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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. 9 October 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'><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. 9 October<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: Tackling the Challenges-Sometimes it Gets Physical<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'>Bringing Hope to Victims of Two Natural Disasters<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 Sound of Success<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'>A Worldwide Revolution: The Marrakesh Treaty, the Accessible Books<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Consortium, and Global Literacy 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 Scott LaBarre<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'>Engineering Tools for Tactile Fluency: A Partnership with the Organized<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind Movement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Josh Coffee<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'>Celebrating a Half Century with the Oldest Division 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<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Kathryn Webster<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'>Building the Twenty-First Century American Workforce: Disability Does Not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Define Your Employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by R. Alexander Acosta<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'>Tom Ley Dies, and the World Loses a Dear Soul, a Family Member, an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Advocate, and a Friend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Gary Wunder<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'>When Automobiles are Obsolete<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'>John Halverson Ends an Illustrious Career<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Deven McGraw<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 American Foundation for the Blind: New Directions for the Future<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Kirk Adams<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 Orbit Reader 20: The Most Inexpensive Braille Display<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Curtis Chong<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'>by Ellen Ringlein<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'>Origins of the NFB Pledge<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by 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 Mail Basket<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Gary Wunder<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'>Cross of Blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Jacobus tenBroek<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'>Settlement That May Benefit Some Monitor Readers<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: Instructors explain how to use aerial silks while a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federationist sits in the loop of silk.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: A young Federationist hangs upside down using aerial silks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>while an instructor coaches her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Two Federationists laugh from where they landed running<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through the obstacle course.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Federationist fearlessly drops onto the slide in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inflatable obstacle course.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tackling the Challenges-Sometimes it Gets Physical<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'> Life presents many challenges, but far too often blind people are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>steered away from those involving physical activity. The results are what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one would expect: poorer health, obesity, and the ailments that go along<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with it. Not surprisingly one of the messages we want our convention<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>program for children to send is that physical activity is not just normal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but expected. Being cautious is one thing, but overcautiousness from well-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>intentioned sighted people can feed the doubts of the blind person,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>increasing both and inhibiting the blind person for life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Monday afternoon at the convention, Federationists had an opportunity<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to push some of their own limits. Along with sword fighting and rhythmic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drumming that were offered last year, the parents division set up aerial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>silks so that Federationists could experience for themselves the freedom of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>suspension. The short rig allowed for a few small basic maneuvers, such as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hanging upside down, while instructors coached participants through them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Federationists also had the opportunity to challenge themselves on an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inflatable obstacle course. Climbing, sliding, and running on the soft<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>surface of the course was challenging, but Federationists tumbled through<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it, often laughing, while showing that they could conquer the cushioned<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>barriers here with as much courage, energy, and success as the more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>intangible barriers they encounter when working to live the lives they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want.<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'> Bringing Hope to Victims of Two Natural Disasters<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'> As we submit this issue for proofing, our country is beginning its<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recovery from two devastating storms: hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Please<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>follow what we are doing to help. You may do this through watching what we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>post on social media, monitoring our NFB listservs, listening to our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>podcasts and the presidential release, and calling to talk with your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>chapter or affiliate president about ways in which you can get involved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Digging into our own pockets demonstrates that our commitment to one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>another goes far beyond words. Please help!<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'> The Sound of Success<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: No man has worked harder to make electric and other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quiet cars loud enough that they can be heard by blind people who travel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the streets of our nation than John Pari. His work in building key<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>alliances, writing persuasive documents, making repeated telephone calls,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>getting himself invited to make difficult presentations, and continuing to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>send the message that the lives of blind people are valuable and deserve to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be protected is unparalleled. Here is what he has to say in this ongoing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>saga to make the streets safer for all pedestrians:<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'> After four delays by the Department of Transportation, 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 final regulation went into effect on Tuesday,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>September 5, 2017. The National Federation of the Blind has been working on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this issue for fourteen years. We first worked for eight years to define<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the problem, develop key partnerships, write the legislation, and work to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>get the legislation passed. But our work was not over. 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 then worked for six more years participating in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>studies, advocating with individual car companies, responding to proposed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regulations, and doing our own research. In the end, our relentless<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attention to detail, our consistent messaging, and our unwavering passion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>made the difference.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> There are two articles from previous issues of the Braille Monitor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which detail, at great length, the history of this legislation. The first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is an article from the June 2011 issue of the Monitor titled "Belling the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Cat: The Long Road to the Passage of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by Deborah Kent Stein which details the bill from its inspiration and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inception to its passage. It can be found online at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm11/bm1106/bm110602.htm">https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm11/bm1106/bm110602.htm</a>. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>second is an article I wrote which was published in the April 2017 issue<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>titled "Progress on the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act: The Regulations,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Law, and What They Will Mean for the Blind." This second article<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>details everything that happened after the law was passed, including the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>long and arduous fight to get the final regulation published, and can be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>found online at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm170403.htm">https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm170403.htm</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The key points of this regulation ensure that America's streets will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be safer for all pedestrians, and in particular blind pedestrians. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>final regulation prohibits a pause switch, manufacturer supplied selectable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sounds, and any tampering with the device, solidifying its classification<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as a safety feature. Generally, the vehicle must emit a sound of at least<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>44 decibels when stationary or traveling in a forward speed of less than 10<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>kph. For vehicles with an automatic transmission, this includes all times<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when the vehicle is not in motion and the shifter is not in the "Park"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>position. For manual transmission vehicles, this includes any time 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 not engaged. When traveling at a speed of greater than or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>equal to 10 kph, but less than 20 kph the vehicle must emit a sound of at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>least 51 decibels. When traveling at a speed of greater than or equal to 20<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>kph, but less than 30 kph the vehicle must emit a sound of at least 57<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decibels. When traveling at a speed of 30 kph the vehicle must emit a sound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of at least 62 decibels. At rates of speed higher than 30 kph, tire-road<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>noise and wind resistance are considered sufficient, and the additional<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>alert sound is no longer required. A sound of at least 48 decibels is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>required when the vehicle is moving in reverse. The regulation requires all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>four-wheeled hybrid-electric passenger vehicles under ten thousand pounds<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>produced on or after September 1, 2019, to be compliant. Fifty percent of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all hybrid-electric vehicles produced on or after September 1, 2018, must<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meet the above requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Our advocacy on this issue is a perfect example of our commitment to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>help blind Americans live the lives they want. Fourteen years ago we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>realized that silent vehicles threatened our independence and our ability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to safely walk on the streets of America. We refused to accept this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possibility and set in motion the mechanism that would lead to the passage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of this landmark law. Now the sounds of our success will ring freely from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sea to sea.<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: Scott LaBarre]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A Worldwide Revolution: The Marrakesh Treaty, the Accessible Books<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Consortium, and Global Literacy 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 Scott LaBarre<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: We are blessed to have some very talented people who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have joined in this organization to improve opportunities, not only for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>themselves but for other people who are blind. Scott LaBarre is one such<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person. His talent has certainly been recognized by 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 inasmuch as it has elected him repeatedly as the president 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 of Colorado. He also serves as the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president of the National Association of Blind Lawyers and as the chairman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of our Preauthorized Check Program. But he also distinguishes himself in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the profession of law, operating his own legal practice and standing at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>forefront of civil rights legislation for the blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One of his assignments for the Federation is to work for the passage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the Marrakesh Treaty. Here is what he said to the 2017 National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Convention on the progress we have made and the work that remains to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>done:<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'> Thank you, Mr. President. I've just got to say that in Colorado we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are so proud of Maureen Nietfeld [who spoke immediately before him]. She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>truly lives our philosophy. Let's hear it again for Maureen Nietfeld.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[cheers].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 1966 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the international<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>covenant on civil and political rights. Article 19 paragraph 2 of that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instrument holds that freedom of expression includes the right to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information. Specifically it states that everyone shall have the right to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the freedom of expression. This right shall include the freedom to seek,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>frontiers. A critical component in exercising this right is the right to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>read and otherwise manipulate the written word. For the blind, this right<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>has been difficult to achieve, and its full realization and permanency are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not yet secured. In addition to the traditional barriers limiting our right<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to read, namely the barriers of our inability physically to read the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visually-printed word and the barrier of inaccessible information<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology, there is another significant barrier to our full enjoyment of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the right to access information, and it is copyright law.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Without an exception or limitation, international law makes it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>abundantly clear that reproducing a copyrighted work-any kind of copy,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>whether in Braille or some other format-violates the exclusive right that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the copyright holder possesses to control distribution of the work. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>only way around this exclusive right has been to ask permission of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>right holder to copy the work in an accessible format. That permission<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>either is denied or has taken a long, long time. That is why 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 joined the Association of American Publishers in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1996 and urged and ultimately convinced Congress to amend the United States<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Copyright Act to include an exception permitting reproduction of published<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>works into accessible formats such as Braille, audio, and accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>electronic texts, the so-called Chaffee Amendment. The man most responsible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the Chaffee Amendment is in this room; let's hear it for James Gashel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[cheers, applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Our domestic exception, however, did not address the great dearth of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible works throughout the world. It has been estimated that well over<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>95 percent of the world's works have not been available in accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>formats. Think about that for a moment. Unfortunately international<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>copyright has either outright banned the practice of exchanging accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>works over international borders or has made it extremely difficult to do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so. This has been a phenomenon, a phenomenon later dubbed "the book famine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the blind." That is why we engage with our partners in the World Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Union to put forward an international agreement that would amend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>international copyright law proactively to permit exceptions and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>limitations allowing reproduction of works into accessible formats and to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>allow such accessible works to flow across international borders.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Four years ago Dr. Fred Schroeder and I had the pleasure and deep<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>honor to stand before you and report on the miracle that had occurred in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Marrakesh, Morocco, on June 28, 2013. After several years of intense<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>negotiations and at times stiff opposition, an international treaty had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been born: a treaty holding out the promise to eradicate the book famine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the blind and signaling a global priority on the right to access<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, the right to access knowledge and literacy for the world's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind and print disabled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So, what is going on with respect to implementing the Marrakesh<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who are Blind,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Visually-Impaired, or Otherwise Print-Disabled? As we join together in this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention, the treaty has become an official, binding, legal instrument<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for all the countries that have ratified or acceded to it. The treaty fully<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>entered into force when our neighbors to the north-Canada-delivered its<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on June<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>30, 2016, becoming the twentieth so-called contracting party to the treaty.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Since Canada, nine other nations have joined the Marrakesh Treaty<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>community. The full list of countries, in chronological order of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ratification or accession, is: India, El Salvador, The United Arab<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Emirates, Uruguay, Mali, Paraguay, Singapore, Argentina, Mexico, Mongolia,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Republic of Korea, Australia, Brazil, Peru, The Democratic People's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Republic of Korea, Israel, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Canada, St. Vincent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the Grenadines, Tunisia, Botswana, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Panama,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Honduras, Kyrgyzstan, and Kenya.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Now, you are all pretty sharp, and I'm sure that all of you have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>noticed that not present in that list of twenty-nine countries is the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>United States of America. How can this be? The United States has led the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>way in producing accessible titles, both at the governmental level with our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the private level with organizations like Bookshare. We have 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 robust exceptions to our copyright law permitting the creation of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible formats. This Federation exercised its leadership and convinced<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Obama administration to support a treaty, and the United States<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Government turned out to be a strong advocate for what later became the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Marrakesh Treaty. The United States has, in fact, signed the treaty as of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>October 2, 2013, indicating its intent to ratify. And, as you know, our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Constitution requires that our president send the treaty to the Senate for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ratification, which requires a two-thirds vote, and President Obama did in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fact submit the Marrakesh Treaty to the Senate in February of 2016. No<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Senator has voiced opposition to ratifying the Marrakesh Treaty, and in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fact the vast majority has expressed support. Why, then, do we not find<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ourselves among the nations who have boarded the Marrakesh Express?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It comes down to this: after President Obama forwarded the treaty to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Senate, along with proposed implementing legislation, key copyright<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stakeholders such as the publishers and the library community expressed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reservations or insisted on amendments. For a time it felt like dij` vu all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>over again. Because we started relitigating the same issues: the very same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>issues that we had talked about ad nauseum in Marrakesh and in Geneva, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>same issues to which we had found solutions, and the US key stakeholders<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>had agreed to such solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Regardless, I am now happy to report: due to the leadership 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, we have once again brought the key<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stakeholders back to the table. And we have once again re-resolved the same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>issues that threatened to scuttle Marrakesh in 2013. With the full support<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the American Council of the Blind, the American Foundation for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind, the American Library Association, the Association of American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Publishers, the Association of College and Research Libraries, Benetech<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(who operates Bookshare), the Association of Research Libraries, 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, and the National Music Publishers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Association we have now submitted legislative language to the appropriate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Senate committees. These Senate committees are conducting their due<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>diligence, and it is our real hope and expectation that by the end of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>year the United States will ratify the Marrakesh Treaty. [applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It will do so because of us-because of 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. But we must all encourage and urge the Congress to stop waiting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>around, to not be late to the station, and to get on the Marrakesh Express!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> On the global front, we are very active in the effort to increase the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ratifications and implementation of Marrakesh. We are participating with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the World Blind Union to accomplish this goal. I have the honor of serving<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as co-chair of the WBU's ratification campaign committee. And we are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>training blind advocates from all over the world on how best to get<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Marrakesh ratified in their countries. We have created a thorough and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>scholarly implementation guide that advocates and legislators can use to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>best implement Marrakesh. I also have the privilege of serving as WBU's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>representative on the board of the Accessible Books Consortium. ABC, which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is an entity created by WIPO, serves the purpose of implementing Marrakesh<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on a practical level. It is a public-private alliance representing the key<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stakeholders in this area. Now there are many entities that serve on ABC's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>board, but just to give you a flavor: The International Publisher's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Association, the International Federation of Libraries and Institutions,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>serve on ABC. And I want to thank the worldwide community of copyright<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stakeholders for their commitment to ending the book famine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I also want to thank WIPO for taking the leadership and making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Marrakesh implementation a priority. WIPO administers and monitors several<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dozens of international agreements and treaties, yet it has made Marrakesh<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a priority. [applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ABC has three main objectives: number one is to operate the ABC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Global Book Service. This is a platform where authorized entities can list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and share their accessible titles and get them into the hands of blind and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>print-disabled individuals around the world. Thus far we have acquired over<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>400,000 accessible titles in ABC's database. 130,000 blind people from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>around the world have downloaded and are using these titles. As countries<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ratify and accede to Marrakesh, these numbers will dramatically increase<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>because it will no longer be required to achieve the permission of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>copyright holder to exchange these titles, so literally hundreds of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thousands of works can start flowing across international borders.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> ABC's second major objective is capacity-building. ABC has been<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>working in six different countries to increase the amount of accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>works, and these are countries that did not have authorized entities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>creating works. So far over 4,000 titles have been created in accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>format-mostly in the arena of education. And in many of these cases, this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is the first time that the blind of those countries have ever had access to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible works in their native language.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The third major objective of ABC is to promote inclusive publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>This is an effort to provide techniques and guidance on how to make books<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and have them born accessible. ABC has several projects in this area,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>including the publishing of a guide for self-publishing authors on how to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make accessible books, as well as a starter kit for accessible publishing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ABC promotes the international excellence award, recognizing leadership and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>commitment to accessible publishing. And ABC has created a charter of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible publishing, to which several large publishers and publisher<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>associations have signed, indicating their commitment to create works that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are indeed born accessible. [applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As you can see, there is a great deal going on in the world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>surrounding the adoption and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty. When<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we take a moment to analyze what is really going on, it is quite simple:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these activities represent a global revolution. For the first time in human<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>history, access to information, the right to knowledge and literacy for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind and otherwise print-disabled is indeed a worldwide priority. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>origin of this revolution comes from right here, right here 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. [applause]. It is our founder Dr. Jacobus tenBroek<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>who eloquently said we have a right to live in the world. And indeed, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>do. Part of that right, and in fact fundamental to it, is the right to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>access information on terms of equality. We must insist upon full<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>participation in the world's information marketplace, through which we will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transform our dreams into reality and live the lives we want. The days of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>restricting the blind to little or no information are gone. We have touched<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the flame of freedom, and it has ignited our hearts, minds, and souls. True<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>freedom is no longer just a dream; it lies well within our grasps. My<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>brothers, my sisters, let's now march forward to the future, shatter the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information barrier, and make our dreams come true! [applause, cheers]<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: Josh Coffee]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Engineering Tools for Tactile Fluency: A Partnership with the Organized<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Blind Movement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Josh Coffee<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: Drawing is one of the first things children old enough to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be trusted with a pencil and paper do. Then they take those drawings to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>admired. As they get older, what they draw is gently critiqued: "The dog<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>needs a longer tail." "The camel is missing his hump." This feedback, along<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with what is gathered through observing other drawings, makes learning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through pictures second nature, but until now this has not been so for 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'> Josh Coffee is the president of E.A.S.Y. LLC. In his presentation he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>explains how his company and the National Federation of the Blind are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>making drawing and looking at pictures part of the life experience for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>young people. 