[Ohio-talk] {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} Fall Newsletter in the body of this message

[Walter Mitchell]

I agree with JW. Great job Barbara!

Blind love is the answer, presently , and for our future!

Much Love,
Walter Mitchell
Member, NFB Ohio, Cincinnati chapter
 (513) 582-8606 Mobil
(800) 340-8211 ext. 101  L2T Products and Services Toll free
Walterl.mitch2 at gmail.com Email

Follow the NFB of Ohio on:

Face Book, https://m.facebook.com/ohiosblind

Cincinnati Chapter: https://m.facebook.com/NationalFederationoftheBlindofCincinnati/.

Twitter @ohnfb, 
YouTube channel NFB OHIO



-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Smith, JW via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2016 2:51 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Cc: Smith, JW
Subject: [Ohio-talk] {Spam?} RE: {Spam?} Fall Newsletter in the body of this message


Colleagues:

I have just finished reading our Newsletter and all I can say is, WOW, WOW, WOW AND WOW!

It is wonderful and we are so blessed in this affiliate to have someone like Barbara Pierce as our Editor and let's never ever take it for granted ok?

MERCY, CAN I GET A WITNESS!

Jw

Dr. jw Smith
School of Communication Studies
Scripps College of Communication
Schoonover Center, Rm. 427
Athens, OH 45701
smithj at ohio.edu
T: 740-593-4838



-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of barbara.pierce9366--- via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2016 1:30 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com
Subject: [Ohio-talk] {Spam?} Fall Newsletter in the body of this message

Fall 2016 Buckeye Bulletin 
A publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio


Barbara Pierce, Editor 
198 Kendal Drive 
Oberlin, OH 44074 
barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com
(440) 774-8077
http://www.nfbohio.org 

Richard Payne, President 
1019 Wilmington Ave., APT. 43, 
Kettering, OH 45420 
(937) 829-3368 
rchpay7 at gmail.com



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

The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio is a 501 (c) 3 consumer organization comprised of blind and sighted people committed to changing what it means to be blind. Though blindness is still all too often a tragedy to those who face it, we know from our personal experience that with training and opportunity it can be reduced to the level of a physical nuisance. We work to see that blind people receive the services and training to which they are entitled and that parents of blind children receive the advice and support they need to help their youngsters grow up to be happy, productive adults. We believe that first-class citizenship means that people have both rights and responsibilities, and we are determined to see that blind people become first-class citizens of these United States, enjoying their rights and fulfilling their responsibilities. The most serious problems we face have less to do with our lack of vision than with discrimination based on the public’s ignorance and misinformation about blindness. Join us in educating Ohioans about the abilities and aspirations of Ohio’s blind citizens. We are changing what it means to be blind. 

The NFB of Ohio has eight local chapters, one for at-large members, and special divisions for diabetics, merchants, seniors, guide dog users, and those interested in Braille. This newsletter appears three times a year and is circulated by email, posted on NFB-NEWSLINE®, our digitized newspaper-reading service by phone, and can be read or downloaded from our website, www.nfbohio.org. For information about the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio or to make address changes or be added to the mailing list, call (440) 774-8077 or email barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com. For information about NFB-NEWSLINE, our free digitized newspaper-reading service, call (866) 504-7300. Local NEWSLINE numbers are: 330-247-1241 (Akron), 330-409-1900 (Canton), 513-297-1521 (Cincinnati), 216-453-2090 (Cleveland), and 614-448-1673 (Columbus).

The NFB now has a vehicle donation program. For complete information go to www.nfb.org/vehicledonations or call our toll-free vehicle donation number (855) 659-9314.

