[nfbwatlk] National Federation of the Blind President to Deliver Keynote Address at Notre Dame's Blindness Symposium

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org



National Federation of the Blind President to
Deliver Keynote Address at Notre Dame's Blindness Symposium



Speech will Address Education and Civil Rights for All Americans



Baltimore, Maryland (March 3, 2009): Dr. Marc Maurer, President of 
the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest 
organization of blind people in the United States, will give the 
keynote address at the Notre Dame Disability Studies Forum's 
blindness symposium.  The symposium will be held at the University of 
Notre Dame on March 6, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.  The Notre 
Dame Disability Studies Forum is hosting speakers from arts-based and 
technology-based disciplines to discuss the culture and technology 
surrounding blindness and low vision.  The symposium will also 
feature a technology fair running concurrently with the conference 
and highlighting products that blind people can use.



"I am honored to give the keynote address at this influential 
symposium conducted by my alma mater.  With the increasing use of 
electronic textbooks, Web-based instruction, and other technology in 
the classroom, it is critical that educators consider how all aspects 
of the educational system can be made accessible to all students 
including the blind.  Only 10 percent of all blind children are 
currently learning to read and write using Braille.  Our educational 
system is failing these students and this issue must be addressed 
immediately.  I appreciate the opportunity to speak on these crucial 
subjects to this prestigious gathering."



Attendees of the symposium will get to see firsthand a brand-new, 
highly affordable navigational aid called AdapTap that blind swimmers 
can use to keep their bearings in a swimming pool.  The National 
Federation of the Blind awarded the project a 2008 Dr. Jacob Bolotin 
Award for outstanding and innovative achievements in the blindness field.



Both the academic conference and the technology fair will be open at 
no charge to the general public. For more information about the 
symposium, please e-mail 
<mailto:BlindnessSymposium at gmail.com>BlindnessSymposium at gmail.com. 
For more information on the National Federation of the Blind, please 
visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.





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About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind 
is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind 
people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives 
through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs 
encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading 
force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's 
blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the 
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in 
the United States for the blind led by the blind.