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'> Hello, Federationists. Mark invited us here today to tell you guys our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>story, because I think that there are a lot of important takeaways from our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>story and from the work we've learned that we should be working in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>partnership with the National Federation of the Blind. Our story began, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mark was alluding to, by a chance conversation between my colleague and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fellow cofounder Dr. Mike Rosen at the University of Vermont and Dr. Al<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Maneki, a proud member of the Maryland division of 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. They got into a long conversation about what challenges blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students faced at the time, specifically in the pursuit of STEM education<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and opportunities in STEM career paths. What they kept coming back to was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an inability to gain full access to graphical content in the STEM fields,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and that was a severely limiting aspect of the pursuit of education in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Dr. Rosen suggested that Dr. Maneki bring a crazy idea to 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, which was that they sponsor a senior experience in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>engineering design course at the University of Vermont. Dr. Rosen, in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>partnership with our third cofounder Dr. Mike Coleman, would mentor teams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of students at the University of Vermont in mechanical and electrical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>engineering to think about how we can innovate new technologies to bring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>access to digital graphical content to the blind community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Al Maneki happened to be going to a bar-b-que at Dr. Marc Maurer's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>house the next day. So, in a matter of forty-eight hours, Mike Rosen got a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>call back, and it said, "Yes, we'll do it." I think a week later we had a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>check for $20,000 from the National Federation of the Blind to begin this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pursuit of innovation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fast-forward three years: I was a student on the third consecutive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>student team at the University of Vermont. We brought to convention a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prototype for the first embosser of tactile graphics on an interactive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tactile drawing medium. This was the first embosser that involved<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>read/write graphics, not just read-only graphics. The inspiration for that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was the mentorship of the National Federation of the Blind leadership<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>throughout the course of our academic project. We were taken aback at our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>first convention because these tools for tactile drawing, the idea that you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can draw and feel what you're drawing, that has been around for about fifty<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years. But as we showed off our hot new scanner and embosser for tactile<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>graphics, we quickly realized that about seven out of ten people who came<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by our booth had never tried tactile drawing. They were discouraged from it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in school because their sighted teachers or even their parents, out of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>harmless ignorance, just didn't realize that blind people could draw and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>communicate graphically if they were given that opportunity at a young age.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>If they had the capacity to draw tactilely when their sighted peers had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>crayons, they could pursue graphical fluency, they could succeed in STEM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fields, they could use that capacity to become architects and engineers and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doctors. But the fundamental problem was that very few people were being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>exposed to it as a learning tool and as a communication method.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One year after starting our company, after graduating from academia,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and after partnering with the National Federation of the Blind to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incorporate and obtain seed funding and pursue this as a corporate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>endeavor, we realized that we had to totally change our business model and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that we didn't need to release the next hot scanner/embosser for tactile<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>graphics, but that we needed to partner with 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 in advocating for tactile graphics fluency. We needed to create the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most affordable and user-friendly version of a tactile drawing tool to date<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so that five-year-olds and six-year-olds could affordably begin scribbling<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>next to their sighted peers [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So the next year we came back to convention with a prototype for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inTACT Sketchpad. We released this product at 60 percent of the cost of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>next closest competitor so that parents and teachers could afford it. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>viewed this as a necessity because we knew that, not only for our brand to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>succeed, but in order for us to continue to innovate and to work toward the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>release of our high-tech digital products, we needed to get a user base of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people who could show others in this community that if you had the right<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tools and the right experience, and if kids had the opportunity to have fun<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with drawing, that they could develop the capacity to compete graphically.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>And that's what we've done.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We released the inTACT Sketchpad four years ago. Now at conventions,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it's very rare that we meet someone who hasn't tried tactile drawing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>before. We are seeing people four years later who bought inTACT Sketchpads<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as a young child, and now they're using it in their math class going into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>middle school [applause]. This has given us the opportunity to learn from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Federation and to also curve our pursuit of new technologies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We have obtained over $1.2 million in funding from the National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Institutes of Health to further develop the technology we first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>demonstrated at this convention six years ago. We are in the process of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>executing a phase two STTR grant in partnership with 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, the Texas School for the Blind, the Perkins 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, Pearson Publishing, and the American Institutes for Research-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all of whom are interested in integrating this interactive graphics<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>curriculum into their programming. We are building partnerships through our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>connection with the National Federation of the Blind, partnerships we never<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could have made if we didn't listen to this great organization and its<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members, and if we weren't willing to learn from the perspectives of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people in this room and the people we have met over the last six years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> During the scope of this grant what we have done over the last year<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is we have introduced the first interactive tactile graphics worksheets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>into curricula at the Texas School for the Blind and the Perkins School for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Blind. These are the first embossed STEM exercises that are made<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible to blind and low-vision students, the equivalent to exercises<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that sighted students have been doing for years and years with ink and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pencil [applause]. We have tested over one hundred exercises with over<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>twenty-five TVIs through these programs, and we have found that these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students not only are learning from them, but they are having fun while<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doing it. We are hoping to continue to expand this beta testing program<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>throughout the next year at these institutions as well as partnering with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>publishers and online learning management system administrators to make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sure that their digital graphical content is made accessible and that blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students are able to interact with digital content through their websites<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so that they have equal opportunity to pursue the same degrees and the same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities that their sighted peers have through drawing [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As I wrap up I want to offer thanks to everyone in this room and to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the community as a whole. We would not be here were it not for the faith 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 in our program. My colleagues-Mike<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Rosen, Mike Coleman, and I-are always humbled and appreciative of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>outpouring of support and love we get from this community every time we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>come here. You have impassioned us; you have invigorated our passion for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>design as engineers, and it is unbelievably humbling and exciting to come<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>here every year and report on our progress. On that note, we want to make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some commitments to you. After six years of working on this project, we are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>totally invested in the pursuit of equality in STEM education for blind and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>low-vision students. We want to commit to you that we will continue to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>innovate to pursue that goal. We will continue to listen to the people of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this community. We will continue to take your advice and commentary and try<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to use that to build products that enable opportunity in the pursuit of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>education. We will continue to work with parents and teachers and blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students and publishers and advocates to show that drawing is not a visual<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>skill; it is a spacial skill, and if we give people the tools and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities they need, they can accomplish it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So in closing, thank you, specifically to the leadership 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 for believing in us, to Dr. Marc Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>who, at a casual picnic with Al Maneki, made the decision to believe in us<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as a university and as a research program, and to Mark Riccobono for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>continuing to be a champion of our cause and continuing to be a mentor to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>us every time we have the chance to meet with him. I thank you guys for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your time, and that's it [applause].<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: Kathryn Webster]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Celebrating a Half Century with the Oldest Division 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<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Kathryn Webster<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: The National Association of Blind Students is a division<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, and 2017 marks its fiftieth<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>anniversary. To commemorate this momentous event, President Kathryn Webster<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>addressed the convention on opening day, and here is what she 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'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fifty years ago, during the National Federation of the Blind 1967<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Convention, a small group of students in a hotel room in Los<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Angeles, California, built the longest standing of all the NFB's divisions,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the National Association of Blind Students. The leader of that small group<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of students joins us today, the founder of NABS, Mr. Jim Gashel. Since then<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NABS has been one of the largest and most active divisions 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. Let's recall the initial purpose behind the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>founding of the national student division. NABS was created to help recruit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students into the larger organization, and also to help give students who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>might not otherwise have the opportunity the chance to experience<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>leadership positions within our organization. Within the first two decades<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of NABS, I think our student division did a stellar job of recruiting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talented national student division presidents, three of whom stand amongst<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our audience today. Thank you to Jim Gashel, Dr. Marc Maurer, and Scott<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>LaBarre for your continued work and for paving the path for me and so many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NABS presidents.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In the early years of the student division we undertook three<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>essential initiatives: first, we sought to help blind students deal with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the problems caused by paternalistic disabled student service offices.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Second, the division published a student handbook which functioned as both<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a resource guide and a how-to manual for blind students at all educational<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>levels. And finally, some members of NABS traveled up to Canada and helped<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>them develop an organization of Canadian blind students. A few years later<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the division dove into a fourth issue, that being the test administration<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and validation policies of those entities administering gateway tests, such<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as the SAT and the LSAT.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fifty years ago those common principle activities are, in many ways,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>representative of the focus of NABS. Today we are still fighting with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>higher education institutions for equal access to coursework, but we are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more in number and stronger in resilience. Today, we are still providing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>endless resources to traditional and non-traditional students, recently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blinded students, and individuals interested in returning to school via our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>network of members and leaders, student blogs, and monthly bulletins.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Today, we are still spreading our NFB philosophy far and wide by attending<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thirty-two state conventions and student seminars over the past year, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>well as building our student chapters alongside our affiliates each and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>every day. Today the SAT and the LSAT, along with several other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>standardized tests, are accessible to us as blind students. But today there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are still barriers that stand between blind people and society's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expectations of us. We are continuing to raise the bar as equal members of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>society. It is a momentous time for the National Association of Blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Students during this golden anniversary year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> John Lord Acton cautioned, "A word of advice to people thinking about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>writing history-don't!" Fellow Federationists, let's ponder our history,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>let's reflect on our history; but instead of writing it, let's create our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>own history and build 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: R. Alexander Acosta]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Building the Twenty-First Century American Workforce: Disability Does Not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Define Your Employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by R. Alexander Acosta<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'>President Riccobono: This next presentation is one that is very special;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it's not every day that you get a cabinet secretary, and we appreciate the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>leadership coming to this convention to talk with us about topics important<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to us.... We know that employment is one of the key factors in our full<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>participation in society. We know that even when we get the skills, we work<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hard, and we show up for a job, sometimes discrimination prevents us from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>actively participating. We shared a number of stories of employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>discrimination yesterday during the Presidential Report. I'm particularly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enthusiastic about our next speaker because I think it presents an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunity for us in this organization to offer our expertise and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>authentic experience as blind people to 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'>Labor. Our next speaker has served in three presidentially appointed senate-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confirmed positions. In 2002, he was appointed to serve as a member of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Labor Relations Board where he participated in or authored more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than 125 opinions. In 2003, he was appointed assistant attorney general for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the civil rights division of the United States Department of Justice, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from 2005 to 2009 he served as the US attorney for the Southern District of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Florida. Please give a warm Federation welcome to the United States<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>secretary of labor, the Honorable Alexander Acosta.<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'> President Riccobono, thank you for the introduction and your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>leadership. Dr. Schroeder, I didn't have the opportunity to listen to all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of your remarks, but your message at the end about the freedom from low<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expectations I think is a wonderful, wonderful message, and I thank you for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>delivering it. That is such an important message.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I have to say that it is a pleasure to be back in my home state of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Florida. I grew up in Miami, and it's wonderful to be back here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It's wonderful to be back here with the Federation. I had the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>privilege of speaking to the Federation when I served 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'>Justice, and I really appreciated that. So when President Riccobono sent me<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a request to join you today, I said that I absolutely need to be here, so<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thank you for the invitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The leadership and the members of this Federation understand the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>importance of hard work. Work provides more than merely income. Work is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>source of pride. It gives men and women the ability to provide for their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>families and to make our local communities better places. This<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>administration understands this and is making work a priority. Every<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>American, regardless of disability, should have access to a good job. Here<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in this room are individuals who bring amazing talent to the workplace.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As I said, I had the great honor of serving as assistant attorney<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>general for civil rights working with the disability community and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>employers to create a work environment that was open to all. Smart<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>employers know that workplace accessibility is not something that is done<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simply to comply with the law; workplace accessibility provides a business<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>advantage. It provides access to talent that makes businesses stronger and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more competitive.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So today I want to share some good news. The American economy is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>growing, creating new job opportunities at an incredible pace. Just this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>week the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings have reached<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nearly 5.7 million, a record level. American job creators are eager to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hire. More than ever, American job creators can utilize resources and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology to bring workers of all abilities into the workplace. These job<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>openings occur in all professions: more than one million job openings in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>healthcare; more than one million job openings in professional and business<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>services; more than 750,000 job openings in accommodations and food<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>services; nearly 350,000 job openings in manufacturing. Every region of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>country has more than a million job openings, and here in the South there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are nearly two million job openings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Leaving these unfilled jobs open is costly to the American economy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The 2014 study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the economic cost of unfilled jobs was nearly $160 billion. That was when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>there were only four million job openings. Today there are nearly six<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>million. That means that American companies may be missing out on nearly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>$250 billion because they have unfilled jobs. So the message to those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>companies is that this is the time for businesses to realize the untapped<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>potential of the more than 700,000 Americans with disabilities who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seeking jobs right now: today, here, and across the nation [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The people in this room know that Americans with disabilities bring a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>valuable perspective and an incredible work ethic to their jobs. When I was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>at the Department of Justice, I hired a talented attorney by the name of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ollie. It just so happens that he was blind. Ollie performed at the highest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>level. He worked to enforce both the Americans with Disabilities Act and to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>help businesses comply with the law through the ADA business connection. By<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enforcing the Help America Vote Act, he also worked to ensure that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Americans with disabilities had full access to the ballot. For Ollie his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>job at the Department of Justice was more than just a job. It enabled him<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to adopt triplet boys for whom he is both a father and a role model. One<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>job-many lives impacted. That's the American story of success, and that is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what can happen when jobs are open to all [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I am happy to report that a few weeks ago Ollie's sons graduated from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>high school. They are Eagle Scouts; all three have promising careers ahead<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of them [applause]. We are committed to helping Americans like Ollie's boys<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pursue their career of choice, and I should say Ollie's boys are blind as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>well, and so we are committed to helping them pursue their career of choice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by making workplaces more accessible and workforce education more inclusive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to those with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I want to say a little bit about what we're doing at the Department<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of Labor. Across the Department of Labor and especially at the Office of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Disability Employment Policy, we work to integrate people with disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fully into the labor force. We work to empower these great Americans with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the resources necessary to succeed. If there's one thing that you remember<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from my remarks today, I hope it is this: we are committed to giving all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Americans-all Americans the opportunity to gain the skills needed to fill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the jobs of the twenty-first century [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I would like to provide you with an update on some of our latest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>initiatives that help employers make their workplaces accessible and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>welcoming. The first step to getting a job is the application process. For<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most Americans that means using the internet to find job openings and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apply. A 2015 survey from the Partnership on Employment and Accessibility<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Technology showed that 46 percent of jobseekers with disabilities found it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>difficult or impossible to apply for a job online. Forty-six percent!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>That's not acceptable. That's why the Department of Labor funds a free tool<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"TalentWorks" to help employers optimize their online application process<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for all jobseekers. It is available, it is free to employers, and it should<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be used. Now more than ever, companies can't afford to miss out on great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>applicants and great talent merely because their websites are not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible [applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The department's efforts for employees with disabilities continue<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>once they're on the job. TechCheck is an interactive benchmarking tool that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>helps companies and organizations evaluate their existing technology. Many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>employers are learning that technology they already own can be used to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>improve accessibility in the workplace. You know the iPhone is just ten<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years old, but in those ten years it's revolutionized vast sectors of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>economy and helped blind Americans become so much more connected. In the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>last ten years technology across-the-board has revolutionized the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workplace. It's not just iPhones, but it's SIRI, it's screen readers, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all of these help blind Americans be more and be better connected. So, I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would say this: imagine what the world will be like ten years from now when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>future technologies are leveraged so that more individuals can work in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their career of choice. Today many employers either contribute to or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provide a smart phone that can read emails and webpages. Free or low-cost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apps can do even more to help blind workers be part of a team, and it's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>important that employers leverage this type of technology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The department's job accommodation network helps employers open their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workplaces to individuals with disabilities. A network survey found that 59<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>percent of accommodations cost an employer very little money, but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>considering the loss of productivity caused by leaving a job open,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>investment in a disability simply makes business sense. This has been<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confirmed again and again. A DePaul University study found particular<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>benefits to hiring individuals with disabilities. The study concluded that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers stay on the job longer and had fewer unscheduled absences. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bottom line is this: the American economy and the American people both<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>benefit when employers hire individuals with disabilities of all kinds<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[applause].<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Another way the Department of Labor is expanding opportunities for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind workers is through the workforce recruitment program. This is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>program that connects federal employers with college students and recent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>graduates who have disabilities. Over the years thousands of Americans with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disabilities have benefited from this program. We have now opened this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>program to the private sector so individual companies can have access to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this pool of talent as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Let me say that blindness can strike at any time in one's life. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>once heard it referred to as the case in which individuals are temporarily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted as opposed to individuals may be blind. It's true, right? So<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness can strike at any time in one's life. Although the government can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provide a helping hand, the value of keeping Americans in their job or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>returning them to work is immeasurable. In his budget the president<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proposed a demonstration program to test a promising stay at work and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>return to work strategy. This idea builds on a successful program that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>started in Washington state. I've seen the great results of this program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The model uses early intervention centers, physical training, employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>training, and service coordination to enable recently disabled workers to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stay in their current employment. Should Congress agree to the funding,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grants for these demonstration projects will be available in 2018. This is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one example of successful state-level innovation that can be replicated<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>across the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Finally I want to return to my earlier discussion of open jobs in our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>economy and talk about one of the department's most successful substantial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>initiatives: the expansion of the apprenticeship model. In the months since<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I was sworn in as secretary, business leaders, governors, mayors, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>others have told me that there is a gap between the skills workers have and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the skills needed to fill these 5.7 million open jobs. By closing the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>skills gap we can boost the number of Americans in family sustaining<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>positions. Now let me be clear: the American workforce is and has always<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been the best in the world. Americans are hard-working, Americans are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dedicated, Americans deserve an education system that focuses on the skills<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>required by the modern workplace. To overcome this skills gap, we need what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I call demand-driven education. Apprenticeships are an example of demand-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>driven education because they directly connect students with employers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>They combine paid work with an education; they represent a promising way to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>focus the education system on the skills that workers demand; they allow<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers to earn while they learn.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Now there are a number of advantages to apprenticeships. The first is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>high wages. The average starting salary for every graduate of an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apprenticeship program is $60,000. That's higher than the average starting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>salary for a four-year-degree graduate. What I'd like to do is I'd like to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tell you a story about an individual who participated in an internship<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>program-an apprenticeship program-because I want to focus a little bit on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the value that apprenticeship programs can bring to individuals. Her name<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is Joanne, and she worked for years as a firefighter. She loved the job,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but after losing sight in one eye and having her sight reduced in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>other, she was put on desk duty, and eventually she became a caregiver. She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>missed her physically demanding job. She did not want to be on desk duty.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Then she learned about a construction apprenticeship program. Now some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would say that she lost the sight in one eye, had reduced sight in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>other, so she shouldn't be in an apprenticeship program in a construction<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>field. But she wanted to be, and she should have access to that program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So she went on to finish a full three-year apprenticeship. Today she<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is an instructor in general construction. Her apprenticeship gave her the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>skills she needed not only to stay in the workforce but, as importantly, to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>find a job that she loved. That is so important. [applause] We hope to hear<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stories like Joanne's repeated over and over again. Apprenticeships open up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities for workers of all abilities. They empower workers to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>great employees as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> This is a great time for job seekers-job seekers like all of you and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so many other individuals who have disabilities-who are blind, who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vision impaired-job creators are ready to hire. Technology is making the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workplace more accessible than ever. Demand-driven education, when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>implemented, will provide a great pathway to the skills needed for great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>jobs. The administration wants to connect job creators and jobseekers to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the benefit of all Americans. This means an opportunity to increase the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>number of disabled individuals who work; this means an opportunity to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>increase the number of blind individuals who work; this means that more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Americans, whether or not disabled, can enjoy the independence, the pride,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the community that accompanies a job.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So I thank you for your invitation. It's great to be here. Thank you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>very much. [applause]<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: Tom Ley]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tom Ley Dies, and the Earth Loses a Dear Soul, a Family Member,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> an Advocate, and a Friend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Gary Wunder<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'> On August 30, 2017, Tom Ley died after a year-long battle with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cancer. A type I diabetic since his youth, Tom fought many a medical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>battle, always sustained by his faith in Jesus, the love of his family, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his irrepressible spirit. Just days before his death Tom took to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>keyboard to write these moving words: "18,525: Being a math guy, I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>calculated this morning that I've lived 18,525 days as of today. That's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quite a lot. The time we have each day of our lives is truly 'life.' Is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>there any more precious commodity we have than the time God gives us each<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>day and hour? You cannot buy more of it; you cannot recycle it; you cannot<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>borrow time from a friend; it is all completely yours to do with what you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will." What does Tom say we should do with our time? "Love one another."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Three short, powerful, all important words, but can any of us come up with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>any that are more important?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tom's fascination with numbers is no surprise to those who know his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>history as a math major and later a grade school teacher of the subject.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Neither is his advice to spend one's time in love a surprise to those who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>knew his heart and its boundless capacity to love his creator, his savior,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his family, and the causes he held dear.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tom went blind in his senior year of high school. His family was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>devastated: where was his future that would include a college education, a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>job, and a family. But Tom did not trip; he paused, evaluated his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>situation, went for blindness training, and started college in January<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>rather than in August. As his siblings remarked during his service, Tom was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>always hopeful, and though he was the little brother, very often they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>looked to him for strength, wisdom, and hope. He lived what he loved in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>song, one poignant line from a favorite being, "The world will watch in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>wonder, love will make them understand."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> This good man's work in the National Federation of the Blind found<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>him serving for a time as the national president of the Diabetes Action<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Network. He also served as the president of the Maryland affiliate's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>monthly call for diabetics and as a bridge between industry and advocates<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as he communicated the need for equipment blind people can use<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>independently. He served as the longtime president of the board for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Louisiana Center for the Blind, the place where he got the blindness<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>training that allowed him to so quickly return to school.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> After teaching, Tom took a job at UPS, not only thriving in his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>career as evidenced by his promotions but, more importantly, influencing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those with whom he worked, bringing energy, optimism, and the out-of-the-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>box thinking for which he was known. The relationship between UPS and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFB has flourished in no small part due to Tom's work, example, and his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ability to motivate others to love what he loves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tom's life and example continues in the lives of those who survive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>him, the closest being his immediate family: Eileen, Maria, and JonCarlos.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>All three of them are our family as well, and we will continue to celebrate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the exceptional human being who compressed eighty years of life into the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fifty years he was given.<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]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> When Automobiles are Obsolete<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'>>From the Editor: I remember talking with Immediate Past President Maurer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>about favorite authors, and not surprisingly the name Isaac Asimov came up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Dr. Maurer said that the thing he liked most about Asimov was that whatever<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Asimov said Dr. Maurer found interesting. This speaks to a real talent in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>writing, and I find myself thinking that I feel much the same way when I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>read something that our former president writes. In this spirit I pass<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>along to you this article, which I received shortly after the 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'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Reflecting upon the banquet address, Innovation, Blindness, and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Emerging Pattern of Thought, delivered by President Mark Riccobono at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2017 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, I reach certain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conclusions. Some of these are that we must become linguists, that we must<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>learn to be confident and content with rapid societal and technological<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>change, and that in the imaginable future automobiles will become obsolete<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>except for sporting events and hobbyist activities. Our President pointed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>out that technology is changing at a more rapid rate than it has in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>past. He reiterated a thought from Raymond Kurzweil which tells us that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quantity of intelligence will be expanded within the next few decades a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>billion-fold. From the context I conclude that he did not mean that a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>billion human beings would be born who could think. Instead, he meant that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a single intelligence would be a billion times as powerful as the intellect<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of a very bright human being. This is a startling concept. When we do this,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what will remain important within our lives?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The scientific method and the interpretation of law have at least one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thing in common. Both of these approaches value predictability. When one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thing happens, another must follow. When the predictability ceases-or when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the speed of changes occurs so rapidly that it appears to cease, we enter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the realm of chaos. What does this have to do with intellect? The capacity<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for human thought has been changing for at least the past ten thousand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years. However, the rate of development of new ideas has been reasonably<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>slow, and assimilation of new concepts has been practical, though some of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>them have caused serious upheaval. One of the more noteworthy new thoughts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that has challenged humanity is the idea that equality between human beings<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is a necessity both in law and in society. We have been fighting about this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for centuries, and the battle continues to rage today. However, what will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>happen to the argument when the ability to think has been expanded a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>billion times? Certain things seem to me to be inevitable, but the great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>unknown is more intriguing still.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Whenever we as human beings have invented something new, we have had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to invent the language to explain it. A recent example is the computer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Until we had made them, we did not know how to talk about them. Put it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>another way, until we had invented the language to talk about them, it was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hard for us to invent them. A new concept of thought or a revolutionary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>piece of hardware demands from us that we think of new ways to speak about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the idea or the system. I am told that a human being may communicate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>moderately fluently with others in a language after learning about five<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thousand words. The last time I checked, the English language was said to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contain four hundred eighty-four thousand words. However, English cannot<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>express all thought. Sometimes alternative methods of communication are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>required to express a concept for which English does not have a readily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available set of words. I am also told that a student who enters medical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>school will learn about 50 percent more in language alone by the time of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>graduation. The additional words are required to express the thoughts of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the medical profession. If we expand our intelligence, we will inevitably<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>think of new ideas, new products, new systems of approach for managing the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>matters we encounter. All of these will require the facility to add to our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vocabularies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> President Riccobono suggested in the banquet speech that in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>future we will not only be restoring our senses but enhancing them. Can a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>receptor be built that will hear as well as the human ear and transmit the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information to the brain as effectively as the nerve system human beings<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>now have? Today, the answer is no. However, the systems we currently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possess are much better than those of fifty years ago. If intellect expands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by a billion, the likelihood is that we will find a way for sense<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recognition and transmission to expand a great deal also. We will be able<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to hear what human beings can, but we will hear other things as well. How<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>does a dog hear what you transmit? I do not know, but I think we will find<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>out. Can a dog hear your bones creak? Can the dog hear the sound of your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blood running through your veins? Is it possible for some intelligence to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hear the creation of a thought in your brain? How does the sound of one<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thought vary from another? Intelligence expanded a billion-fold will want<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to know.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If we create sensory receptors in human beings with these kinds of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>capacities, why cannot we create them outside of human beings? Today we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hear sounds that are within a short range of where we are. However, if we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>change the distance factor, the range will be expanded. The receptor can be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on the Eiffel Tower in Paris at the same time that the human being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>receiving the input is in Baltimore. The only requirement is a connection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Expanded intelligence will learn how this is done.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Transportation is a vital part of everyday life. We travel to meet<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people, to enjoy new places, to participate in events, to get (or give)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>items of importance to us. When our sensory impressions can come from any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>part of the world, much of the reason for travel will be gone. The getting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(or giving) of valuable items will remain for a time an important part of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the transportation system, but this will also be addressed eventually in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>digital terms. With an enormous expansion of intellect, the transmission of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>things by digital means will become practical. We will still travel, but we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will do it in a digital way. The automobile which now consumes so much time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and energy will cease to matter except as an interesting historical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>artifact.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What possibly intrigues me more than any of these ideas is wondering<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what will happen to the law and to the structure of society. This is more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>challenging for me than imagining what will occur with physical space. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have built societies on the ability to fight, on hereditary titles, on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>possession of wealth, and on the ability to think. When we radically change<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>one of these factors, what will happen to the others?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As I have thought about the automobile, I feel certain that for a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>brief time intense arguments will take place about the value of putting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>autonomous vehicles on the road. Dropping the current requirement that each<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vehicle must be controlled by a human being will be regarded as dangerous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to the point of foolishness. A few years after this debate another will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>occur demanding that only autonomous vehicles be permitted on the road.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>This phase of the argument will assert that hand-driven cars are so much<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more dangerous than the autonomous ones that they can no longer be allowed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to be driven except in private spaces such as racetracks. Today we do not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>trust the machines, but we will come to rely upon them. A small group will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>insist that too great a reliance on a machine will be dangerous to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>future of humanity. However the convenience that we get from automobiles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that drive themselves will be great enough that these people will be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ignored.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These things will occur before the alteration of the pattern of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>society that diminishes the need for the automobile. When we can transmit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thoughts, sense-impressions, and products digitally, we will no longer need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to move enormous machines and masses of material from one place to another<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the old way.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These are thoughts that came out of the 2017 banquet speech for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The vision-centered approach to life is sufficiently limiting that it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cannot be tolerated by a truly intelligent society. We must move from this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to an intelligence-centered approach with the added elements of personality<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and fairness. I would have used the word justice, but I have no idea what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the long-term effect of massive acceleration in intelligence will be on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>legal system. Such thoughts will demand invention of terms to encompass<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>concepts we don't yet know. Perhaps we will use the grand old term the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>humanity-centered approach. But this thought leads to yet others which I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will forgo for the moment. When all of our senses have been enhanced, are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we still human? When we have the capacity to touch something a thousand or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a million miles away, are we human? As I say, this speculation must be left<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for later. I am hoping and planning to be a part of the intellect community<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that helps us make the choices that are implied in the changes that are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fast approaching.<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 receives an award and praise at his retirement party.]<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 shakes hands with Secretary Tom Price.]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> John Halverson Ends an Illustrious Career<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Deven McGraw<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: Many Braille Monitor readers know John Halverson because<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of his distinguished career in the organization. He has been an affiliate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president in two states, a longtime member of the national scholarship<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>committee, a member of the Rocky Mountain Center for the Blind Board of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Directors, a former president of the public employees division, and an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>advisor to the Federation at the highest levels because of his economic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>background, his organizational good sense, and his institutional knowledge<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the NFB. Of course, we are not the only group to appreciate John's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talents, and this letter to staff announcing his retirement amply<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>demonstrates the respect he commands, no matter the circle in which he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>travels. Here is what his former boss, Deven McGraw, who serves as the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>deputy director for health information privacy in the Office for Civil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services says about John:<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 is with mixed emotions that I share the news of John Halverson's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>retirement after thirty-eight (!) years in the federal government. We are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so very happy for John and excited for his next chapter! At the same time,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we will miss John tremendously here at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR);<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>he is a bastion of institutional knowledge and a cornerstone of the HIP<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>team.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> John has had a fascinating education and career. John graduated from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, in 1967. He attended the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>University of California Irvine and graduated with a bachelor's degree in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>economics in 1971. He was a member of the Student Senate in the tumultuous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>times of the Vietnam War during his junior and senior years. He was honored<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as co-winner of the outstanding graduating senior award. He was admitted to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the University of Michigan PhD program in economics and completed his PhD<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in 1978 with an emphasis in public finance. His dissertation involved a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>comparison of the differences in net life-cycle earnings across medical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>specialties and other sciences. For several years, while a graduate student<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>at the University of Michigan, he taught the introduction to economics<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>class to undergraduates.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 1977 John began teaching at the State University of New York<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Geneseo where he successfully taught a series of undergraduate economics<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>courses. He created and taught health economics when it was a relatively<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>new discipline. Soon after, John began working at the Department of Health<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Education and Welfare in January 1979. He was hired as a social science<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>analyst because of his knowledge of civil rights, health economics, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>statistics. When the department of Health and Human Services was formed in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the spring of 1980, he was assigned to the new department.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 1986 staff in headquarters were given the opportunity to become<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>managers in some of OCR's regional offices. John relocated to Region VII in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Kansas City as the division director. He managed the region's case load,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conducted technical assistance, and worked with governmental and advocacy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>officials from throughout what he called the "MINK" Region; Missouri, Iowa,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Nebraska and Kansas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> In 1991 he was appointed acting Regional Manager and made permanent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the spring of 1992. He continued to manage the case load, conduct<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>outreach activities, and planned a comprehensive civil rights enforcement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>program. As part of the Kansas City Federal Executive Board, he led the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>formation of an organization representing federal employees with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disabilities in the Kansas City area. For several years he headed the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Kansas City area Civil Rights Coordinating Committee. This organization<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>consisted of leaders of federal regional civil rights offices. It<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experimented with conducting joint compliance reviews, analyzed whether the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>same complainants filed civil rights complaints across different<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>departments, and held regional civil rights advocacy conferences. One of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his most interesting activities involved the opportunity to take the two-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>week Organizational Leadership for Executives training at the Department of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Army Command and General School at Fort Leavenworth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> After ten years he decided it was time for a change. In 2001 John<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>returned to headquarters to become involved in Health Information Privacy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(HIP). He also immediately began to participate in the development of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Departmental Section 508 policy. He drafted HIP correspondence for the OCR<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Director for the Secretary's signature, assisted with arranging privacy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>speaking activities, and provided expertise to OCR and the department on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>internet and other access issues. More recently he has worked with regions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to provide assistance to investigators in developing investigative<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>strategies and insuring that closure letters concisely meet OCR standards.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Specifically, for the past three years he worked with a series of new<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>investigators and managers to ensure the Southeast Region was able to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reduce its massive case load. Finally, for the last five years he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>represented OCR on the department's Privacy Incident Response Team (PIRT)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which has the responsibility to evaluate privacy breaches of personally<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>identifiable information and PHI in the Department.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> He has been a member of the National Federation of the Blind for many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years, serving as president of its Michigan affiliate in the mid-70s and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>its District of Columbia organization in the 1980s. He is currently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president of the Potomac Chapter in Arlington, Virginia. John is married to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his wife Sandy. His stepson, Brent, and family live in Independence,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Missouri.<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 was the letter notifying his department of John's retirement,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but there is more. It turns out that John went to school with Secretary Tom<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Price:<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'>THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Washington, D.C. 20201<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'>August 30, 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'>John Halverson, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Senior Management and Program Analyst<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Office for Civil Rights<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Health Information Privacy Division<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Department of Health and Human Services<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Washington, DC 20201<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'>Dear Dr. Halverson:<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'>On behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), I am<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pleased to congratulate you on your retirement and to thank you for your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more than 38 years of dedicated service to HHS and to the public.