Table of Contents
>From the President's Desk	2
70th Annual Convention of the NFB of Ohio: Don’t Miss it	3
Introduction to the DoubleTree	4
Meet Anil Lewis: Counselor, Advocate, and Father	5
Introducing the 2016 Scholarship Winners	7
Meet a Federation Family: Michael, Heather, and Alex Leiterman	8
BELL Academy 2016	9
2016 NFBO BELL Academy Evening Activities	11
Editor’s Musing	11
My First NFB National Convention	12
A Good Read	13
Let's Dance: How I Dealt with Choreography	14
Recipe Corner	16
Simple and Easy Rum Cake	16
Ugly Apple Cake	16
Nacho Pie	17
Mexican Mix Casserole	17
Buckeye Briefs	18
Activities Calendar	21
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio - 2016 Convention	23
Pre-Registration Form and Payment Instructions	23

**********
>From the President's Desk
by Richard Payne

It was Around April Fool's day when a friend in the movement called me and said that he was leaving Ohio. As you now know, it was Eric Duffy, and he was the president of the NFB of Ohio. When he and Dr. Smith told me that I would have to become the president of the NFB of Ohio before the end of the week, I recognized that it was no April Fool's joke but serious business.

Eric explained that he was leaving for a new job. While that was great news for him, it was shocking news for the affiliate and for me. We went on to speak about things that needed to happen very fast like the appointment of a vice president. Eric and I have shared many good times and worked together to keep the NFB of Ohio active. Ohio will not be able to replace him; our challenge will be to pick up all the things that he was doing and try to go on as he would want us to do. The good thing is that he will remain a Federation member. I know he will do very well in New Jersey and this new adventure. Yes, you can safely assume that I pick up the phone often to get his opinion and advice. I will often wonder what decisions he would have made for the rest of the year.

I began to consider who the new vice president should be. The NFB had to keep moving in a positive way, so I decided that Sherri Albers would work well with me and hard for us. I asked her if she would serve as my vice president, and thankfully she said yes. This has proven to be a great working relationship.

I will not promise to lead in the same way as others have, but I will guarantee that I will make every effort to represent the NFB and keep the issues that we have decided on at the front of our agenda. I would like to see more of you active in everything that we do. When our chapters and divisions work together, we are able to change what it means to be blind.

We must keep our obligations and responsibilities. I am proud that many of you have reached out to me and been willing to work together. I think that we have made the transition a great one. We have more work to do than most of you know, but, if we continue to develop trust and wisdom, we will grow and change policy and programs for the blind of Ohio and the nation. This will take us all doing our parts.

The Marching for Independence Campaign was a great success. A number of members of the NFB and their friends and family worked hard together during the Flying Pig Marathon to staff a station during the race. We have begun developing and strengthening partnerships with people and agencies that can help us in many ways while we continue to build the NFB of Ohio. We decided in June to get involved in the first Charity Day Race in Columbus, Ohio, and I am very excited that we took part in it. This was collaboration between several nonprofits.

We continue to make every effort to make the NFB a household name. Several people have committed to our resolution and the legislation efforts that were already in place. We still need to reach out to the Ohio House of Representatives and invite them to meetings and other events and talk about our ongoing programs. Yes, this is an election year, and elected officials will be busy trying to get themselves reelected. But people who are in office now will be especially open to talking with us as they campaign for re-election, so we can use this time to make friends. When Congressman John Lewis participated in the marching for independence campaign at our Atlanta convention with over 1000 people in attendance, my belief of what we could do as an organization was reconfirmed. I heard him say that marching is a tremendous tool of individual empowerment and social change. We used it in the Civil Rights Movement to dramatize our struggle against social injustice, and our March for Independence of the blind is simply a modern-day extension of that call for change. We must do just what any other family does--share in all our many accomplishments and defeats. NFB members are the leaders in the blindness field. No one knows more about being blind than the NFB.

**********
70th Annual Convention of the NFB of Ohio: Don’t Miss it
by Sheri Albers

Editor’s note: NFB of Ohio Vice President Sheri Albers is also convention chairperson again this year. Here is what she has to say about the up-coming convention:

On behalf of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, you are cordially invited to attend our Platinum Anniversary Convention in Independence, Ohio. This historic event will be held the weekend of Friday, November 11, through Sunday, November 13, 2016. We will be returning to the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 6200 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131, phone, (216) 447-1300. Room rates are $89 per night plus tax. Our block of rooms will be released on October 21. Please make your reservations now. Be sure to let the hotel know if you need an accessible room or have any other special requirements related to your room.

