a local elementary school,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>living every day for a better tomorrow because she can live the life that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>she wants.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>8 medium yellow squash<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>16 saltine crackers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 cups mozzarella cheese (or whatever you prefer)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>= cup milk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 eggs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 stick butter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Salt and pepper to taste<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Slice squash and boil until tender. Drain, crush crackers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>until fine, and beat eggs. Put all ingredients into two-and-a-half-quart<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>casserole dish and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serves<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eight.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Smothered Rabbit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Tinetta Cooper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tinetta is a legally blind, diabetic mother who has been an NFBF<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>member for ten years. She loves to cook and bake. She says, "The recipe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I've submitted is unique and simple to prepare, and the results are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>delicious!"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 rabbit, cut into small pieces<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Salt to taste<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Paprika to taste<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Flour<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons butter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 to 2 onions sliced<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup sour cream<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Season the rabbit with salt and paprika. Coat pieces with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>flour. Melt butter in a crockpot, add rabbit, and cover meat thickly with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>onion slices. Sprinkle onions with salt. Pour in the sour cream. Cover and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simmer one hour or bake at 325 until tender.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A Cup, A Cup, A Cup of Peach Cobbler<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Sylvia Young<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup of canned peaches<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup of flour (self-rising)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup of milk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup of sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 stick of butter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 lemon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place peaches in bowl, add 1/8 cup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of sugar and squeezed lemon, stir and set aside. Melt butter in backing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dish. Mix flour and the rest of the sugar and milk together. Pour into the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pan with the melted butter. Add fruit on top (with some of the juice). Bake<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one hour. Serve with or without ice cream on top.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Floating Peach Cobbler<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Alicia Kilby<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> There's always room for variations in life, especially when it comes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to delicious desserts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup self-rising flour<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2/3 cup milk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 29-ounce can sliced peaches in heavy syrup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 stick margarine (not butter)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Preheat oven 350 degrees. Melt butter then pour into a ten-by-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ten-inch baking dish. Stir together flour, sugar, and milk until smooth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Pour into center of dish on the margarine (do not stir). Spoon the peach<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>slices all over the batter gently (so you don't stir). Then add the syrup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from can. Bake forty-five minutes until golden brown. Serve at room<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>temperature.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Florida Cracker Orange Pie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by John Bailey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> John is a sighted board member of the NFB of Florida Statewide<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Chapter and has been an NFB member for about five years. He got interested<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the NFB because of his girlfriend Tinetta Cooper. He truly believes in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the NFB and its philosophy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>6 large egg yolks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>4 tablespoons flour<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 tablespoons sweet butter, melted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 tablespoons grated orange zest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 cups fresh orange juice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 nine-inch deep dish flaky pie crust<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put egg yolks in mixer bowl and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>beat until smooth. Beat in sugar, flour, butter, orange zest, and orange<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>juice one ingredient at a time. Pour orange mixture into pie shell. Bake<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thirty minutes until set. Let cool completely. Top with whipped cream.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Chill before serving.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Monitor Miniatures<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> News from the Federation Family<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>STEM Tutorials for Blind Students to be Offered at the 2017 NFB National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Convention:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Are you a blind student interested in studying science, technology,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>engineering, or math? Do you feel daunted by the prospect of doing lab work<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in a chemistry class or producing visually readable results in a math<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>class? Perhaps you're a professional in a technical field who finds it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>challenging to produce graphs and charts for sighted colleagues? If so,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>then come to the convention of the National Federation of the Blind and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>plan to arrive in time for Seminar Day on Monday, July 10. The NFB in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Computer Science, the NFB Science & Engineering Division, and the NFB<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Association of Blind Students Division will host the STEM tutorial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workshop. STEM educators and technologists will come from around the world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to help blind students and professionals learn to use a variety of tools to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>assist them in excelling in their chosen technical field. Best of all,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individual tutoring sessions will be offered throughout the week for those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>folks who want one-on-one training from experts who are familiar with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>access technology they're teaching, as well as the technical field it's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>being used for. The topics to be discussed and for which tutoring will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available include: access math in electronic materials directly or to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convert it to Braille; write math in formats directly accessible to sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people; read STEM graphs, charts, and diagrams, and create simple graphics;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and participate in chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering labs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> There is no charge to attend either the seminar on Monday or the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tutoring sessions throughout the week. The seminar on Monday will give an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>overview of the technologies to be taught, as well as an introduction to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the tutors themselves. It is strongly recommended that folks who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>interested in being a part of this invaluable opportunity plan to arrive at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the convention in time to begin participating in events on the morning of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>July 10.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For more information, contact: John Gardner, STEM tutorial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>coordinator, at john.gardner@oregonstate.edu.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In Brief<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have edited only for space and clarity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>State Resource Handbooks Available for Purchase :<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I have created twenty-three screen-reader-friendly resource handbooks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>containing resources pertaining to the blind and visually impaired for use<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by consumers and professionals. This handbook is for the residents of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>specific states and includes the many organizations for the blind and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visually impaired covering areas such as employment, housing,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transportation, and more. Currently the handbooks are for Alabama, Alaska,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Oregon, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The handbooks include contact information on the local, regional, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>national level. For more information on pricing, order form, and formats<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>please contact Insightful Publications by email at insightfulpub@gmail.com,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by phone at (808) 747-1006, or by visiting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>http://www.insightful.com/orderpage.html.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ----------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> NFB Pledge<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>abide by its constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Forwarded by:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Freestyle Script"'>Brian A. Mackey<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Brian A. Mackey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Owner, Mackey Enterprises, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Treasurer & Webmaster, National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Member, National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Blind Users Innovating & Leading Design (BUILD) Team<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>609-953-6988<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><a href="mailto:Bmackey88@gmail.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>Bmackey88@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to pay the price to make those dreams come true”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <i>-Vince Papale<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>