[Nyabs] {Disarmed} National Federation of the Blind Newsletter - Happy New Year!

Tue Jan 6 17:20:12 UTC 2015

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind " <IOF at nfb.org>
> Date: January 6, 2015 at 10:33:54 AM EST
> To: Nihal Erkan <nihal_erkan at hotmail.com>
> Subject: National Federation of the Blind Newsletter - Happy New Year!
> Reply-To: "Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind " <IOF at nfb.org>
> 
>  
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> Imagineering Our Future
> 
> Issue 71
> 
> January 2015
> 
> In this issue:
> 
> Message from the President
> What's News at the NFB
> Education
> From the tenBroek Library
> Independence Market
> NFB Calendar
> Citation
>  
> 
> Message from the President
> 
> Dear Friends:
> 
> Welcome to 2015 and the year that we celebrate our tremendous history and bright future in the National Federation of the Blind.
> 
> 
> The start of a new year always brings excitement for the time ahead. This year is no different and it is starting quickly in the Federation. Our Florida affiliate has its annual convention next weekend and our national parents division will be having a leadership meeting here at the NFB Jernigan Institute that same weekend. With a new Congress, our members across the country are poised to educate newly elected legislators about blindness and the barriers that prevent us from living the lives we want. In 2015 we will see our Braille enrichment programs expand to even more states and our continued advocacy for blind individuals will ensure that misunderstanding about the capacity of blind people does not create artificial barriers between blind people and their dreams.
> 
> In 2015, we are certain that the success of our organization will continue to be reliant upon having a strong diverse network of blind people working together to make the world better and turn dreams into reality. One person at a time, we have established the most powerful network of information, resources, and support for the blind anywhere in the world. However, there are still blind people who are not yet connected. As you are reading this, a person has gone blind and is wondering what kind of future he or she will have. We need your help to get newly blinded individuals connected to the National Federation of the Blind so they will know that vision is not a requirement for success in their lives.
> 
> Please make connecting blind people with the network of the National Federation of the Blind one of your renewed commitments for 2015. It is one of the most important things you can do, and it will have ripple effects that you will never know.
> 
> Happy New Year to you!
> 
> 
> 
> Mark A. Riccobono, President
> National Federation of the Blind
> 
> 
> 
> What's News at the NFB
> 
> National Federation of the Blind Announces 2015 Jacob Bolotin Awards
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind has announced that applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program. Each year the National Federation of the Blind presents cash awards to individuals and organizations that have demonstrated exemplary leadership and extraordinary accomplishments in improving the lives of blind people in the United States. Individuals or organizations are encouraged to apply on behalf of themselves or others. Applications are due by March 31, 2015.  The award recipients will be announced at the 2015 National Federation of the Blind Convention in Orlando. For more information or to apply online, please visit https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main.
> 
> National Federation of the Blind Announces Winners of 2014 Onkyo Braille Essay Contest
> 
> On December 17, the National Federation of the Blind announced the winners of the 2014 Onkyo Braille Essay Contest. The National Federation of the Blind once again administered the Onkyo Braille Literacy Essay Contest on behalf of the North American/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. The essay contest, sponsored by Onkyo Corporation, a Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer, and the Braille Mainichi, part of the Mainichi Newspaper Company in Japan, was created to promote Braille literacy and to encourage the sharing of social and cultural information among blind and visually impaired persons. The full list of winners can be found at https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-announces-winners-2014-onkyo-braille-essay-contest.
> 
> Happy Birthday to Louis Braille!
> 
> January 4 was the birthday of Louis Braille, the esteemed inventor of the Braille code for reading and writing. The importance of Braille literacy for the blind cannot be overstated – of the percentage of blind people who are employed, 80 percent are Braille literate. Louis Braille’s reading and writing code for the blind truly allows blind people to live the lives they want. To learn more about the enormous impact of Louis Braille and his code, please watch our video “Braille Brings Opportunity and Success,” featuring Immediate Past President Marc Maurer.
> 
> 
> 
> Education
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> NFB BELL Seminar
> 
> December 11-15, fifty members of the National Federation of the Blind traveled to Baltimore to plan, brainstorm, and dream about the NFB Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL) program in the summer of 2015, which will be held in twenty-four states around the country. Six states—Connecticut, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Minnesota, Hawaii, and Kentucky—will host the NFB BELL program for the first time in the summer of 2015. At the seminar, participants shared their knowledge about how to manage the various logistics of the program so that the program runs smoothly for the students. Participants also spent time familiarizing themselves with the robust curriculum and trading ideas about how to implement different aspects of the curriculum for students of varying abilities. Brainstorming sessions focused on how to incorporate the transition to UEB into the program as well as how to bolster the content related to nonvisual graphic literacy. And, of course, participants had to try out some of the new games and activities incorporated into the newest version of the curriculum; our NFB BELL coordinators are all kids at heart! Everyone had a great time and left energized and ready to plan another summer of Braille fun!