The theme for this year’s convention is Marching for Independence, just as our NFB founders did those seventy years ago and just as we continue to do every day to build the Federation. We are privileged to have as our national representative Anil Lewis, executive director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. Anil joined the Federation in 1995, and since then he has made a significant contribution to the quality of life and rights, not only for blind people, but for people of all disabilities across the country.

We will kick off our convention with the Board of Directors meeting on Friday morning at 11:00 AM. Remember that this is an open meeting for all members of the Federation and their guests to attend, not just the board members. This is the one meeting of the entire weekend that you will get a chance to see and hear from your elected board, discussing pertinent issues that directly affect all of us as an affiliate, as well as learning what activities are happening around the state. We strongly recommend that at least one representative from each chapter be present at this meeting to bring a report home to share with those who were not able to attend.

The official convention will commence on Friday afternoon, with the gavel falling before opening ceremonies and general sessions promptly at 2:00 PM. We will have a series of speakers covering a wide range of topics, including a report from our national representative, rehabilitation services, library services, legislation, and health and wellness. We will also have a special guest from our national office, Bryan Duarte, who will be representing the National Association of Blind Students Division (NABS).

Friday evening will see a flurry of activity. First and foremost, our Hospitality Suite will open its doors at 5:30 PM. Your hosts will be the Cleveland Chapter, and they will do all they can to make you feel welcome. They are also planning some enjoyable activities for your visit. Light snacks and beverages will be available for your comfort. The At-Large Chapter and the Ohio Association of Blind Merchants Division will hold their annual business meetings that evening. The Nominations and Resolutions Committee meetings will also take place. Of course the Ohio Association to Promote the Use of Braille (OAPUB) Division will not disappoint and will again entertain us later that evening with one of their wonderful radio play readings. Admission will be $5 at the door. This is an event you will surely not want to miss as you show your support for Braille.

Saturday will begin with a breakfast business meeting of OAPUB at 7:00 AM, so, if you care about Braille, be sure to sign up for the OAPUB continental breakfast meeting when you register. The Diabetes Action Network will also conduct its meeting in Shula’s Restaurant over breakfast ordered off the menu. If you are a diabetic, please try to attend this meeting to help the division reorganize.

The gavel will again fall promptly at 9:00AM to continue general sessions. We will have door prizes scattered through the morning if, of coerces, members bring them and turn them in to Suzanne Turner. We will break at 12 noon for lunch. The Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users (OAGDU) Division and the National Association of Blind Seniors will conduct their annual business meetings. Boxed lunches will be available for purchase for meeting attendees or those who just want to get a lunch on-the-go. Be sure to order your boxed lunch when you register for the convention.

The afternoon promises provocative workshops on promoting leadership, membership building, and successful employment strategies. We are also bringing back our Exhibit Hall. Vendors will be available to us from 12:00 noon to 5:00 PM demonstrating their high-tech and low-tech products for blind and visually impaired users. Chapters and divisions will also have the opportunity to hold fundraisers in this exhibit area.

Our banquet this year proves to be a memorable one, with our master of ceremonies Dr. JW Smith at the helm. This is traditionally the highlight of the convention. We will get a chance to have fellowship and share a meal together. Our keynote speaker will be our national representative Anil Lewis. We will then have our Gavel Awards ceremony to celebrate chapter and division accomplishments from the past year. The finale of the banquet is always the awards to our deserving scholarship winners. This is an event you will not want to miss. Be sure to order your banquet meal when you register for the convention. Don’t worry, the night is not over – plans are in the works for an after-banquet activity to be announced.

Sunday is the day we relax a little and reflect on the past few days and think about where we are headed in the future. Elections will be held for all executive officers and two at-large members of the board.

