[Ohio-talk] Buckeye Update

[Eric Duffy]

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
Buckeye Update, March 29, 2013

	This is an historic update. It will be the first one to be posted to
NFB-NEWSLINER.I will no longer send out a print issue. Anyone who wants
access to this weekly update can read it by email or on NFB-NEWSLINE.
	The newsletter has been Emailed, posted on the Website, posted on
NFB-NEWSLINE, and Deborah recorded it yesterday. I have not yet heard the
recording, but I'm sure it's good. Thank you Deborah.
	I want to thank everyone who contributed to the newsletter. I
especially want to thank Barbara for the job that she does as Editor. The
comments that we have received have been overwhelmingly positive. I have had
some people say it was too long and others who are unhappy about what didn't
get included. I am proud of this issue, but I certainly acknowledge that we
are all imperfect individuals who make up an imperfect organization, that
publishes an imperfect newsletter. But I also know there's nobody out there
who does it better. 
	We mailed out Scrip cards today. I want to thank Annette Anderson
and Colleen Roth who ordered cards for the first time. Of course I want to
thank all of those who continue to support our organization through NFB
Scrip Ohio on a regular basis. 
	The Ohio Association of Blind Merchants now has a listserv. This is
a members only list, but it shows that the organization is moving forward. I
want to thank Annette Lutz for her leadership in this division. More good
things are going to happen in the weeks and months ahead.
	The Education and legislative committees had a joint meeting Tuesday
evening. We discussed the current requirements of our Braille Literacy law
concerning Braille competency testing for teachers of blind students. I will
write more about this issue in the months ahead. 
	We are united by our beliefs in the innate normality of blind
people, by the belief that it is ok to be blind, and that it is respectable
to be blind. We are joined by our love and respect for the National
Federation of the Blind. We all defend our beliefs and our organization
passionately, and when  we disagree with each other we do that passionately
as well. But let us remember that we are a family. Let's treat each other
lovingly, compassionately, and give each other all of the understanding,
concern, and forgiveness that we ourselves want from our brothers and
sisters. 
	In closing I am including part of an email I received this morning
that reminds me of what the National Federation of the Blind and The NFB of
Ohio is all about. 
 Mr. Duffy,
Hello.  My name is and my five-year-old daughter, Evie, has albinism.
She'll be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I think it's very important
that she learn Braille.  She is beginning to read print already and doing an
awesome job, but I noticed that as she's moving from the simple readers with
one sentence of print on a page to the more advanced beginner books with an
entire page of print, her eyes are beginning to show signs of fatigue.  This
is not a work avoidance technique on her part.  She's very motivated and
will continue to read until she says she's finished.  Then, she'll rub her
eyes, sometimes even cry, and say that her eyes hurt.  She's very sensitive
to the light, and according to her, the light makes the white page too
bright and makes her eyes hurt.  The print in these readers is the same size
as the print in the simpler readers, so it isn't the size of the print.  I
haven't had her IEP meeting yet, but I'm a teacher at a special ed preschool
in another district.  The teacher for the visually impaired who will be
working with her also works with a child in my building.  She stopped by my
classroom to talk to me about Evie's meeting, and when I mentioned Braille
instruction, I could tell immediately she is against it for children with
albinism.  I've looked at what IDEA has to say about it, and it seems that
the school district should provide her with Braille instruction.  However, I
think it may be a battle to get it in place for her in the fall.  I'd
appreciate any help you could give me in figuring out how best to go about
getting the school district on board with Braille instruction.  Any
information you have would be great.  
Evie is a very bright child, and I don't want her to be held back by her
vision at all.
Thanks, 
And the mother signs it. 
We will help Evie, and we will support her family. We will see that she gets
the Braille instruction that she needs. Nothing that we do or say is more
important than helping blind children in every way that we can. If that's
not what we are about as an organization, then we are about nothing that
matters. Let's continue to work together to build a brighter for blind
children like Evie.


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