<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'>Since joining the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in January 1979, you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have made significant contributions in all aspects of OCR's work. Your 24<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years of service in OCR's Headquarters and 14 years in leadership positions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in OCR's Region VII office in Kansas City reflect your versatility and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>willingness to lend your talents where needed most in OCR's expanding<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mission over four decades in both civil rights and health information<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>privacy. Thank you for being a team player, for giving your all to the job,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and for your unselfish devotion to ensuring that others at OCR succeed as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>well. Your professionalism and your work ethic are admirable and served as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an inspiration throughout your distinguished tenure at HHS.<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'>On a personal note, when I met you shortly after I arrived at HHS, I was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>delighted to find that we were in graduate school together while I was a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>medical student and you were pursuing a doctoral degree at the University<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of Michigan in the 1970's. Since then, you have truly made your mark and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>left a lasting legacy at OCR and HHS, and I wish you all the best during<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your retirement years.<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'>Sincerely,<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'>Thomas E. Price, M.D.<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'>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'>Invest in Opportunity<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. You can live the life you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want; blindness is not what holds you back. A donation to 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 allows you to invest in a movement that removes the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fear from blindness. Your investment is your vote of confidence in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>value and capacity of blind people and reflects the high expectations we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have for all blind Americans, combating the low expectations that create<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>obstacles between blind people and our 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'>In 2016 the NFB:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Distributed over seven thousand canes to blind people across the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> United States, empowering them to travel safely and independently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> throughout their communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Hosted forty-five NFB BELL Academy programs, which served more than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> three hundred and twenty-five blind students throughout the United<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> States.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Provided over one hundred twenty thousand dollars in scholarships to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> blind students, making a post-secondary education affordable and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> attainable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . Delivered audio newspaper and magazine services to 115,491<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> subscribers, providing free access to over four hundred local,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> national, and international publications.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> . In the third year of the program, over three hundred fifty Braille-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> writing slates and styluses were given free of charge to blind users.<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'> Just imagine what we'll do next year, and, with your help, what can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be accomplished for years to come. Below are just a few of the many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>diverse, tax-deductible ways you can lend your support to 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.<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'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Vehicle Donation Program<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The NFB now accepts donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call (855) 659-9314 toll-free,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation-it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doesn't have to be working. We can also answer any questions you have.<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'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>General Donation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the work to help blind people live the lives they want. Donate online with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.nfb.org/make-gift for more 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'><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'>Bequests<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Even if you can't afford a gift right now, including 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 in your will enables you to contribute by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expressing your commitment to the organization and promises support for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>future generations of blind people across the country. Visit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.nfb.org/planned-giving or call (410) 659-9314, extension 2422, for more<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'><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'>Pre-Authorized Contribution<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recurring monthly donations by direct withdraw of funds from a checking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, visit www.nfb.org/make-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>gift, complete the Pre-Authorized Contribution form, and return it to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>address listed on the form.<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: Kirk Adams]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The American Foundation for the Blind: New Directions for the Future<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Kirk Adams<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: There was a time when 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'>and the American Foundation for the Blind were actively at war. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>foundation regarded itself as the expert on all things blindness related.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>What blind people themselves might say was inconsequential; after all, any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>real speaking done for the blind would be done by professionals, and those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>professionals turned to the foundation to give and get information about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>how they would deal with their clients. The NFB took a different view. It<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was that the blind, having the most to win or lose in the struggle and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>being competent to set the direction of the programs serving us, should be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the most significant force in this work; no longer were we going to sit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>idly by and let others speak for us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Tensions began to lessen in the middle of the 1980s, and although the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>road has not been straight or without bumps, relations have gotten better<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as the recognition that blind people are best suited to speak to the needs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of blind people is more widely embraced by the field.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As President Riccobono remarked: "To start off the afternoon, we have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a presentation which features an organization which has not been on our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>agenda in at least a decade. The American Foundation for the Blind has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sometimes been at odds with the National Federation of the Blind, but there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is a new direction for the American Foundation for the Blind, and here to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talk with us about it is a gentleman who used to direct the Seattle<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Lighthouse for the Blind where he demonstrated an openness and true<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>willingness to work with the organized blind movement, and he's bringing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that perspective to the work of the AFB. So here to talk to us about the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>future at the American Foundation for the Blind is its president, Kirk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Adams:"<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'> Good afternoon, everyone. I'm un-telescoping my cane-if that's a word-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it's my cane of choice, the NFB carbon fiber telescoping cane. [cheers]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>It's really great to be here. The acceptance speeches by your new board<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members-that was worth the price of admission-tremendous. It's just always<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a pleasure to witness strong leadership in action.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Again, my name is Kirk Adams. I'm the sixth president and CEO of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>American Foundation for the Blind. I want to thank President Riccobono for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reaching out to me and inviting me to speak with you. I'm here to tell you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a little bit about AFB, and really also to highlight our strong desire to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>work more closely with the Federation to create the world of no limits for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people who are blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> You know over the years AFB and NFB have worked together on many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>important initiatives. In the early 2000s we worked together to establish<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the right for all blind K-12 students to receive their accessible textbooks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on the first day of school. We worked on advocating for access to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instructional materials in higher ed. You know that together we fought to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hold the makers of e-readers accountable for their responsibilities under<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. So, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want a lot more of that in our future. As Scott [LaBarre] mentioned earlier<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>today, we're also part of the coalition really driving toward US<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty, so we need to make that happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[applause] We're grateful for the Federation's leadership in protecting the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>civil rights of blind people, and we know that a successful Federation is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>just vitally important for blind people in the country, so at AFB we do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>look forward to working with you more closely in the future, thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For those of you who don't know much about AFB, I invite you to visit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our website afb.org. I invite you to send me a Facebook friend request (I'm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a little bit of a Facebook addict, so I'm there a lot.) We're a private<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nonprofit; we're not a membership organization like the Federation. We were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>created in 1921 by the two professional associations that existed then in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blindness field. There was an American Association of Workers for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind, and there was an American Association of Teachers of the Blind. They<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>met every other year, so, in their meetings in 1919 and 1920, both<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizations voted to put forward leadership and resources to create a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>new, central nonprofit agency which was meant to identify, understand, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>address the most important issues affecting the lives of people who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind. Today, ninety-five years later, like all of you here in this room,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we are working hard to create the world of no limits for people who are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind that everyone who is associated with NFB and AFB knows is possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Maureen [Nietfeld] this morning made it just so very clear that, like all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people, blind people have unlimited potential to achieve, to create, to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>live the lives we want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Prior to coming to AFB, as President Riccobono mentioned, I was the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>CEO of the Lighthouse for the Blind in Seattle. I worked very closely with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members of NFB of Washington, and I attended lots of state conventions. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>look forward to getting to know the Federationists in my new home state of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Virginia [cheers]-three weeks in, and I've also had the privilege of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attending a number of national conventions. Dr. Maurer gave me an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunity to address the general session in Atlanta when I was at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Lighthouse, and I've attended conventions in Dallas, Detroit, and here in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Orlando, too. I know firsthand the amazing work that you all do. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federationists in this room are living proof that there are no limits to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people's talent and ambition, our creativity, our courage, our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>compassion; but the reality remains that limits are being placed on us in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the form of barriers to inclusion in nearly every aspect of life. So we all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know that blind people face barriers to equal employment opportunities, to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>educational and health care services, to transportation systems, to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>electronic information and resources. The book famine-95 percent of books<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are not available to us yet. At AFB we are working hard to understand why<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and how these limits are being imposed on blind people and what we can do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I know every blind person in this room has had a limit placed upon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>them at some point, and I've had my own experience. One very small example:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when I was a senior in high school, my first day I went to my math analysis<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>class and my physics class-I was carrying about forty pounds of Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>books-all was well. I went to my chemistry class, and my teacher told me I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could not take chemistry. A blind person would not be able to conduct the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>required experiments. I was sent out of the classroom; I was assigned to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>study hall; case closed. I was seventeen years old in a small rural town in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Washington state. Now, of course, I've met successful blind chemists and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>chemistry professors. At the time that I was kicked out of chemistry class,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I didn't have any relationships with any blind people; I didn't have any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind adult role models; I didn't have any self-advocacy skills to speak<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of. But this week we are all here in community together, so that's a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>community full of role models and expert self-advocates. [applause] And I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know that we are all taking advantage of the unbelievable opportunity here<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in Orlando to learn from one another.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Back to chemistry class: a limit was placed upon me by that teacher<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and that school. I did not know how to deal with it, so I was not allowed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to live a life of no limits in that case.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> But for the good news: now we have unprecedented opportunities to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>create that world of no limits. Advances in technology, the power of social<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>media to help us share knowledge and to organize-research and data analysis<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tools that will really allow us to dig deep and look at old problems and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>find new solutions-in this world which is changing each and every day, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>really need to be strong and decisive as blind people right now to make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sure that these changes contribute to the world of no limits for people who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are blind, rather than creating even more barriers. Of course we know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individual blind people can and do overcome all kinds of barriers,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sometimes in really remarkable ways, like running across America. At AFB we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>really want to make overcoming barriers easier for all blind people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I had a really neat experience visiting the New York Institute for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Special Education in the Bronx asking kids what they want to be when they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grow up. And there was a little girl-totally blind little girl-about six<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years old. When we asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>said, "I can be a helicopter pilot if I want to." [cheers] When she's in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>high school, and she walks into her intro to aeronautical engineering class<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with her white cane in her hand, I don't want some ignorant so-and-so<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>telling her she can't do it. [cheers, applause]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To create a world of no limits for kids like her, AFB just went<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through a year-long strategic planning process. We took a step back and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>asked, "What can we do as an organization that will bring the greatest long-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>term value to people who are blind in our country." We talked to lots of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people, leaders both inside and outside of the blindness field-including<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>President Riccobono and Anil Lewis. Thank you for participating in our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>planning process [cheers]-and we got a really clear answer. We were told<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that the AFB should really identify the most challenging barriers faced by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people and use research and data analysis to understand these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>barriers, to create knowledge about these most challenging issues, and then<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to share that knowledge to make positive changes in the lives of people who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So at AFB we are going back to our roots. We're identifying evidence-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>based promising practices using research and data, pursuing goals that will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>result in direct, measurable, positive results for people who are blind. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>look forward to working with partners like all of you to create solutions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the areas of employment, education, and access to technology. We want to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>promote understanding of the issues faced by blind people with the decision-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>makers and influencers across our country. We're going to focus efforts on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>those key decision-makers in corporate America, government, health care,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>education, and the nonprofit sector. So we'll be reaching out and building<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>relationships across all of these sectors, and we'll be sharing our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>research, our data, and our knowledge so that better decisions can be made<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>concerning the inclusion of people who are blind in all aspects of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> I know it's going to be hard to imagine how knowledge can break down<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>barriers, but in the long run we think it is the best way for AFB to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contribute. So just think about how we can level the playing field for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people if we had clear, evidence-based answers to some of our tough<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>questions: why are employers afraid to hire people who are blind? How do we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>change that fear to enthusiasm? What will transportation systems look like<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>twenty-five years from now, and how can we make sure blind people have full<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>access? Which of the new technology solutions that are popping up literally<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>every day are going to be game changers and which are going to be a flash<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the pan? But the essence is really to do our best to understand the most<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>challenging issues facing blind people, to use research and data to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>identify solutions, and to drive toward these solutions, working in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>collaboration and partnership with people like you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> So thank you Federation for everything you do. Thank you for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>including AFB in this year's convention; I hope it's not another fifteen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>years before you have us back, [laughter] and enjoy the rest of your time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Thank you.<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'> President Riccobono asked Mr. Adams to stay onstage for a moment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>after he finished speaking so that he could ask two questions. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>questions and Mr. Adam's responses 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'><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: Thank you Kirk. I really appreciate you being here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>As you know, this organization has staunchly been for the elimination of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the provision in law that allows employers to pay people with disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>less than the minimum wage. In the past the American Foundation for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Blind has told us that they're not prepared to support such a provision.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>AFB, I think, stands out really as an outlier amongst organizations. I'm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>wondering if you have any plans to change AFB's position on this topic?<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'> Kirk Adams: Yeah, 14(c) is an antiquated law that needs to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eliminated. [cheers] My concern is a repeal-and-replace without knowing, in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an evidence-based way, what the impacts will be on individuals living with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the most significant disabilities, in particular developmental<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disabilities. I think if blindness is your only disabling condition, there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is no reason on God's green earth that you should be earning less than the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>minimum wage. I am concerned about blind people, in particular, who also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>live with significant developmental disabilities, in which that disability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is really the most impactful disability. I would really welcome an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunity to be in dialogue with NFB and understand more clearly how we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make sure to protect and hear the voices of the individuals who are engaged<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the community with use of this antiquated tool. Again, I welcome a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>chance to talk more about it. I think AFB's position has been based on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>concern for blind individuals who are severely developmentally disabled.<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: I appreciate the answer, would point out that the law<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doesn't distinguish classes, and I think this crowd would urge that we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>figure out a way to eliminate-get on the path to elimination-and then we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can work out the other details. But I have another question: we've been<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>working now for over two years to get an accessible instructional materials<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bill into Congress, and AFB has also not fully endorsed our perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Earlier this week a higher ed bill came out that has language in it that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apparently AFB does endorse. Now, we would urge and ask that the American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Foundation for the Blind join with us in supporting accessible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instructional materials and a true pathway to getting schools to do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>something about this, since so far they haven't taken it seriously. Can we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>get your support with that?<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'> Kirk Adams: We have-again, I've been there for a year-but I see that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we have supported NFB language and bills in the past-past versions. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most recent version added the safe harbor proviso, which we feel weakens<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the previous bills and language. We would like a stronger bill. When we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>look at the Higher Ed Improvement Act language that was dropped yesterday,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it looks like all the accessibility provisions are included in that bill,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and it does not include the safe harbor provision, so it's back to very<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>similar to the original language that NFB put forward in previous versions<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which we did support, and we're supporting the version that dropped<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>yesterday.<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: Thank you, Kirk. I would point out that one problem<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>we have is that-where are the students in the room? [cheers] A whole bunch<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of them-the one problem is that we have to ask ourselves what kind of bill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is going to get through Congress, and what are we going to do about those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students who are sitting out in those seats right now to make sure that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology is accessible in the next year, not in the next ten years?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[cheers] I think we need to be realistic about the prospects in front of us<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in Congress, and so far I've noticed that no other organizations are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>willing to put their shoulder to the wheel to help sue schools. So if we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could get some support telling Congress that something has to happen today,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that would be great. [applause] Thank you for being here today Kirk.<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: Curtis Chong]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Orbit Reader 20: The Most Inexpensive Braille Display<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Curtis Chong<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: Curtis is the retired president of the NFB in Computer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Science, having given up that title in the summer of 2016. He now serves as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the organization's treasurer. In addition he serves as the treasurer for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the NFB of New Mexico, taking on that job in January of 2014. For pay,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Curtis works as the manager of assistive technology at the New Mexico<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, where he continues to push for nonvisual access<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in education, recreation, and employment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Curtis is proud to say that he joined 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 in Hawaii in 1969 at the young and tender age of fifteen. His first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>national convention was in 1971 in Houston, Texas, where he was happy to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>elected to serve as the secretary of the NFB Student Division. He later<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>worked on the staff of the Federation, serving as the director of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology from 1997 until 2002. Here is his review of this new technology:<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'> While attending the 2017 convention of 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 in Orlando, Florida, I was among the lucky handful of individuals who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was able to buy (for $449) the Orbit Reader 20. For the first time I was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>able to own a refreshable Braille display which cost under $500. Every<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>other piece of refreshable Braille technology that I have ever used was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>paid for either by my employer or a rehabilitation agency and cost<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thousands of dollars. You might say that I felt as if I had scored a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>personal victory here.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The opinions expressed in this article are mine and mine alone, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the needs I have with respect to refreshable Braille technology may or may<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not be reflective of the blind community as a whole. I have four specific<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>requirements for refreshable Braille. First, I want a device that I can use<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to quickly write and edit long and detailed notes during a meeting and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(perhaps more important) allow me to read them back while talking or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>presenting at that meeting. My second requirement for refreshable Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is that, from time to time, I want to be able to connect the device to my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>computer so that I can proofread a document on the computer in greater<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>detail than I can using speech alone. My third requirement is to be able to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>read in Braille agendas and other documents that I have copied from a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>computer. Lastly, I want to be able to read Braille books that I have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>downloaded from various sources of electronic Braille. I do not want or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>need a Braille device to search the web, produce professional-looking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>documents, edit an article, send and receive email, or read information on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>my iPhone. In other words, I want my refreshable Braille technology to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>supplement-not replace-my computer or iPhone.<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 Is the Orbit Reader 20?<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 Orbit Reader 20 is a twenty-cell, eight-dot refreshable Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>display which serves three major purposes:<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'> 1. reading books in electronic Braille,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 2. taking and editing Braille notes, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 3. serving as a refreshable Braille display (by connecting via Bluetooth<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> or USB) for a computer, smart phone, or tablet running a screen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> reading program.