[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook for April 18, 2016

[Smyth, Charlene R]

April 18, 2016
President's Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

Last Monday I did not get the notebook out. One reason was that I spent part of the day talking with Congressman Young, from Iowa, who visited here after the consistent urging of our members in Iowa. Although every member of Congress is not likely to make the short trip from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, I am certain that more of them would if you urged them to do so. I think we should consider how we get more members of Congress to visit our national headquarters to learn, in more detail, about the work that we do. Thank you to our colleagues in Iowa for getting this done.

We are into the heavy planning time for the national convention. I hope that each of you have made plans for your involvement in the convention. I also hope that you are making plans for your delegation to be the biggest ever.

Critical Actions This Week:

Blind Parents Needed:
If you or other members of your affiliate would be interested in being a mentor to a future blind parent or to a current blind parent seeking support, please send an email to Melissa Riccobono at parenting at nfb.org<mailto:parenting at nfb.org>. Remember that when we say parents we also mean grandparents or guardians of all types. As you know, the National Federation of the Blind is the leading advocate for the rights of blind parents and the largest resource network for blind people who are considering being parents. We are continuing to build our resources in the area of blind parents, and the next step is to formalize a program of mentoring for blind parents. Mentors will follow up with individuals they are assigned to mentor, and will be asked for ideas about other resources needed to strengthen the network of education, support, and advocacy that is the National Federation of the Blind.



Space Available:  H.R. 2264 and S. 2596:

This legislation will amend Title 10 of the United States Code to permit veterans who have a service-connected, permanent disability rating as "total" to travel on military aircraft in the same manner and to the same extent as retired members of the Armed Forces entitled to such travel. Please follow up with your congressmen and senators and ask them to support H.R. 2264 in the House of Representatives and S. 2596 in the Senate. The Capitol switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121.



Last week we added cosponsors in the House and Senate, bringing our total to fifty-four cosponsors in the House of Representatives and four cosponsors in the Senate. The next few weeks will be crucial as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is formulated in the respective houses of Congress. A significant number of cosponsors will increase the likelihood that our space available bill will be included in the larger legislative vehicle (the NDAA) and become law this year. Please call your legislators today!



News:

The Huffington Post article:
I was recently quoted in an article in The Huffington Post, "A Lot More Needs to Be Done to Help Blind People Use the Internet." The entire article can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/blind-people-internet-accessibility_us_57051a56e4b0537661883b1c.


Presidential Release Available:
The April release has been posted to https://nfb.org/presidential-releases and the Spanish version can be accessed at https://nfb.org/images/nfb/audio/pr/spanish/pr_449_spanish.mp3.


Higher Education Toolkit in Spanish:
The NFB's Self-Advocacy in Higher Education Toolkit<https://nfb.org/self-advocacy-higher-education> is now available in Spanish<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/higher-ed-toolkit/autodefensa_en_la_educaci%C3%B3n_superior.pdf>. Please remember that we welcome feedback as we prepare to expand the toolkit's contents. You can provide feedback via our feedback webform<https://nfb.org/self-advocacy-higher-education-feedback> or by contacting Valerie Yingling at vyingling at nfb.org<mailto:vyingling at nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension 2440.


New Online Voter Registration Law in Rhode Island:
Many states have laws allowing online registration. However, Rhode Island is the first state to say, in writing, that voters with disabilities must have full and equal access to online voter registration. More information can be found in the blog post at https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/voting-precedent-every-state-should-follow.


Seedlings Braille Books for Children:
Seedlings Braille Books for Children will be supporting our 2016 NFB BELL Academy by providing two hundred dollars ($200) worth of free books for each of our 2016 NFB BELL Academy sites. We have over thirty affiliates participating and forty-five program sites across the country. Each site will be able to choose books from the great selection Seedlings offers. We greatly appreciate the support from Seedlings, which will help us to get more Braille under children's fingers. Please contact Carlton Walker at (410) 659-9314, extension 2225, or via email at cwalker at nfb.org<mailto:cwalker at nfb.org> for more information. Visit the NFB BELL Academy home page at https://nfb.org/bell-academy for more information or to register for NFB BELL Academy.



Reminders:

Preregistration for Convention:

Please don't forget to preregister for convention. Both the form and link to do so online can be found on our website at https://nfb.org/convention.





Dates to Keep in Mind:

*        April 25: NFB EQ student application deadline, https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-form

*        May 1: Distinguished Educator of Blind Students Award application deadline

*        May 17-20: BLAST, Chicago

*        May 19-21: NFB STEM2U Minneapolis

*        May 21-26: International Council on English Braille 6th General Assembly

*        June 7: NFB EQ teacher application deadline, https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application

*        June 19-25: NFB EQ (first iteration)

*        June 30-July 5: National Federation of the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida

*        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)

*        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort

*        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, www.wbu-icevi2016.org<http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>


The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.


Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org/>






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