Our Convention Planning Committee, chaired by our president, Richard Payne, is committed to making this our best convention yet. His goal is to bring you the most up-to-date information on the most important issues facing blind people in the state of Ohio today. The Cuyahoga Chapter will be ready to greet you bright and early at 9:00 AM on Friday morning to hand out your registration packets and agendas. As chair of convention arrangements, I will make sure that the hotel facility, which includes staff, accommodations, guide dog relief areas, meeting rooms, dining areas, and common areas, is as blind-friendly as possible and that your convention experience is as positive as it can be. My name is Sheri Albers, and my phone number is (513) 886-8697. I will be the one you call if you encounter any problems during your stay at convention. I hope you will join us in celebrating our seventy years of history as we March to Independence.

**********
Introduction to the DoubleTree
by Barbara Pierce

Editor’s note: As you now know, we return to the hotel were we held last year’s convention. Since the floor plan has not changed in that facility, we are reprinting last year’s article about the layout of the hotel with only a few edits. Here it is:

As you now know, this year's convention will take place November 11 to 13 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Independence. This is a lovely facility with delicious food. The entrance is on the north side of the hotel, which means that you are facing south as you enter. If you step forward a few feet, the registration desk will be on the right (west) side of the lobby. Seating groups of furniture are in the center of the lobby, and Shula's Restaurant and Bar is located on the east wall. You pass through the bar before reaching restaurant seating. Wait in the bar to be seated.

After checking in, continue walking south. You will notice a corridor turning west (right). This leads to the sleeping rooms and the elevators to the upper floors. As you walk down this hall, west, you will pass on your right first the Directors Room and then the Boardroom. These are small meeting rooms, and they are close to the lobby end of the hall. This corridor dead ends into an exit with grass outside it. This is the dog relief area, and a trash receptacle will be located outside the door for your convenience. Back in that hallway turn left at that door (south) to reach sleeping rooms and the elevator; both of these are found on the left side of the hallway only. At the south end of the hall you can turn right to find Room 121, our hospitality room, or left (east) to walk along a hall that connects with the south end of the foyer area outside the ballrooms, which are also our principal breakout rooms.

Returning to the lobby just before the right turn to pass the Directors Room and Boardroom, you can also angle forty-five degrees to the left in a corridor that passes the access to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools and the business center on the right. This hall opens into the ballroom area. There are two ballrooms, both on the left side. The first is the Grand Ballroom with division rooms 1, 2, and 3 going south. Next is a carpeted hall to the left (east) which gives access on the right side to Petit Ballrooms A and B. Rooms C, D, and E lie to the south of these two smaller rooms. Note that the only access to rooms A and B is from the cross hall. There are restrooms in the foyer on the east side before the ballrooms and also around the hallways near the elevators.

That's it. Read through this article several times, pausing after reading each new element to build a map in your head. If you take time to do this, you will sail through the convention with no problems. All rooms are marked in Braille and raised print in the standard locations. Happy travels.

**********
Meet Anil Lewis: Counselor, Advocate, and Father
Editor’s note: Our national rep this year will be Anil Lewis. Here is the bio that he sent Richard Payne:

Anil Lewis was born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the third of four children. Both his older brother and older sister became legally blind at an early age from retinitis pigmentosa. Lewis was originally labeled educably mentally retarded but eventually became the first member of his family to graduate from college. He has excelled academically, received many awards, participated as a leader in many extracurricular activities, and received several college scholarships. Although he was finally diagnosed at age nine with retinitis pigmentosa, his vision was fairly unaffected until age twenty-five.

Currently employed as the executive director of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, located in Baltimore, Maryland, he coordinates outreach, marketing, and fund raising activities for the national nonprofit organization. He leads a dynamic team responsible for the creation, development, implementation, and replication of innovative projects and programs throughout a nationwide network of affiliates that work to improve the education, employment, and quality of life of all blind people.

Previously as the Director of Advocacy and Policy for the NFB, Lewis was responsible for a variety of public policy and strategic programs. Most notably, he was the legislative lead of the NFB’s efforts to repeal Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, an obsolete provision that allows employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. As the Director of Strategic Communications for the NFB, Lewis coordinated the public relations campaign for the NFB’s Blind Driver Challenge™, an innovative research project to develop nonvisual access technology that will make it possible for a blind person to operate an automobile safely and independently.