<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 addition to the twenty-eight-dot Braille cells, the Orbit Reader<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>20 also has a Braille keyboard, a cursor pad, and rocker keys to move<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through a document or book. The Orbit Reader 20 does not have the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>traditional cursor routing buttons that many people have come to expect in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more expensive refreshable Braille devices. It reads from and stores<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information on an SD (Secure Digital) card, which can be up to thirty-two<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>gigabytes in size. It supports USB and Bluetooth connections. The Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cells themselves produce dots that are locked in place, meaning that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braille feels as solid as a Braille sign-no more dots going down when you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>push them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If you think of the Orbit Reader 20 as an electronic slate and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stylus, you will understand what I mean when I say that the Orbit Reader<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>provides no forward or backward Braille translation. Information stored in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>contracted Braille is displayed in contracted Braille, and information<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stored as plain, readable ASCII text will be displayed in what is called<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Computer Braille, which is the code that drives Braille displays and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>embossers. Any notes you write will be stored exactly as you wrote them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Slate and stylus users (a diminishing population, I know) are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>familiar with the crazy Braille contractions and codes we use to jot down<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information in a hurry. While these codes may make no sense to other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people, they certainly make sense to us. The really nice thing about the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Orbit Reader 20 is that if we use these codes to speed up our writing, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can read them back. For me, this is an extremely valuable feature.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If you want to copy a Word document to the Orbit Reader 20, you need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to run the document through a free "Send to Braille" program, which is a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>shortcut that adds Braille to the Windows. Send To menu, which converts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>files on your computer into the unformatted BRL (Braille Ready Format). You<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can check out this free software using the link http://tech.aph.org/lt/.<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'>On the Plus Side<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 Orbit Reader 20 is by far the least expensive twenty-cell Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>display. Yes, it does lack certain functions, but in order to get those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>functions, you have to spend a lot more. For purposes of comparison,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>consider that the VarioUltra 20 (a twenty-cell display from Baum) costs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>$2,395, and the Braille Edge, a forty-cell display from HIMS, costs $2,795.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Orbit Reader 20 cost me $449.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Orbit Reader 20 fits easily into a briefcase. This means that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when I need it, I have it. Other displays I have tried were either too<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>large or too fragile to be safely stored in my cramped case, and I could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not afford the $2,395 that I would have had to spend to acquire the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>VarioUltra 20. The Braille dots on the Orbit Reader 20 are locked in place<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>when raised. They do not give when pressed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Once mastered, the Orbit Reader 20 is very easy to use, and it takes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>only a few seconds to turn it on from the power off state. During a long<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>note-taking session, you can suspend the unit to conserve battery.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Orbit Reader 20 is supported by all of the current screen reading<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs used by the blind: VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS for Windows, and System<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Access. Remember that once you connect the Orbit Reader 20 to your screen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reader, any functionality you experience is provided by the screen reader-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not the Orbit Reader 20.<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'>On the Not So Positive Side<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'> As of this writing, the Orbit Reader 20 is not yet ready to be sold<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to the general market. There simply aren't enough units to go around.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>However, the supply issues are being addressed, to the point where<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>suppliers are now declaring that the Orbit Reader 20 is coming soon. And as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>far as I know, the price appears to be set at $449.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Orbit Reader 20 does not refresh as quickly as more expensive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>displays. Some people will regard this as a negative. Others, like me, will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not. Also, there is a certain amount of noise when the Braille cells are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refreshed, but I have not yet found this to be a problem when I use the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Orbit Reader 20 in meetings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The lack of cursor routing buttons has been criticized, but learning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>how to move the cursor around on the twenty-cell display will mitigate this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>problem. Once I learned how to do this, I found that the lack of routing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>buttons was not significant. At least, I did not find their absence to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seriously impede my work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Orbit Reader 20, being of a rather simplistic design, does not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>teach itself. You can't simply press keys and hope to figure out how to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make it work. This was my experience. There is no help built-in, and there<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is certainly no context-sensitive help available. You really do have to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>give some attention to the manual. When you purchase the unit, a Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>version of the manual is available to read off of the SD card, and the most<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>current version of the manual is available online at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>http://www.orbitresearch.com/support/orbit-reader-20-support/orbit-reader-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>20-user-guide-downloads/.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Finally, a computer running Windows is required to update the Orbit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Reader 20 firmware. This could be a problem for people who want to update<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their Orbit Reader 20 firmware but who don't have a Windows computer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>available to 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'>Conclusion<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 is unfortunate that the Orbit Reader 20 has been actively promoted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for a year-and-a-half with no reliable supply yet available for purchase.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Unless or until this major problem is solved, I fear that the initial<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enthusiasm with which this technology was greeted will wear off, to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>point where people will simply spend more money to obtain other Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>devices. I sincerely hope that this does not happen and that we will see<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Orbit Reader 20's flying off the shelves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Is the Orbit Reader 20 going to be useful to every blind person who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>needs or wants a less expensive refreshable Braille display? There is no<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simple answer to this question. Refreshable Braille purists, familiar with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more expensive devices, will doubtless complain about the slow refresh<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>rate, the noise of the refreshing dots, and the lack of cursor routing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>buttons. Others will decry the lack of forward or reverse Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>translation, and some users who are not technology enthusiasts will not be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>happy about having to read the user guide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As I understand it, a great deal of money has already been spent by a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>number of organizations to bring a low-cost Braille display to the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>community around the world. This is an exciting time for Braille users. Let<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>us move forward with the expectation that before the end of this year, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will be able to purchase the Orbit Reader 20 because there will be enough<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for those who want 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'>Comments from Orbit Research<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 Orbit Reader 20 was designed in accordance with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>specifications developed by the Transforming Braille Group, a consortium of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the world's prominent organizations of the blind. The overarching objective<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>was to create a low cost, simple to use, and compact refreshable Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>display that would be affordable for students in developing countries and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>at the same time provide functionality and quality that are appealing to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>users in developed countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To achieve the goal of affordability, careful consideration was given<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to the cost implications of various features; and tradeoffs were made on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>features such as cursor routing buttons, refresh speed, and sound during<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refresh. Extensive field testing was performed with users around the world,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which confirmed that these tradeoffs would not affect usability. In<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>addition to providing the key features of book-reading, note-taking, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>connectivity to screen readers, the Orbit Reader 20 brings unique signage-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quality Braille, which is especially helpful to beginning Braille readers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> As with any groundbreaking technology, there were numerous technical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>challenges in getting the manufacturing streamlined, which resulted in a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>slower release to the market. We are pleased to note that we have worked<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through these challenges and are now in the process of accelerating<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>production. We look forward to the Orbit Reader 20 and its breakthrough<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>technology bringing affordable electronic Braille to millions of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people around the world.<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'> by Ellen Ringlein<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 Independence Market is the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conduit through which our organization distributes our empowering<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>literature to our members, friends, and the general public. As a service we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>also operate a blindness products store, which sells mostly low-tech items<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>designed to enhance the everyday independence of blind people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We would like to extend a big thank you to all who volunteered in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Independence Market during our 2017 National Convention in July. We would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not be able to run the Independence Market at convention without the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>assistance of our numerous volunteers. Because of their work our many<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>customers had the opportunity to examine all our demo products and purchase<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the items that caught their interest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We are frequently asked about what is new in the Independence Market,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>so here is a brief description of some of the items that were new at this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>year's convention. We now carry 8-1/2 by 11-1/2 inch medium weight Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>paper in both unpunched and three-hole punched versions. It is great to use<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with a slate and stylus if you need to take rapid notes. We also sell a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thinner, flat, saddle-shaped stylus which easily tucks into a small pocket.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>This stylus is a nice accessory to our business card slate and mini Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>notepads. We now have added a smaller 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 inch dark line notepad<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to our low vision product offerings. It is just the right size to keep on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the kitchen counter or the nightstand for some quick notes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The market has some new labeling stickers which may help those with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>severe vision loss or those who have just lost their sight and cannot read<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braille yet. The stickers are individual letters and numbers. The three-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quarter-inch high black symbols can also be identified by touch, and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>corresponding Braille letter or number is below it. One sheet has 176<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>letters and numbers on it. When combining these stickers with our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braillable food labels, which consist of little plastic cards with an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attachable elastic band, one can make practical, reusable print/Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>labels for cans, packages, and other household items.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Independence Market is repeatedly asked if we carry a talking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>caller ID. The model we used to sell was unfortunately discontinued quite<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>some time ago. However, we identified a talking phone with a nice, built-in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>talking caller ID, the Serene CL-30 Cordless Phone. This phone is designed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with the needs of users who are experiencing vision and/or hearing loss in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mind. The high definition sound technology makes incoming calls sharp,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>clear, and intelligible. The talking caller ID feature announces incoming<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>numbers twice in a clear voice for those users subscribed to the caller ID<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service through their phone company. When enabled, each keypad button<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>audibly repeats the number pushed. The phone amplifies incoming calls up to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>forty decibels, and the ringer is amplified up to ninety decibels. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>handset is hearing aid compatible. The phone features easy-to-see large and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>brightly back-lit keys; eight one-touch speed dial buttons; one-touch call-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for-help button for hands-free emergency calls; audible and visual<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>indicators for voice mail and missed calls; high performance speakerphone;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bright visual ring flasher and super loud ringer on handset and base; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We will introduce the remaining new products in a later issue of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braille Monitor. If you would like a detailed description of the new items,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>you may request a Braille or print copy of the document which lists the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Independence Market products that were new at this year's national<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention. Please contact us by email or phone and be sure to specify the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>format you would like.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It's that time of year when many are starting to look for next year's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>calendar. Since not everyone is using digital calendars yet, the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Independence Market still offers the following Braille and large print<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>calendars for 2018. Many continue to find the free, pocket-sized American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Action Fund Braille calendar very useful. Each calendar page includes the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>days of the month and lists major holidays. It's a great way to get a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>tactile overview of each month. We have carried our spiral-bound, large<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>print appointment calendar with inside pockets for many years. Each month<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is displayed on two facing 8-1/2 by 11 inch pages and features two-inch<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blocks for each day of the month. The months are tabbed and include a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>section for monthly notes as well as a three-month calendar overview. More<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recently we have started selling the Easy2See Large Print Planner, an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizer designed with low vision professionals in mind. The spiral bound<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>planner with plastic-coated covers, measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches, features<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a page for each month as well as two-page weekly views from the end of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>December of the previous year through the beginning of January of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>following year. Major holidays are listed on both the monthly and weekly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>views. The weekly pages have individual unlined writing areas measuring 3-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 by 8 inches, and the font on these pages is at least forty point. Dark<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>boarders on all the pages make it easier to see the writing area.<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 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.<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'>[PHOTO CAPTION: Anna Kresmer]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Origins of the NFB Pledge<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by 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: Anna Kresmer is one of the most valuable resources we have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in the Jacobus tenBroek Library. She understands our history, embraces our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philosophy, and can answer almost any question asked of her. She can offer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>her opinion and then back it up with one or more documents. After almost a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decade at her work, she was surprised when she had what appeared to be a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simple question that sent her back to the stacks to answer. Here is what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>she 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'> After nine years working with the archives of 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, it is not often these days that a reference question about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Federation history truly stumps me. But this is exactly what happened<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recently. I received a request from a member in our Massachusetts affiliate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>which asked how the pledge that Federationists recite at every chapter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meeting, state convention, and national convention was originally created.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Like the member, I could not find any reference to the adoption of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pledge online in our literature or publications, including our recent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seventy-fifth anniversary history book. However, when I still could not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>find reference to the pledge in both the Jacobus tenBroek Collection and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the NFB Institutional Records, I knew it was time to consult with a real<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expert on the subject of NFB history. I speak, of course, of none other<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than Dr. Marc Maurer. Needless to say, he put me on the right path<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The pledge that we all know and use today came about during the 1974<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFB National Convention in Chicago. Dr. Kenneth Jernigan first spoke about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the idea of a formal pledge to show one's support for the organization<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>during his Presidential Report. In those days, the report was delivered in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a more off-the-cuff manner using only notes, but thankfully it was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>transcribed and later printed in full in the September 1974 Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monitor. Here is how Dr. Jernigan addressed the 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'> Ever since 1971, we've been on a sharply ascending curve<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> organizationally-in power, in prestige, and, I think, in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> responsibility. We must exercise with care the very considerable power<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> inherent in an organization as large and as broadly representative as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> we are. We must also, however, recognize that there are dangers any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> time a group makes as many waves as we have; we can expect to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> subjects of vicious counter-attacks. Now, I think that it is in that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> context that we must view our situation. During the American<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Revolution, you know, the leaders said: "We pledge our lives, our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> fortunes, and our sacred honor." Well, in retrospect that sounds like<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> rhetoric. But think about it; it wasn't just rhetoric. It meant what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> it said... If you take us as a group, blind people in this country, we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> have pledged our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor-because<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> although they are not going to come out and kill us in the usual sense<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> of that word, life is going to be a different kind of life, and for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> some blind persons, not really worth the living if this movement does<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> not succeed. And furthermore, [applause] as to fortune, although some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> of us as individuals may do well financially, the blind as a class can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> expect very little except the same old custody and care, shelter and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> pity, and contempt which we have always received if we don't succeed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> in this movement. And as to our honors, already there are people who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> try to make us appear to be less than human by what they've said and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> done and how they felt... it is my duty not to hesitate, not to count<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> the cost personally, it is my duty to lead where I ought to lead,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> stand out on the cutting edge and be willing to take the risk and not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> count what it may do to me as a person, even if it costs me my job, if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> it costs my reputation, costs whatever money I have- whatever it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> costs, it is for me to be prepared to give it. Otherwise I am not fit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> to lead the movement. But, it is up to you as members to do all you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> can to make that job successful. It is up to you as members of this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> movement to be willing to give as much as you can in the way of your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> time, your effort, your money, your dedication, and your commitment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If you are not willing to do that, you are not fit to be members of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> the movement. [Applause] In other words, those who believe that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> primary purpose of this movement is a nice little game, or a social<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> tete-a-tete, would do better to go elsewhere; they will find it more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> fun. But those of us who intend to see this thing through and to make<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> lives better for blind people in this country and to improve our own<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> status in the world will stay to the end and we will prevail.<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'> That year Dr. Jernigan also hosted a special presidential reception<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>during the convention with a receiving line that, according to the Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monitor, "included not only President and Mrs. Kenneth Jernigan, but all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>present, incoming, and outgoing officers and their respective spouses of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the whole board of directors; NFB staff members; and the top officers of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Illinois Federation of the Blind." Each member who walked through that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>receiving line received an official NFB membership card, which, when<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>signed, certified that that person was a member in good standing 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. On the back of these membership cards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were the words, printed for the first time, which every Federationist today<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>knows:<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=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 Mail Basket<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Gary Wunder<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'> We all know that being a chapter or an affiliate president means more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than presiding at meetings. Often it means setting the pace by showing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>through example one's commitment to the cause and the ambition to get<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>things done. But what happens when activity in one area leads to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>appearance of inactivity in another and when those closest to us think we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>aren't setting the right example? A discussion of this type came up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recently on our chapter president's list, and some of the concerns and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>observations seemed appropriate to address here. Names and locations have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been changed so that the discussion is more about concepts than<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individuals. Let's see what we can learn together:<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'>Dear Colleagues,<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'> I am seeking advice. I feel like my chapter presidents and many of my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>affiliate members are constantly seeing all the things that I do not do and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not seeing the things that I actually get done. My local chapter president<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is upset with me because I missed the June and July chapter meetings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>During the July meeting I was up in Buffalo preparing for our BELL Academy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and attending the Northern Lakes chapter meeting, and during the June<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>meeting, I was attending a family event for blind children put on by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>another foundation here in Kansas. I am being criticized for not supporting<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or showing up when the truth is that what I am doing is giving my time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>freely to the Federation. It just comes as a shock with this last wave of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>criticisms-being told that I am micromanaging by telling the chapter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>presidents to play the Presidential Release during their meetings. Our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>student division is at a halt with all of the leaders resigning from that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>division. I am just tired. How do you all keep on continuing on when you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>feel like all the work that you do is not noticed or appreciated? How do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>you not let the criticisms get to you? I love this organization and am<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>willing to serve when and where I am needed. However, sometimes it is just<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>draining to feel alone.<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'> Thank you for reading, and thank you for any advice that you might be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>able to share.<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'>Sincerely yours,<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'>Autumn<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 response was offered by Anil Lewis, the executive director of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFB Jernigan Institute:<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'>Dear Autumn:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Ah yes. This brings back memories. The joy of being an affiliate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> One of the ways that I attempted to address this issue is to prepare<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a monthly memo to all chapter presidents (I would also copy the chapter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>board members) to let them know what I was doing and to guide them with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>suggestions on things they could be doing as well. The memo let everyone<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know that I was busy doing things we can all take pride in and set an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>expectation that they should not be criticizing but working as well. You<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>could strengthen this by also inviting the chapter presidents to submit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>items for the memo as well. It would be more difficult for them to complain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that you are not doing anything if they are not equally as active. Of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>course, this is an additional administrative burden for you, but the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>benefit outweighs the extra work.<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'>Anil<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 LaBarre, a veteran president in Colorado offered these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>observations:<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'> Autumn, you have been getting some great advice. One thing that I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>would add is that we follow a practice of inviting all chapter/division<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>presidents to every board meeting whether they participate on the phone or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in person. I appoint them to committees and keep them very engaged and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>involved. Other than having an official vote, they really are acting like<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>board members. You should also not forget the social aspect for building<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>camaraderie. For example, just this past Saturday, we held an in-person<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFBCO Board Meeting which several chapter/division presidents attended.