> 
> 
> 
> From the tenBroek Library
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> “The Week That Was” Gets New Life
> 
> The 1965 National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind was remarkable for many reasons. Not only was it the 25th anniversary of the first national consumer organization of blind people in the United States, it is also the only national convention that the Federation has held in our nation’s capital. Called “The Week That Was” in that year’s convention issue of the Braille Monitor, it stood as a testament to the legislative power wielded by the organized blind at that time. The convention was attended by over one thousand Federationists from across the country and over one hundred members of Congress attended the banquet. Among the many honored guests who spoke during the general sessions were House Speaker John McCormack; Senators Robert Kennedy (NY), Vance Hartke (IN), and Frank Moss (UT); Congressmen Walter S. Baring (NV) and Phillip Burton (CA); and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who received the title of honorary president of the NFB.
> 
> Like the 1965 Convention, the August 1965 Braille Monitor was also exceptional because it was the first issue to feature photographs. These photos presented a unique record of this historic event that was not available anywhere else, and until recently was not available at all. In 2010, the Jacobus tenBroek Library scanned the text of this issue as part of a larger digitization project with the Internet Archive. Sadly, the published versions of the photos were grainy and unclear and so were not included when the text was converted for the NFB’s website. However, as part of the Federation’s ongoing 75th Anniversary celebration, this important historical record has now been restored. Thanks to a recent donation of photos and documents from the tenBroek family, as well as some digging in the NFB’s photo archives, our staff has reproduced the original photographs as high-quality digital images. The complete issue, including these beautiful reproductions, is now available online at https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm1965/65bm-aug.html. 
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> 
> 
> Independence Market
> 
> There are many misconceptions about severe vision loss and blindness. Only about 20 percent of blind people are totally blind. The remaining 80 percent of those who are legally blind have some degree of remaining vision, ranging from light perception to the ability to read larger print and see nearby objects. We in the NFB say that a person is blind if that person has lost so much vision that she or he has to use quite a number of nonvisual or alternative techniques to function efficiently in everyday life. Figuring out what balance of visual and nonvisual techniques works best for any one individual is not always easy. The key is to acquire techniques that allow one to function at an optimal level, so that one can live the life one wants. And often that means learning some new, more efficient ways of accomplishing everyday tasks.
> 
> The NFB Independence Market sells a variety of blindness products that enhance the independence of blind people. This time we want to highlight some items that individuals with low vision, who can still make effective use of their remaining vision in some contexts, may find helpful.
> 
> It’s that time of year when we all need a new calendar. Since not everyone has adopted a fully digital lifestyle yet, the Independence Market still offers three different large-print calendars to meet a variety of needs. For many years we carried a basic, large-print appointment calendar with monthly views and a page for notes for each month. More recently we added a large-print planner with monthly as well as weekly views, for those with busier lives. Then last year we added a big monthly wall calendar. We also offer a large-print address book, a large-print check register, and a set of large-print diabetic log books.
> 
> Some blind people find it easier to write with a dark pen, which does not smudge or bleed through paper. We carry the popular 20/20 pens. We also have a couple of different dark-lined notepads. We have sold the 8.5 x 11” notepads for quite some time. Last summer we added the handy half-sheet-sized notepads that are conveniently sized to keep near the phone and lots of other places to jot down a quick note.
> 
> Finally we carry a small collection of mostly handheld magnifiers ranging from 4X to 14X magnification. Contact us if you do not see a magnifier listed online or in our catalog that meets your needs, as we may have limited stock of other types of magnifiers on-hand.
> 
> For more information, contact the Independence Market via email at independencemarket at nfb.org or via phone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2216. We will be glad to assist you. Check out our literature and product offerings online at www.nfb.org/independence-market.
> 
>  
> 
> NFB Calendar
> 
> Upcoming Events
> 
> January 26, 2015: NFB Washington Seminar Great Gathering In
> 
> March 12-15, 2015: NFB STEM2U Boston (MA), Museum of Science
> 
> March 26-27, 2015: Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
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> May 14-16, 2015: NFB STEM2U Columbus (OH), COSI
> 
> July 5-10, 2015: 75th Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind
> 
> August 2-8, 2015: NFB STEM2U EQ 
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>   
> 
> Citation
> 
> The mechanisms of our movement change, but the fundamental purpose remains the same. Sometimes we achieve our objectives through letter-writing campaigns, sometimes by marching in the streets, sometimes by confrontations, sometimes by educational symposia, sometimes by creating a literature of hope and belief, sometimes through actions in the courts, and sometimes by designing our own research facility. However, though the method may shift, the objective does not—it is the complete, unhampered, total independence of the blind. In this year of new beginnings, as the 1900's cease to be, we look to the future and wonder what the decades ahead will bring. The specific details may be obscure, but the direction is abundantly clear. The future belongs to us. 
> 
> --Marc Maurer. "The Personality of Freedom.” 2000 NFB National Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, July 7, 2000.
> 
>   
> 
>  Thank you for reading the NFB’s Imagineering Our Future.
> 
> Help make a significant difference in the lives of blind people across the country.
> 
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> 
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> If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe, please email JerniganInstitute at nfb.org.
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> Interesting links:
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> Archive of Straight Talk About Vision Loss videos
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> National Center for Blind Youth in Science
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> Access Technology Tips
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> TeachBlindStudents.org
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> Blogs:
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