As a sighted man he fairly easily found respectable employment with wages high above the minimum wage. Then in 1989, while pursuing his bachelor’s of business administration in computer information systems at Georgia State University (GSU), he became blind from retinitis pigmentosa. "All of a sudden doors that had been open to me slammed shut," Lewis said. At that point, although he had always considered himself socially aware, he became personally acquainted with actual social injustice and discrimination. "I am ashamed that only personal experience brought this awakening and decision to take action. But I am proud that I did take action and remain committed today to making a difference in the lives of others."

Lewis received blindness skills training while completing his course requirements for his degree at GSU. He quickly learned the alternative skills of blindness, including Braille, activities of daily living, assistive technology, and use of the long white cane. He capitalized on them to graduate with his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State in 1993. "It was a struggle to regain the life that blindness had appeared to take from me. Almost everyone who had once respected me now pitied me, but I was determined not to be redefined by my blindness." Armed with these new skills and this new determination, he quickly became committed to ensuring that others in similar situations could get appropriate training and unlimited opportunities.

Lewis got a job as a Braille and assistive technology instructor. Within a year he was given the greater responsibility of job development/placement specialist, helping clients develop employment skills and get jobs. "I had had no experience helping anyone other than myself get a job. I certainly did not have expertise in job placement for blind people." It was during this time that he first became aware of the National Federation of the Blind. A friend referred him to the NFB when he had questions about Social Security work incentives and needed information about tools and strategies to help blind people obtain employment. As a result he attended his first NFB convention in Chicago, Illinois, in 1995 and became aware of the empowering philosophy and tremendous resource of the National Federation of the Blind. The technical assistance materials produced by the NFB’s Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB) program and the NFB’s Social Security and technical assistance information provided resources enabling him to motivate, educate, and encourage other blind people to achieve successful gainful employment. "My success as a job placement specialist was a direct result of my ability to infuse NFB philosophy into the clients I worked with."

Lewis went on to develop and manage a job placement program for people with disabilities as the manager of the Disability Employment Initiative with Randstad Staffing, one of the largest employment staffing companies in the world, during the Atlanta Olympic and Para-Olympic Games in 1996. >From then until early 2006 he was employed by the law offices of Martin and Jones as the Georgia Client Assistance Program (CAP) counselor/advocate, representing people with disabilities every day. He served as a disability consultant working with companies in Georgia until 2010.

He became president of the Atlanta Metropolitan Chapter of the NFB of Georgia in 2000 and was elected president of the NFB of Georgia in 2002. In that year he also received the Kenneth Jernigan Memorial Scholarship, the NFB’s most prestigious award presented to a blind student, which he used to obtain his master’s degree in public administration with emphasis in policy analysis and program evaluation from GSU in 2003. That year he was also elected as a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors. He received an Outstanding Alumnus award from GSU in 1997 and was also a 2003 GSU Torch Bearer of Peace Award recipient. In 2004 the American Bar Association presented Lewis with their Paul G. Hearn Advocacy Award. In 2006 Lewis was named alumnus of the year by Leadership DeKalb, a community leadership development organization in DeKalb County, Georgia. Lewis is also a graduate of the Leadership Georgia program, class of 2008, and the Greater Baltimore Leadership Program Class of 2015.

Lewis has dedicated his leadership skills to the development and growth of disability rights organizations that promote independence and improved quality of life. He was appointed by the governor as a board member and served as president of the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) of Georgia, an organization promoting independent living for those with severe disabilities. He also served as the founding chairman of the board of directors of the Disability Law and Policy Center (DLPC) of Georgia, which used a variety of methods to influence and enforce disability policy. Lewis was appointed by the Governor of Maryland and currently serves on the Maryland Statewide Rehabilitation Council, which takes an active and visible role in how Maryland's public vocational rehabilitation program is administered. As a newly appointed board member of the American Association of People with Disabilities, Lewis helps promote equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation for people with disabilities. He has also been appointed by President Obama as a member of the Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled, known as The U. S. AbilityOne Commission, which administers the AbilityOne Program, a unique employment program sponsored by the Federal Government serving the needs of people who are blind or have other significant disabilities.