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Afterwards, we shared some drinks and snacks and hung out for a while. All<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in all, it was a great afternoon.<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'>Warmly,<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<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'> I took my turn at offering some advice as well:<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'>Dear Autumn:<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 struggles of any Federation leader is to figure out how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>much time to use in one's life for Federation work and how much time to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>live out the goals of the Federation. If one of my goals is to be an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>integrated member of my community, I can't spend all of my time at a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>writing desk putting together a magazine. I can't spend all of my time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attending chapter and board meetings with the message that all of us should<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be out in the community if my example does not show that I too am a part of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it. I can't hope to lead the Federation band without picking up an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instrument, but there can be no Federation band if I am the only instrument<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>playing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> You have to do enough work in the Federation that you deserve the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>elected position you have campaigned for, but you have to work at a pace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that will let you run a marathon and not leave our ranks because 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 continually required to run a sprint. Let your heart be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>your guide, but don't leave it exposed. It is a good heart; take care of it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for all of us. You too have the right to live the life you want, and I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thank you for showing us through example how that is done.<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'>Gary<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 real pearl was offered by Immediate Past President Maurer who 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'>Dear Autumn:<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'> You are not alone. I am a buddy of yours. Now, we don't talk very<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>often, but that doesn't mean I'm not a buddy of yours.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Being criticized is a badge of honor when the right people are doing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>it. Sometimes if your friends do it, this can be painful. However, when you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>carry around the notion (as I do) that you know what you want to get of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this organization, things get a lot easier. I know that I want certain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>things. I want the subminimum wage to go away. I want employment for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind to become practical at many different levels. I want technology to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accessible and reasonably simple to use. I want educational opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the blind to exist at every level. I want blind people to be welcomed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>into society as valuable members of the community. I can't get these things<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>without help. If I thought I could get them without help, I would do it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>However, I know I can't. Consequently, I get a bunch of friends about me<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and we make plans together to change the nature of the world in which we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>live. For example, I need friends like you. What does this mean? Don't give<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>up on me. I will not give up on you. Don't worry that I'm perfect because<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I'm not. I make lots of mistakes. You can criticize them if you want to.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>When you're done with the criticism, let's make a plan to change the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>If you plan with me, I will listen a lot harder to your criticisms.<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'>Affectionately,<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'>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'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>[PHOTO CAPTION: David Andrews]<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'> This month we will continue our monthly column exploring Internet<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mailing Lists with Ohio-related offerings. The Buckeye State has a good set<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of lists that offers its members a wide variety of announcements,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, advice, and support.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The main list for Ohioans is the Ohio Talk list. You can subscribe to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the list by going to<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/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org or you can also<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscribe by sending an email to ohio-talk-request@nfbnet.org and put the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>word "subscribe" on the subject line by itself. The list contains both<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>announcements and discussions of interest to members of the NFB of Ohio and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A number of local chapters have their own lists. Below are the list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>name and a brief description of each. To subscribe, substitute the list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>name in the command above for the ohio-talk phrase.<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'>CapChapOhio-Capital Chapter list, (Columbus)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Cinci-NFB-Cincinnati Chapter list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFBMV-NFB of Ohio, Greater Miami Valley Chapter list<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 addition, quite a few of the state divisions in Ohio have their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>own lists. Below are the list name and a brief description of each. To<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subscribe, substitute the list name in the command above for the ohio-talk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>string originally cited.<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'>A1C-Diabetes Action Network of Ohio<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>OABM-Talk-Ohio Association of Blind Merchants list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>OABS-Ohio Association of Blind Students list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>OADB-Ohio Association of the Deaf-Blind list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>OAGDU-Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ohio-NAPUB-Ohio division, National Association to Promote the Use of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braille<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'> Next month we will tell you about student lists. Stay tuned since<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>there are a bunch of them! As always, you can find all NFBNET.ORG-related<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lists at http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/.<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: Jacobus tenBroek speaking at the podium]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Cross of Blindness<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 Professor Jacobus tenBroek, President, 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, at the banquet of the annual convention, held in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> New Orleans, July 6, 1957<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'>To hear this speech in his own voice go to<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/audio/banqspeech/cross_of_blindness.mp3<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: While serving as the national representative at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Arizona convention, I was pleased to participate in a philosophy session.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The format was different from anything I've encountered before. A clip from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an important event at which one of our leaders was speaking was played, a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>panel was to address what had been said, and then the audience was asked to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>chime in with questions, differing views, or their own observations which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>no one had mentioned.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> When we got to the topic of civil rights and then the speech about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the day after civil rights, one member asked if we had really reached the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>day beyond, and another admitted that some days she fears that all of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>educating she has tried to do throughout her life has been for nothing; the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>symptoms may be different, but the illness, the basic problem, remains the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>same. When it was my turn to respond, I said that I agreed with her. I told<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>her and the group that I naively started by believing that being a member<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the Federation would mean being so successful that I would work myself<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>out of a job-not single-handedly but certainly my talented colleagues would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>figure it out. The problem is that too many fairytales end with "happily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ever after," and too many John Wayne movies end in victory, the hero's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reputation safely secured for eternity. But real life isn't like that: real<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>life is taking a step up the hill to find that the next step, while giving<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a different view, still requires the same energy as the step before.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> For this reason we are running a speech by Dr. tenBroek so that it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be seen in the context of the challenges we face today. Are we still<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confronted with the issues Dr. tenBroek relates? Not often. Are we still<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confronted by the root of those problems, a basic misunderstanding about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind people that is painted in today's colors as we face today's issues?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Yes. Here is Dr. tenBroek's speech. As you read it, think about how far we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have come, and consider too how far we have to go. Finally, recommit<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>yourself to helping all of us figure out how to get to the equality we<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>seek, the vision of which has driven our organization since its beginnings:<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 the short seventeen years since our founding 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, we have grown from a handful of men and women<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>scattered over seven states to a federation of forty-three state<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>affiliates. The first convention of the NFB in 1940 was attended by twelve<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or fifteen persons-our convention last year had a registration of seven<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hundred and five from every corner of the Union.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> That is rapid organizational growth by any yardstick. Who are these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people of the National Federation of the Blind? What is the purpose that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>has led them to self-organization in such numbers and unites them now with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>such apparent dedication and enthusiasm?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It is not enough, I think, to answer that the members of the NFB are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drawn together by their common interest in the welfare of the blind; for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>many of the sighted share that too. Nor is it sufficient to say that we are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>united only because we are blind; many who are affiliated with agencies for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind have that characteristic also. It is fundamental to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>uniqueness of our group that we are the only nationwide organization for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind which is also of the blind. The composition of the NFB, indeed,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is living testimony to the fact-unfortunately not yet accepted by society<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as a whole-that the blind are capable of self-organization: which is to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>say, of leading themselves, of directing their own destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Yet this is still only half the truth, only 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'>characteristic which defines our Federation and provides its reason for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>being. Our real distinction from other organizations in the field of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>welfare lies in the social precept and personal conviction which are the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>motive source of our activity and the wellspring of our faith. The belief<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that we who are blind are normal human beings sets us sharply apart from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>other groups designed to aid the blind. We have all the typical and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ordinary range of talents and techniques, attitudes and aspirations. Our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>underlying assumption is not-as it is with some other groups-the intrinsic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>helplessness and everlasting dependency of those who happen to lack sight,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but rather their innate capacity to nullify and overrule this disability-to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>find their place in the community with the same degree of success and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>failure to be found among the general population.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Perhaps I can best document this thesis of the normality of the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with a random sample of the occupations represented at our national<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention a year ago in San Francisco. Among the blind delegates in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attendance, there were three blind physicists engaged in experimental work<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the United States government. There was one blind chemist also doing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>experimental work for the national government. There were two university<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instructors of the rank of full professor, a number of other college<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>instructors of various ranks, and several blind teachers of sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>students in primary and secondary grades in the public schools. There were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thirteen lawyers, most in private practice, two employed as attorneys by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the United States government, one serving as the chairman of a state public<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service commission, one serving as a clerk to a state chief justice. There<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were three chiropractors, one osteopath, ten secretaries, seventeen factory<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers, one shoemaker, one cab dispatcher, one bookmender, one appliance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>repairman, four telephone switchboard operators, numerous businessmen in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>various businesses, five musicians, thirty students, many directors and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers in programs for the blind, and sixty-one housewives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> At any other convention there would be nothing at all remarkable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>about this broad cross-section of achievement and ability; it is exactly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>what you would expect to find at a gathering of the American Legion or the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Exalted Order of Elks, or at a town meeting in your community. Anywhere<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>else, that is, but at a convention of the blind. It never ceases to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>surprise the public that a blind man may be able to hold his own in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>business, operate a farm successfully, argue a brief in a court of law,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>teach a class of sighted students, or conduct experiments in a chemistry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lab. It comes as a shock to the average person to discover that the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not only can but do perform as well as the next man in all the normal and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>varied callings of the community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> But this shock of recognition, on the part of many people, too easily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>gives way to a mood of satisfaction and an attitude of complacency. After<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all, if the blind are so capable, so successful, and so independent, what<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is all the fuss about? Where is the need for all this organization and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>militant activity? Why can't the blind let well enough alone?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These are reasonable questions, surely, and deserve a reasoned<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>answer. I believe that the answer may best be given by reciting a list of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sixteen specific events which have taken place recently in various parts of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the country. The events are:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 1. A blind man (incidentally a distinguished educator and citizen of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his community) was denied a room in a well-known YMCA in New York City-not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on the ground that his appearance betokened inability to pay, which it did<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not; not on the ground that he had an unsavory reputation, which he did<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not; not on the ground that his behavior was or was likely to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disorderly, which it was not-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 2. A blind man was rejected as a donor by the blood bank in his city-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not on the ground that his blood was not red; not on the ground that his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blood was watery, defective in corpuscles, or diseased; not on the ground<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that he would be physically harmed by the loss of the blood-but on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 3. A blind man (in this case a successful lawyer with an established<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reputation in his community) was denied the rental of a safety-deposit box<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by his bank-not on the ground that he was a well-known bank robber; not on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ground that he had nothing to put in it; not on the ground that he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>couldn't pay the rental price-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 4. A blind man was rejected for jury duty in a California city-not on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ground of mental incompetence; not on the ground of moral<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>irresponsibility; not on the ground that he would not weigh the evidence<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>impartially and come to a just verdict-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 5. A blind college student majoring in education was denied<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>permission to perform practice teaching by a state university-not on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ground that her academic record was poor; not on the ground that she had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not satisfied the prerequisites; not on the ground that she lacked the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>educational or personal qualifications--but on the ground that she was<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'> 6. A blind applicant for public employment was denied consideration<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by a state civil service commission-not on the ground that he lacked the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>education or experience specifications; not on the ground that he was not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of good moral character; not on the ground that he lacked the residence or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>citizenship requirements-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 7. A blind woman was refused a plane ticket by an airline-not on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ground that she couldn't pay for her ticket; not on the ground that her<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>heart was weak and couldn't stand the excitement; not on the ground that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>she was a carrier of contagion-but on the ground that she was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 8. A blind machinist was declared ineligible for a position he had<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>already held for five years. This declaration was the result of a routine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>medical examination. It came on the heels of his complete clearance and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reinstatement on the job following a similar medical finding the year<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>before. These determinations were made-not on the ground of new medical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>evidence showing that he was blind, for that was known all along; not on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ground that he could not do the job which he had successfully performed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for five years with high ratings; not on the ground of any factor related<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to his employment-they were made on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 9. A blind high school student who was a duly qualified candidate for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>student body president was removed from the list of candidates by authority<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the principal and faculty of the school-not on the ground that he was an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>outside infiltrator from some other school; not on the ground that he was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on probation; not on the ground that he was not loyal to the principles of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the United States Constitution-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 10. Traveler's Insurance Company, in its standard policy issued to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cover trips on railroads, expressly exempts the blind from coverage-not on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ground that there is statistical or actuarial evidence that blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>travelers are more prone to accident than sighted travelers are; not on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ground that suitcases or fellow passengers fall on them more often; not on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the ground that trains carrying blind passengers are more likely to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>wrecked unless it is the engineer who is blind-but solely on the ground of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness. Many, if not most, other insurance companies selling other forms<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of insurance either will not cover the blind or increase the premium.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 11. A blind man, who had been a successful justice court and police<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>court judge in his community for eleven years, ran for the position of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>superior court judge in the general election of 1956. During the campaign<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>his opponents did not argue that he was ignorant of the law and therefore<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incompetent; or that he had been guilty of bilking widows and orphans; or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that he lacked the quality of mercy. Almost the only argument that they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>used against him was that he was blind. The voters, however, elected him<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>handily. At the next session of the state legislature a bill was introduced<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>disqualifying blind persons as judges. The organized blind of the state<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were able to modify this bill but not to defeat it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 12. More than sixty blind men and women-among them doctors, teachers,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>businessmen, and members of various professions-were recently ordered by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the building and safety authority of a large city to move out of their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>hotel-type living quarters. This was not on the ground that they were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pyromaniacs and likely to start fires; not on the ground that they were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>delinquent in their rent; not on the ground that they disturbed their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>neighbors with riotous living-but on the ground that as blind people they<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were subject to the code provisions regarding the "bed-ridden, ambulatory,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and helpless," that anyone who is legally blind must live in an institution-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>type building-with all the rooms on the ground floor, with no stairs at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>end of halls, with hard, fireproof furniture, with chairs and smoking-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stands lined up along the wall "so they won't fall over them."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 13. The education code of one of our states provides that deaf, dumb,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and blind children may be sent at state expense to a school for the deaf,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dumb, or blind, if they possess the following qualifications: (1) they are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>free from offensive or contagious diseases; (2) they have no parent,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>relative, guardian, or nearest friend able to pay for their education; (3)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that by reason of deafness, dumbness, or blindness, they are disqualified<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from being taught by the ordinary process of instruction or education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 14. In a recent opinion the supreme court of one of the states held<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that a blind person who sought compensation for an injury due to an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accident which he claimed arose out of and in the course of his employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>by the state board of industries for the blind, was a ward of the state and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>therefore not entitled to compensation. The conception that blind shop<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers are wards of the state was only overcome in another state by a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recent legislative enactment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 15. A blind person, duly convicted of a felony and sentenced to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>state penitentiary, was denied parole when he became eligible therefore-not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on the ground that he had not served the required time; not on the ground<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that his prison behavior had been bad; not on the ground that he had not<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>been rehabilitated-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> 16. A blind man who sat down at a gambling table in Reno, where such<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>things are legal, was denied an opportunity to play-not on the ground that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>he didn't know the rules of the game; not on the ground that he might cheat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the dealer or the other players; not on the ground that he didn't have any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>money to lose-but on the ground that he was blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These last two cases show that the blind are normal in every respect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What emerges from this set of events is the age-old stereotype of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness as witlessness and helplessness. By virtue of this pervasive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>impression, a blind man is held to be incapable of weighing the evidence<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>presented at a trial or performing the duties of a teacher. He cannot take<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>care of himself in a room of his own and is not to be trusted on a plane. A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sightless person would not know what he has put into or removed from a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>safety deposit box; and he has no right to employment in the public<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service. He must not even be permitted to continue on a job he has<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>performed successfully for years. Even his blood cannot be given<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>voluntarily for the common cause.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Contrast these two lists-the one of the occupations represented at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the NFB convention; the other of the discriminatory activities-the first is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a list of accomplishments of what the blind have done and therefore can do;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the second is a list of prohibitions of what the blind are thought<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>incompetent to do and therefore are debarred from attempting. The first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>list refers to the physical disability of blindness. It demonstrates in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>graphic fashion how slight a disadvantage is the mere loss of sight to the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mental capacity and vocational talent of the individual. The second list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refers not to the disability but to the handicap which is imposed upon the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind by others. The origin of the disability is plainly inside the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>person. The origin and responsibility for the handicap are just as plainly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>outside him-in the attitudes and preconceptions of the community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Let me be very clear about this. I have no wish to minimize the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>character and extent of blindness as a disability. It is for all of us a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>constant nuisance and a serious inconvenience. To overcome it requires<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>effort and patience and initiative and guts. It is not compensated for,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>despite the fairy tales to the contrary, by the spontaneous emergence of a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>miraculous "sixth sense" or any other magical powers. It means nothing more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or less than the loss of one of the five senses and a corresponding greater<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reliance upon the four that remain-as well as upon the brain, the heart,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and the spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It may be said that the discriminatory acts which I have cited, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>others like them which are occurring all the time, simply do not reflect<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>informed thought. They are occasional happenings, unpremeditated,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>irrational, or accidental. Surely no one would justify them; no one would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>say that they represent an accurate appraisal of the blind and of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Well, let us see. Let us look at some pronouncements of presumably<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thoughtful and informed persons writing about the blind-agency heads,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>educators, administrators, social workers, historians, psychologists, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>public officials. What do they have to say about the potentialities of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind in terms of intellectual capacity, vocational talent, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>psychological condition? What do they report concerning the prospects for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>social integration on the basis of normality and economic advancement on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the basis of talent?