All of these organizations recognize that people with disabilities are integral, necessary members of society and reflect the world’s normal diversity. Further, each works to ensure that the policies and programs developed for people with disabilities are created and implemented by people with disabilities. By helping to develop and strengthen such institutions to serve as a cornerstone in protecting the rights of people with disabilities, he hopes to secure the commitment and support of others. He also hopes to reduce the barriers people with disabilities face by encouraging the implementation of public policy securing the rights and promoting the responsible participation of the disabled as productive citizens.

Lewis volunteers as a teacher and mentor for blind kids, working with promising blind students who, because of limited resources and lack of trained professionals to teach them, are inappropriately encouraged to pursue special education diplomas. He wants blind students to set higher goals for themselves and to receive the training and tools they need to acquire the skills to reach their full potential.

Speaking of his personal life, Anil Lewis says that his proudest accomplishment is his bright, ambitious son Amari, born in 1997. Balancing his many civic responsibilities with his personal life as a father is undoubtedly his greatest challenge. His greatest success, he thinks, has been overcoming the temptation to subside into becoming an unmotivated, self-pitying person with a disability. He thinks his greatest contribution so far has been to encourage other people with disabilities to believe in themselves and to understand that they can make a difference.

Lewis says that lack of awareness of individuals with traits outside society’s accepted norms promotes extreme ignorance, which in turn results in unjustified fear, negative stereotypes, and discrimination. In an effort to combat that ignorance, he aggressively recruits, refers, and supports other like-minded people to become active in the National Federation of the Blind and other organizations in the disability rights movement. He hopes to promote social change by fostering the active participation of more people with disabilities in every facet of society, thereby replacing ignorance with understanding, fear with awareness, and negative stereotypes with mutual understanding. In the process he believes that we will eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. "With a working knowledge of most disability law and policy and extended experience in advocating for the rights of others, I am committed to improving the quality of life for all people with disabilities by working to remove the barriers of ignorance while creating equal opportunities for all. My personal mission is simple: I want to make a positive difference in the lives of others."

**********
Introducing the 2016 Scholarship Winners
by Deborah Kendrick

Editor’s note: Deborah Kendrick chairs the Ohio Scholarship Committee. In the following article she introduces us to our three scholarship winners for 2016. This is what she says:

What do the Rubber Ducks and Tax Account+ have in common? Well, not much except that both are passions of Joseph Chadbourne, one of our three stellar scholarship winners for 2016. As a senior accounting major at the University of Akron, Joe is maintaining his role as a member of the board of the Akron Blind Center, walking the quarter mile to the games of his favorite AA baseball team, and maintaining his 3.77 grade point average.

Joe's intent is to work as a tax accountant, and that choice of profession means that, even though his senior year has only begun, he is currently devoting much of his time to making job applications for next fall. He is applying, he says, to the four largest public firms as well as a few well-chosen private ones. Joe is an avid Braille user and has even worked as a volunteer teaching Braille to others through his involvement at the Blind Center. This will be his first NFB convention.

Another outstanding young scholarship winner this year is William Yznaga, beginning first year computer science major at Cleveland State University. Although he is just beginning his college career, William was already successfully enrolled in college classes at Baldwin Wallace University while he was still in high school. He spent the summer between high school and college in a paid internship, forty hours per week, with Hyland Software, doing what he hopes to do beyond college, writing code that will improve the world and especially the environment.

William is particularly pleased with the level of accommodation at Cleveland State. He has already spent many hours in the computer lab there, where he has access to CCTV’s, scanners, copiers, and a gigantic iMac, providing the most accessible computer experience he has ever had. In his first two weeks on campus, he served as one of three students on a panel addressing professors on the nature of disability and needs in the classroom. He says he is delighted by the level and quality of communication between professors and students.

Besides his love of technology, programming, and math, William is extremely involved in his church and related functions. As a youth volunteer in recent summers, he has weeded cemetery properties, provided day care, cleared trash, and more in both his home town and as far away as St. Louis. He has joined a Bible fellowship group on campus and hopes to join the campus math club.