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> First, an educator. Here are the words of a prominent authority on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the education of the blind, himself for thirty years a superintendent of a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>school for the blind. "It is wrong to start with the school," this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>authority writes, "and to teach there a number of occupations that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind can do, but to teach them out of relation to their practical and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>relative values. This is equivalent to attempting to create trades for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind and then more or less angrily to demand that the world recognize the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>work and buy the product, whether useful or useless." More than this, it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>necessary to recognize the unfitness of the blind "as a class" for any sort<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of competition and therefore to afford them not only protection but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>monopoly wherever possible. Declaring that "it must be unqualifiedly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conceded that there is little in an industrial way that a blind person can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>do at all that cannot be done better and more expeditiously by people with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sight," this expert considers that there are only two ways out: one being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the extension of concessions and monopolies, and the other the designation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of certain "preferred" occupations for the blind-"leaving the battle of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>wits only to those select few that may be considered, and determined to be,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>specially fit."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The conclusion that employment possibilities for the blind are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>confined, with only negligible exceptions, to the purview of sheltered<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workshops is contained in this set of "facts" about the blind which the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>same authority asserts are "generally conceded by those who have given the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>subject much thought: that the handcrafts in which the blind can do first-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>class work are very limited in number, with basketry, weaving, knitting,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>broom- and brush-making, and chair caning as the most promising and most<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thoroughly tried out...that in these crafts the blind cannot enter into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>direct competition with the seeing either in the quality of product or the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>amount turned out in a given time...that the crafts pursued by the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>may best be carried on in special workshops under the charge of government<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>officials or trained officers of certain benevolent associations...that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>among the 'higher' callings piano-tuning and massage are, under favoring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>conditions such as prevail for masseurs in Japan, the fields offering the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>greatest chance of success, while the learned professions, including<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>teaching, are on the whole only for those of very superior talent and, more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>particularly, very superior courage and determination to win at all costs."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Second, an historian. The basis for this assessment, and its<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>justification, have been presented in blunt and explicit language by a well-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>known historian of blindness and the blind in the United States. He says,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"[T]here exists in the community a body of men who, by reason of a physical<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>defect, namely, the loss of sight, are disqualified from engaging in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>regular pursuits of men and who are thus largely rendered incapable of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>providing for themselves independently." They are to be regarded as a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"disabled and infirm fraction of the people" or, more specifically, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>"sighted men in a dark room." "Rather than let them drift into absolute<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dependence and become a distinct burden, society is to lend an appropriate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>helping hand" through the creation of sheltered, publicly subsidized<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>employment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Third, administrators. That this pessimistic appraisal of the range<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of talent among the blind has not been limited to the schoolmen and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>historians may be shown by two succinct statements from wartime pamphlets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>produced by the Civil Service Commission in an effort to broaden employment<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>opportunities for the physically disabled. "The blind," it was found, "are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>especially proficient in manual occupations requiring a delicate sense of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>touch. They are well suited to jobs which are repetitious in nature."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Again: "The placement of persons who are blind presents various special<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>problems. Small groups of positions in sheltered environment, involving<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>repetitive work, were surveyed in government establishments and were found<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to have placement potentialities for the blind." Such findings as these<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>were doubtless at the base of a remark of a certain public official who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>wrote that: "Helping the blind has its strong appeal to the sensibilities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of everyone; on the other hand, we should avoid making the public service<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an eleemosynary institution."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fourth, a blind agency head. The executive director of one of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>largest private agencies for the blind justifies the failure of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philanthropic groups in these blunt terms: "The fact that so few workers or<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>organizations are doing anything appreciable to [improve the condition of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind] cannot be explained entirely on the grounds that they are not in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the vanguard of social thinking. It is rather because they are realistic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>enough to recognize that the rank and file of blind persons have neither<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the exceptional urge for independence nor the personal qualifications<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>necessary to satisfactory adjustment in the sighted world.... It is very<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>difficult and exceptional for a blind person to be as productive as a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted person."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Fifth, a psychologist. Even plainer language-as well as more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>impressive jargon-has been used by another authority who is widely<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>considered the preeminent expert in the field of blind psychology. "Until<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recently," he writes, "the blind and those interested in them have insisted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that society revise and modify its attitude toward this specific group.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Obviously, for many reasons, this is an impossibility, and effort spent on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>such a program is as futile as spitting into the wind.... It is extremely<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>doubtful whether the degree of emotional maturity and social adaptability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of the blind would long support and sustain any social change of attitude<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>if it were possible to achieve it." If this is not plain enough, the writer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>continues: "A further confusion of attitude is found in educators and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>workers for the blind who try to propagandize society with the rational<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>concept that the blind are normal individuals without vision. This<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>desperate whistling in the dark does more damage than good. The blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>perceive it as a hypocritical distortion of actual facts.... It is dodging<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the issue to place the responsibility on the unbelieving and nonreceptive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>popular attitudes.... The only true answer lies in the unfortunate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>circumstance that the blind share with other neurotics-the nonaggressive<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>personality and the inability to participate fully in society.... There are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>two general directions for attacking such a problem, either to adjust the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>individual to his environment, or to rearrange the environment so that it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ceases to be a difficulty to the individual. It is quite obvious that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>latter program is not only inadvisable but also impossible. However, it is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the attack that nearly every frustrated, maladjusted person futilely<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attempts."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sixth, a social worker. This sweeping negation of all attempts to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>modify the prejudicial attitudes of society toward the blind, however<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eccentric and extreme it may sound, finds strong support in the field of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>social casework. In areas where "such ideas remain steadfast," reads a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>typical report, "it is the function of the social caseworker to assist the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind person to work within these preconceived ideas. Since handicapped<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>persons are a minority group in society, there is greater possibility of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bringing about a change in an individual within a stated length of time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than there is in reversing accepted concepts within the culture." The "well-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>adjusted blind person," it is argued, should be able to get along in this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>restrictive social setting, and the caseworker must concentrate on his<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>personal adjustment since it is easier to reform the client than to reform<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>society.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Seventh, a blind philanthropist. Let me close my list of testimonials<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with one final citation. I think it must already be sufficiently obvious<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that, granting the assumptions contained in all these statements, the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>have no business organizing themselves apart from sighted supervision; that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a social movement of the blind and by the blind is doomed to futility,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>frustration, and failure. But just in case the point is not clear enough, I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>offer the considered opinion of a well-known figure in the history of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philanthropy: "It cannot, then, be through the all-blind society that the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind person finds adequate opportunity for the exercise of his leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The wise leader will know that the best interests of each blind person lie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>within the keeping of the nine hundred and ninety-nine sighted people who,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with himself, make up each one thousand of any average population. He will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>know, further, that if he wishes to promote the interests of the blind, he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>must become a leader of the sighted upon whose understanding and patronage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the fulfillment of these interests depends.... There is...no advantage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>accruing from membership in an all-blind organization which might not be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>acquired in greater measure through membership in a society of sighted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>people."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> What is the substance of all these damning commentaries? What are the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>common assumptions which underlie the attitudes of the leaders of blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>philanthropy and the authorities on blind welfare? The fundamental concepts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can, I think, be simply stated. First, the blind are by virtue of their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>defect emotionally immature if not psychologically abnormal; they are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mentally inferior and narrowly circumscribed in the range of their ability-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and therefore inevitably doomed to vocational monotony, economic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dependence, and social isolation. Second, even if their capabilities were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>different, they are necessarily bound to the fixed status and subordinate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>role ordained by society, whose attitudes toward them are permanent and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>unalterable. Third, they must place their faith and trust, not in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>themselves and in their own organizations, but in the sighted public and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>most particularly in those who have appointed themselves the protectors and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>custodians of the blind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> A few simple observations are in order. First, as to the immutability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of social attitudes and discriminatory actions towards the blind, we know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from intimate experience that the sighted public wishes well 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 that its misconceptions are rather the result of innocence and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>superstition than of deliberate cruelty and malice aforethought. There was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>a time, in the days of Rome, when blind infants were thrown to the wolves<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or sold into slavery. That time is no more. There was a time, in the Middle<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ages, when blind beggars were the butts of amusement at country fairs,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>decked out in paper spectacles and donkeys' ears. That time is no more.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>There was a time, which still exists to a surprising extent, when the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>parents of a blind child regarded his disability as a divine judgment upon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their own sins. But that time is now beginning to disappear, at least in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the civilized world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The blind are no longer greeted by society with open hostility and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>frantic avoidance but with compassion and sympathy. It is true that an open<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>heart is no guarantee of an open mind. It is true that good intentions are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not enough. It is true that tolerance is a far cry from brotherhood and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that protection and trusteeship are not the synonyms of equality and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>freedom. But the remarkable progress already made in the civilizing of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>brute impulses and the humanizing of social attitudes towards the blind is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>compelling evidence that there is nothing fixed or immutable about the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>social status quo for the blind and that, if the blind themselves are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>capable of independence and interdependence within society, society is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>capable of welcoming them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Our own experience as individuals and as members 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 gives support at short range to what long-range<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>history already makes plain. We have observed and experienced the gradual<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>breakdown of legal obstacles and prejudicial acts; we have participated in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the expansion of opportunities for the blind in virtually every phase of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>social life and economic livelihood-in federal, state, and local civil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>service; in teaching and other professions; in the addition of a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>constructive element to public welfare. Let anyone who thinks social<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attitudes cannot be changed read this statement contained in a recent<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pamphlet of the Federal Civil Service Commission:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Sometimes a mistaken notion is held that...the blind can do work only<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>where keenness of vision is not important in the job. The truth appears to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>be that the blind can do work demanding different degrees of keenness of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vision on the part of the sighted. If there is any difference in job<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>proficiency related to a degree of keenness of vision required for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sighted, it is this: the blind appear to work with greater proficiency at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>jobs where the element is present to a noticeable extent in the sighted job<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>than where vision is only generally useful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Second, are the blind mentally inferior, emotionally adolescent, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>psychologically disturbed; or on the contrary, are they normal and capable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of social and economic integration? The evidence that they are the latter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can be drawn from many quarters: scientific, medical, historical, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>theoretical. But the evidence which is most persuasive is that which I have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>already presented: it is the evidence displayed in the lives and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>performance of such average and ordinary blind men and women as those who<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>attended our national convention last summer. It is the evidence of their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vocational accomplishments, their personal achievements, the plain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>normality of their daily lives. To me their record is more than an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>impressive demonstration: it is a clinching rebuttal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It would, of course, be a gross exaggeration to maintain that all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind persons have surmounted their physical disability and conquered their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>social handicap.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> It is not the education of the sighted only which is needed to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>establish the right of the blind to equality and integration. Just as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>necessary is the education of the blind themselves. For the process of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their rehabilitation is not ended with physical and vocational training; it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>is complete only when they have driven the last vestige of the public<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stereotype of the blind from their own minds. In this sense, and to this<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extent only, is it true that the blind person must "adjust" to his handicap<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and to society. His adjustment need not-indeed must not-mean his submission<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to all prevailing social norms and values. His goal is not conformity but<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>autonomy: not acquiescence, but self-determination and self-control.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> From all of this it should be clear that it is a long way yet from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the blind alleys of dependency and segregation to the main thoroughfares of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>personal independence and social integration which we have set as our goal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>And I believe it is equally plain that our progress toward that goal will<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>demand the most forceful and skillful application of all the means at our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>command: that is, the means of education, persuasion, demonstration, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>legislation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We need the means of education to bring the public and the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>themselves to a true recognition of the nature of blindness--to tear away<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the fossil layers of mythology and prejudice. We need persuasion to induce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>employers to try us out and convince society to take us in. We need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>demonstration to prove our capacity and normality in every act of living<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and of making a living. And finally we need legislation to reform the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>statute books and obliterate the legal barriers which stand in the way of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>normal life and equal opportunity-replacing them with laws which accurately<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reflect the accumulated knowledge of modern science and the ethics of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>democratic society.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> This final platform in our program of equality-the platform of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>adequate legislation-is in many respects the most crucial and pressing of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all. For until the blind are guaranteed freedom of opportunity and endeavor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>within the law, there can be little demonstration of their ability and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>little prospect of persuasion. What is needed is nothing less than a new<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>spirit of the laws, which will uproot the discriminatory clauses and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>prejudicial assumptions that presently hinder the efforts of the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>toward self-advancement and self-support. The new philosophy requires that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>programs for the blind be founded upon the social conception of their<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>normality and the social purpose of their reintegration into the community,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>with aids and services adjusted to these conceptions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These then are the objectives of the self-organized blind, goals<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>freely chosen for them by themselves. And this is the true significance of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>an organization of the blind, by the blind, for the blind. For the blind<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the age of charity, like that of chivalry, is dead; but this is not to say<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>that there is no place for either of these virtues. In order to achieve the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>equality that is their right, in order to gain the opportunity that is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their due, and in order to attain the position of full membership in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>community that is their goal, the blind have continuing need for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>understanding and sympathy and liberality of their sighted neighbors and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fellow citizens. But their overriding need is first of all for recognition-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recognition of themselves as normal and of their purposes as legitimate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The greatest hope of the blind is that they may be seen as they are, not as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>they have been portrayed; and since they are neither wards nor children,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their hope is to be not only seen but also heard-in their own accents and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for whatever their cause may be worth.<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'> Settlement That May Benefit Some Monitor Readers<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'> NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT<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'> ATTENTION: ALL LEGALLY BLIND INDIVIDUALS WHO ATTEMPTED BUT WERE<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>UNABLE TO ACCESS OR WHO WERE DETERRED FROM ACCESSING PRODUCTS OR SERVICES<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>AVAILABLE AT COINSTAR KIOSKS IN ALL 50 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>STARTING ON FEBRUARY 8, 2014, THROUGH JULY 14, 2017, EXCEPT IN CALIFORNIA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>WHERE THE STARTING DATE IS FEBRUARY 8, 2013.<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 notice is to inform you about the proposed settlement that would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>resolve two class action lawsuits: Nguyen v. Outerwall Inc., No. 5:16-cv-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>00611-LS (E.D. Pa.) and Boyer v. Outerwall Inc., No. 2:17-cv-00853 (E.D.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Pa.). The lawsuit alleges that Coinstar, LLC (fka Outerwall Inc.) violated<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>federal law and California state law by offering services at self-service,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>touchscreen Coinstar kiosks that the lawsuit alleges were not independently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>useable by persons who are Legally Blind. Coinstar denies all liability in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the case. In the proposed settlement, Coinstar will complete modification<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of one Coinstar Kiosk at each of its retail locations nationwide. The<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>modifications will include ensuring a functional and tactile keypad exists<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>on each modified Kiosk, the addition of a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>addition of text-to-speech output via audio through the headphone jack.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Further information regarding the modifications is available at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.coinstarkiosksettlement.com.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If you used or attempted to use a Coinstar Kiosk in California at any<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>point between February 8, 2013, and July 14, 2017, you may be entitled to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>payment of money as part of this settlement. This is because the California<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>law allegedly violated allows for monetary payments. Depending on the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>number of individuals who submit a valid Claim Form, California Sub-Class<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Members may be eligible for up to $4,000.00 in monetary relief under the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>settlement. You may complete and submit a claim form on the settlement<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>website at www.coinstarkiosksettlement.com or by requesting a Claim Form<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from Settlement Services Inc., the Claims Administrator, by phone, letter,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fax, or email at: Nguyen v. Outerwall Inc., Claims Administrator, P.O. Box<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>71, Tallahassee, FL 32302-0071; Toll-Free: (855) 928-2272; Fax: (850) 385-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>6008; Email: staff@settlementservicesinc.com. All claims submitted must be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>received by December 1, 2017. Further information regarding the California<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Sub-Class is available at www.coinstarkiosksettlement.com.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> You also have the right to object to the settlement. California Sub-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Class Members also have the right to opt-out of the damages portion of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>settlement only. If you do either, your documents submitted must be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>received by December 1, 2017. The settlement website<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.coinstarkiosksettlement.com contains a more detailed notice with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>procedures for opting-out of the damages portion of the settlement and to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>objecting to the settlement, and information about other provisions of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>settlement, including attorneys' fees and costs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Any questions about the settlement, including requests for documents<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in alternate accessible formats, should be directed to class counsel using<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the contact information below:<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'>Claims Administrator:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Nguyen v. Outerwall Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Claims Administrator<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>P.O. Box 71<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Tallahassee, FL 32302<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Toll-Free: (855) 928-2272<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Fax: (850) 385-6008<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Email: staff@settlementservicesinc.com<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'>Class Counsel:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Gerald D. Wells, III<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Stephen E. Connolly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Connolly Wells & Gray, LLP<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2200 Renaissance Boulevard, Suite 275<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>King of Prussia, PA 19406<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Telephone: (610) 822-3700<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Email: gwells@cwglaw.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Email: sconnolly@cwglaw.com<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'>Class Counsel:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Arkady "Eric" Rayz<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Kalikhman & Rayz, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1051 Country Line Road, Ste. A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Telephone: (215) 364-5030<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Email: erayz@kalraylaw.com<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'> The NFB Krafters Division is an active part of the NFB. It has a very<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>busy list (nfb-krafters-korner@nfbnet.org) and website<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.krafterskorner.org. The division holds a telephone conference chat most<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Monday evenings and offers several classes each month by email and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>telephone. Members do embroidery, knitting, crocheting, pottery, soap,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>latch-hook, sewing, jewelry, and more. Recently, this group exchanged<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>recipes, and it seemed a good opportunity to share some with Monitor<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>readers. Most are for food items, but recipes here include some items that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>are not for eating, as well.<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'> Large Pasta Salad<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Bernice Bird<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 recipe is from Bernice, who lives in Rochester, New York. She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stays busy with her job, crafts, and family. She says she learned basic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cooking skills from a school for the blind, and her skills have evolved<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>over the years. She enjoys sharing her recipes and dishes with friends and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>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 pound spiral, corkscrew, rotini, or other pasta<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>8 to 12 ounces sliced pepperoni<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>12 to 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 each red, yellow, orange, and green sweet bell peppers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 of a large seedless cucumber<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>8 ounces grape tomatoes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 small bunch fresh broccoli<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 large carrots<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 Vidalia or 1 medium red onion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>4 stalks celery<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup stuffed green or seeded black olives<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup each frozen corn and peas<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'>Dressing:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup extra virgin olive oil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup red wine vinegar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup balsamic vinegar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Juice from 1/2 lemon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 tablespoons oregano<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons parsley flakes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 tablespoon rosemary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons basil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 tablespoon chives<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons salt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons garlic powder<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons onion powder<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon savory<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>4 garlic cloves, crushed<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:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Dressing: Make the day before. Add all ingredients together and shake<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or stir vigorously. Refrigerate dressing overnight and mix well before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pouring over salad.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Salad: Cook pasta in salted water with a little olive oil. Drain and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>let cool while preparing all of the other ingredients. Dice all peppers,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>onion, celery, and cucumber. Slice tomatoes in half. Peel carrots. After<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all peel is off, keep using your vegetable peeler to make thin strips of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>carrot. Cut broccoli florets into small pieces. Peel and dice cucumber.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Make a stack of the pepperoni slices. Cut the stack into quarters; repeat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>until all pepperoni is cut into little wedges. Cut olives in half if<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>desired. You can also buy a jar of already sliced green olives. If using<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>them, drain. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and add enough dressing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to make the mixture wet with a little dressing standing. If you think you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>will have leftovers or if you make it a day ahead, make extra dressing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>because the macaroni absorbs the dressing. Of course, this only makes it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more flavorful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Notes: This makes a very large bowl of salad and could be cut down a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>great deal. You can add any fresh or cooked vegetables to the salad you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>want. You could add zucchini or yellow summer squash, but I don't happen to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>like them. Mushrooms would be good also. Sweet pickle relish would give a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>slightly sweet zing to the salad. You could substitute diced chicken for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the pepperoni. You could also use an Italian blend of cheeses instead of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mozzarella cheese. If you don't want to make your own dressing, you could<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>use your favorite bottled Italian dressing.<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'> Poppa Peanut's Bar-B-Q Sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Tanya VanHouten<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'> Tanya VanHouten lives in Lonoke, Arkansas, and is a member of the At-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Large Chapter. She owns her own business and enjoys gardening, crafts, and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cooking. Her family has a lot of cookouts, and her dad taught her how to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make this sauce. You need to make this in a giant pot or maybe your<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bathtub. You could halve the recipe if you don't want such a large amount.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>You can also bottle it and give as gifts or make up the giant batch and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grill a whole cow.<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 gallon Cattlemen's BBQ sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 gallon ketchup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup chili powder<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup A-1 sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup balsamic vinegar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup dried mustard dissolved in beer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup prepared mustard<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1-1/2 cups Splenda<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 cup cayenne pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 cup black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1-1/2 liters Dr. Pepper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 cup lemon juice<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: Combine all ingredients well. This makes a large batch, so<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>save containers to store it.<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: Courtney Smith]<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Grape Salad<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Courtney Smith<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'> Courtney Smith belongs to a chapter at large and is a Krafters Korner<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>board member. She lives in Iuka, Mississippi, with her husband Jason and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>their fur baby Ranger. She enjoys cooking and crafting, with a primary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>focus on loom knitting.<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 ounces cream cheese, softened<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'>2 pounds red seedless grapes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 pounds green seedless grapes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/3 cup sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons vanilla extract<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons brown sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons chopped pecans<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 cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Fold in grapes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Cover and refrigerate. Just before serving, sprinkle with brown sugar and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>pecans.<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'> Fruit Compote<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Courtney Smith<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'>2 medium tart apples<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon salt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>12 ounces frozen or fresh cranberries<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 teaspoon allspice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1-1/4 cups sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 teaspoon cinnamon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup golden raisins<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon orange peel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 cup orange juice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>15-1/4 ounces sliced peaches, in own juice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>15-1/4 ounces apricot halves, in own juice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup pecans (or other nuts)<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: Peel and slice apples. Combine first nine ingredients<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(through orange juice) in large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>simmer uncovered ten minutes or until berries pop. Add peaches and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apricots. Stir in pecans, heat. Serve warm or cold.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Notes: I have used whole cranberry sauce, and you don't have to wait<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for the berries to pop. We also add one can of fruit cocktail to add more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>fruit. Have leftover compote? Use it to make a cobbler!<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'> Fruit Compote Cobbler<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Courtney Smith<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 milk<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup 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'>1 stick butter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2-3 cups fruit compote<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: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in nine-by-thirteen-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>inch pan. Mix together milk, flour, and sugar. Add to pan over butter. Do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>not mix. Spoon fruit compote over milk mixture. Bake for one hour. Enjoy.<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'> Mom's Baked Beans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Pearl Thurkettle<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'> Pearl is the mother of Joyce Kane, president of the NFB Krafter's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Division. Joyce has this to say about her mother and this recipe, "Mom is<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ninety-nine years old and turns 100 in January 2018. She has been making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>these baked beans for a long time. She still makes them for all our picnics<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and events. Although I really don't cook much, I do love her beans."<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'>4 slices bacon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 cup chopped onion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 cans [16 oz. cans] Heinz vegetarian beans in tomato sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/4 cup ketchup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>3 tablespoons light brown sugar<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dash of garlic powder<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: Sauti bacon until almost crisp; add onion, and continue to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>sauti until onion is tender. Drain excess fat. Mix all ingredients in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>baking dish. Bake uncovered in 375-degree oven for fifty to fifty-five<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>minutes. Recipe can be doubled for a large crowd or a hungry few.<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'> Apple Cinnamon Ornaments<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Terry Knox<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'> Terry Knox is a board member at Krafters Korner, and she's from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She enjoys most all crafts but specializes in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>designing miniatures. This craft is great to make for Christmas ornaments<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>but also useful for Valentine's Day and other holidays. This is a craft<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>project and not a food item. Please keep out of reach of small children, as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the smell is wonderful, and children want to place them in their mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The glue in the ornaments makes them a non-food item.<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 applesauce<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1-1/2 cups or 6 ounces of cinnamon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/3 cup of white glue like Elmer's or craft glue<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'>Supplies:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>large cutting board<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cookie cutter of choice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>drinking straw<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>rolling pin or other item to roll dough flat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>bowl for mixing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ribbon, if using<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 applesauce and cinnamon together to form a ball; use spoon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or your hands. Add in your glue as you form the ball. Place in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. Sprinkle cutting board with some<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extra cinnamon and roll out the mixture. If your mixture is too dry, add<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>more applesauce. If too wet, add more cinnamon and place in refrigerator<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for about five more minutes. When mixing your ball, you can add scent of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lemon, vanilla, or mint to add to the smell. Roll out your mixture to one-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>quarter inch thick, no less as mixture will tear. Cut out ornaments using<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>cookie cutters. Use straw to cut hole near the top; if making garland, cut<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>two holes, one each side. Remove from cutting board and place on wire rack.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Allow to dry for at least two days. While the ornaments are still damp you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>can write on the wet mixture by using a pointed item to inscribe letters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(print or reverse Braille). You can also add things like glitter, beads,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>stones, and other small items of your choice to stick in the mixture. A<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>suggestion: cut out ginger men shapes; when dry paint on eyes and buttons,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and they last for years. Use the ribbon to thread through the holes so<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ornaments can be hung. At the end of the year, wrap in tissue paper and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>place in plastic bag or box; they will last until the next year. Caution:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the smell might attract pests to your storage area.<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'> Relaxing Bath Salts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Nella Foster<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'> Nella Foster lives in northwest Arkansas and is a member of the At-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Large Chapter. She owns and manages a small goat dairy, and in her free<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>time she enjoys gardening, crafts, cooking, and 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'>Warning: This product is only to be used on the skin and is not for human<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>consumption.<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'>1/4 cup grape seed oil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1 cup Epsom salts<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'> Note: You can add a few drops of your favorite essential oils, such<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as lavender, eucalyptus or peppermint. Any fragrance will work, and you can<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>make the scent as strong or as subtle as you wish.<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 well and store in a covered container.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>You can put the bath salts in a pretty jar and give as gifts.<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'> Lip Fudge<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> by Nella Foster<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 lip balm smells yummy and feels great on your lips too. Remember<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>this is a cosmetic, not a food, so it should probably be kept out of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>reach of small children.<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 ounce cocoa butter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1-1/2 tablespoons solid coconut oil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 teaspoons grated cosmetic grade beeswax (can be purchased at drug and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>craft stores)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>1/2 teaspoon vitamin E oil (optional)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>10 chocolate chips<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>2 to 3 small clean containers (you can purchase containers for lip balms at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>craft supply stores and online.)<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 in a small glass bowl and microwave for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>about sixty seconds. Once everything is melted, stir to make sure the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>mixture is well blended, then transfer into containers. This is the hardest<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>part because the containers are small, and the lip balm starts to firm up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>as it cools down. Let sit for a few hours or put into refrigerator until<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the lip balm is firm. You can double or triple this recipe and make as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>gifts.<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'>NFB Helps Santa Answer His Mail:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Santa Claus has made the staff at 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'>honorary elves. He has asked us to help him send letters in Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to very young blind boys and girls (those under the age of ten) in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>United States.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Between November 13 and December 15, parents can go online at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>www.nfb.org/santa-letters and fill out a Santa Braille Letter request form.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 685-2340. Beginning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>December 4, the Braille letters from Santa will start going out to boys and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>girls around the country. The Braille letter will also be accompanied by a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>print copy (for mom and dad to read) as well as some other fun<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Christmastime activities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The deadline for letter requests is December 15 to ensure that a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>return letter in Braille is received before Christmas. For more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, please visit our website at www.nfb.org.<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 2018 Scholarship Program:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> These scholarships are for legally blind high school seniors through<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>grad school students. The program begins November 1, 2017, and closes at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>midnight EST on March 31, 2018. Thirty scholarships are available ranging<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>from $12,000 to $3,000 plus other gifts. Go to www.nfb.org/scholarships. To<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>apply during the five-month open period: read the rules and the Submission<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Checklist, complete the official 2018 Scholarship Application Form (online<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or in print), supply all required documents, and request and complete an<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>interview by an NFB affiliate president. Read the Frequently Asked<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Questions (FAQ) page for detailed information. Chairperson is Cayte Mendez;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>email scholarships@nfb.org or call (410) 659 -9314, ext. 2415, (8 a.m. - 5<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>p.m. EST).<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'>2018 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Application materials will be available beginning November 15, 2017,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>and must be received electronically or postmarked by March 31, 2018. These<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>awards (named for a pioneering blind physician who practiced in the early<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>twentieth century and are made possible through the generosity of his late<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>nephew and niece) recognize individuals and organizations working in the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>field of blindness that have demonstrated exemplary leadership and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>extraordinary accomplishments toward achieving the full integration of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>blind into society on a basis of equality. Only individuals who are over<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>eighteen years of age may apply for a Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award. For more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>information, please go to https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main.<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 Assistive Technology Trainers Division<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Nancy Coffman sends us the following announcement: 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 Assistive Technology Trainers Division met on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Wednesday, July 12, 2017, during our annual convention. Several topics were<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>discussed during our meeting including deciding what tasks are best suited<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to what devices. How can we incorporate Structured Discovery techniques<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>into the communication technology classroom? We were pleased to hear from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired about new video<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>lessons available on using Voiceover on the Macintosh.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> We adopted a new name for the division this year since the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>constitution had to be reviewed and approved. It is reflected in the title<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>of this piece. We let everyone know that by paying dues, they are invited<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>to a members-only list.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Stay tuned. Next year, we are planning to have a trainer's breakfast<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>in addition to our meeting.<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'>Celebrate the Holiday Season with a Gift to 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:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Have you received gifts from 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'>Lots of us have. A mom recently thanked us for sponsoring a Braille<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) Academy by sharing:<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'> Rudy and I would like to thank all that made Braille BELL Camp<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> this Summer possible. Since Rudy does not qualify for Braille and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> mobility services through his school, this camp is an answer to our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> prayer for helping Rudy learn. There was an unfortunate conflict in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> planning his summer that jeopardized the chance of him attending,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> which caused a great deal of worry. Rudy stated, "I have to go! It<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> helps me so much." My heart ached as I saw how much he wanted and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> needed the professional touch these smart teachers provided.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Thankfully we were able to sort out our conflict, and he was able to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> attend. The relief in his eyes was enough to realize how powerfully<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> important this week was towards supporting and educating Rudy while he<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> learns how to read and navigate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Thank you ALL from the bottom of our hearts.<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'> Libby Houston<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'> We make dreams come true. You can help. We give people free white<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>canes, literacy, and confidence. If you have gained from contact with the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>NFB or NFB members, enjoyed our publications, or participated in an academy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or program, we are asking you to give back. Celebrate the holiday season by<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>donating much needed funds. It is easy. You can mail a donation or give<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>online.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> To mail your donation simply make out your check to 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. Please mail it to 200 East Wells Street at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Jernigan Place, Attention: Outreach, Baltimore, MD 21230. To give online<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>visit https://nfb.org/donate2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Together with love, hope, and determination we will continue making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>dreams become 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'>Webmasters Group Meets at Convention:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Affiliate, division, and chapter webmasters met at the 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention to discuss how to create and maintain websites that are clearly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>branded as part of the National Federation of the Blind. One of the issues<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>for website developers is to use a content management system, a clever<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>piece of software that lets someone other than the webmaster update the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>part of the web for which he or she is responsible. Because we know that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>many of our affiliates, divisions, and chapters use both Drupal and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>WordPress, the webmasters group is offering templates, and a training<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>course for Drupal users was held on the last weekend in August. Our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>commitment is to make the same kind of quality impression when one visits<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>our websites as we try to make when they visit our national headquarters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>To be a part of the webmasters mailing list, go to www.nfbnet.org, activate<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>the Join or Drop NFBNet Mailing Lists, and find the webmasters group. We<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>look forward to helping you, and in turn, giving you the opportunity to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>help others.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Deaf-Blind Division held elections at its meeting during<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>convention: president, Alice Eaddy (New Jersey); first vice president,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Marsha Drenth (Pennsylvania); second vice president, Janice Toothman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(Maryland); secretary, Danielle Burton (Kentucky); treasurer, John L.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Williams (Florida); and board members Brian Norton (Florida), Mark Gasaway<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(Georgia), Dana Tarter (Georgia), and Robert Stigile (California).<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The United Blind Industrial Workers of America Division held<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>elections at the convention with the following results: president, Sandy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Halverson; first vice president, Tom Page; second vice president, Kevan<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Worley; recording secretary, Norma Crosby; treasurer, Kathy Tooten; one-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>year board members Glenn Crosby and Anitra Weber; two-year members Paul<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>McNeal and Leonard Silkey, leaving two unfilled positions.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The following members were elected to the board of the National<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Association of Blind Lawyers at the 2017 National Convention: president,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Scott LaBarre; first vice president, Ronza Othman; second vice president,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Timothy Elder; secretary, Ray Wayne; treasurer, Larry Povinelli; and board<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members Noel Nightingale, Denise Avant, Anthony Thomas, Randy Farber,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Jackson Walker, Deepa Goraya, and Al Elia.<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'>Elected:<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 Assistive Technology Trainer's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Division elected the following officers and board members during the 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Convention: president, Nancy Coffman; vice president, Chancey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Fleet; secretary, Chip Johnson; treasurer, Jeanine Lineback; and board<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>members Wesley Majerus, Amy Ruell, and Jim Portillo.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Human Services Division held elections, the results are as<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>follows: president, Candice Chapman; first vice president, Jonathan Franks;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>second vice president, Tabea Meyer; secretary, Jessica Snyder; treasurer,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Merry Schoch; and board members Dezman Jackson and Nooria Nodrat.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> After elections at the convention, the board of directors of the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Association of Guide Dog Users is as follows: president, Marion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Gwizdala; vice president, Michael Hingson; treasurer, Linda O'Connell;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>secretary, Sherrill O'Brien; and board members Aleeha Dudley, Raul<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Gallegos, and Jessica Snyder.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The National Organization of Parents of Blind Children would like to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>present the 2017/18 NOPBC board of directors elected during the 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>National Convention: president, Kim Cunningham (TX); first vice president,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Laura Bostick (LA); second vice president, Holly Miller (NJ); secretary,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Penny Duffy (NH); treasurer, Sandra Oliver (TX); board members Carol<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Castellano (NJ); Pamela Gebert (AK), Jean Fultz (NY), Carol Akers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>(OH), Melissa Riccobono (MD), Jean Bening (MN), Kimberly Banks (FL), Corbb<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>O'Connor (MN), Tabby Mitchell (VA), and Carlton Walker (PA).<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The National Organization of Professionals in Blindness Education<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Division election results are as follows: president, Eric Guillory; first<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>vice president, Denise Mackenstadt; second vice president, Jackie Anderson;<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>secretary, Emily Gibbs; treasurer, Krystal Guillory; and board members<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Michell Gip, Shannon Kemlo, Casey Robertson, and Carlton Walker.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The following were elected during the meeting of the Science and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Engineering Division on July 12, 2017: president, John Miller; vice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>president, Ashley Neybert; secretary, Louis Maher; treasurer, Alfred<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Maneki; board members Donna Posont and Kristen Johnson.<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'>Elected:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The results of the election held by the Sports and Recreation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Division are as follows: president, Jessica Beecham; vice president, Audrey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Farnum; secretary, Lisamaria Martinez; treasurer, Danielle Fernandez-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Frampton; board members Roland Allen, Mike Armstrong, Maureen Nietfeld,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Amber Sherrard, and Cathy Tuton.<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'>New Brailler Repair Business:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> The Chesapeake Brailler Service run by Steve Bishop in central<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Maryland is open and looking forward to serving the NFB community. Our<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>family is active with the Maryland Parents of Blind Children. We work on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>all models of the classic Perkins Brailler (regular, large cell, light<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>touch, and electric). Our basic service fee is $100; this includes a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>thorough cleaning and any adjustments needed to return the machine to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>factory specs. Repairs may incur additional charges. Find us on Facebook at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Chesapeake Brailler Service. You can call us at (410) 315-9664 (voice only)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>or email at chesapeakebrailler@gmail.com.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> If you have any questions, please contact me by phone or email. Thank<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>you for helping me get the word out about my new business.<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'>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'>Webmaster, National Federation of the Blind of Delaware & Illinois<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'>609-680-8488<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'><a href="http://www.mackeyenterprisesllc.com/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>www.mackeyenterprisesllc.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>