William’s love of learning is infectious and extends itself to his expressed wish to learn more about other blind people and the NFB. Ours will be his first convention, and I know we will make him welcome.

The third 2016 NFB Ohio scholarship winner is no stranger to Ohio Federationists. Since April Sheri Albers has served as vice president of the affiliate and was the 2016 BELL coordinator. Sheri was in charge of convention arrangements for our state convention last year as well as being one of the charming hostesses working the hospitality suite at our 2015 national convention.

Sheri is currently working to augment the bachelor’s degree begun thirty-five years ago with a second degree that will enable her to work as a substance abuse counselor. She hopes to get a job in a treatment center at that time, helping others with addictions to drugs and alcohol.

We are proud to award three scholarships in 2016 to three stellar students.

**********
Meet a Federation Family: Michael, Heather, and Alex Leiterman
by Barbara Pierce

Michael Leiterman speaks with a quiet voice, but he uses a white cane that is sixty-nine inches long. So it can truly be said that “He speaks softly and carries a big stick.” He is six foot five and travels with confidence.

I first met Mike as a college student on the phone in 1999. We talked for over an hour about the usual collection of college student problems: late textbooks, inadequate reader service, and the like. I came away impressed by his intelligence and sound ideas about blindness and reasonable accommodations. He was a dean’s list biology major at the University of Cincinnati.

Mike was born in southern Alabama. He and his sister were diagnosed with retinal blastoma. In the late seventies the standard treatment of this cancer of the eye was to remove the more affected eye and then blast the remaining eye with radiation. No one ever told Mrs. Leiterman that blindness did not have to be a catastrophe. So Mike spent his childhood in and out of hospitals. His sister died following her third bout with cancer. Mike was left with one eye with glaucoma and very compromised vision.

The family moved to Ohio, where Mike was enrolled in the Rio Grande school system, where he received almost no specialized instruction. When he was eleven, his mother moved him to the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB). Since he could neither read nor write, administrators considered placing him in the second grade. But they decided to try fourth grade instead, and Mike repaid their gamble on him by working his way up to the sixth grade by the following year. He was enchanted by the opportunity to discover the world of the written word, and he flourished at OSSB. His junior year he spent as a totally blind student because the doctors decided to seal his remaining eye in an attempt to protect the cornea that they had implanted in an effort to give him more sight. He missed a lot of school that year, but somehow he managed to keep up with his work. He graduated from the school and was admitted to the University of Akron.

Mike loved science. He thought about a major in physical therapy, but the faculty did not know what to do with a blind student. He continued to have excruciating pain in his eye, and he was still flying to Tennessee to see his doctor. Taking responsibility for his own life, Mike decided to get his Tennessee doctor to refer him to a physician in Ohio and to withdraw from Akron University. The doctor he found was in Cincinnati, very close to the University of Cincinnati, so Mike enrolled there as a biology major. He made Dean’s List seven semesters, but, as suggested at the beginning of this article, getting his work done was far from easy at UC. Still he graduated with honors in 2001, having won an NFB scholarship in 2000.

He enrolled in the Widener School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. He thought that his science background could be valuable in law, so he first considered patent law and then settled on intellectual property law. He graduated in 2004. To say that he thrived at law school is an understatement. Here from his curriculum vitae are his honors: Bruce and Elizabeth Minro Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property, John C. Warington Memorial Scholarship, highest student grade in Intellectual Property, Dean’s list three semesters, Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP), Alternative Dispute Resolution Honor Society, and Moe Levine Trial Advocacy Society 2003-2004.

When he finished law school, he decided to get his master’s before looking for a job. He entered Georgetown University Law Center, where he received the master of laws in taxation (LLM) in May of 2005. He took a job with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2006 in Washington, DC.

For two years he was a high flier. Because he understood both the law and the science underlying his work, he was able to turn out work at a much faster rate than could his colleagues. Then technology began to cause problems. Mike was caught in the frustrating catastrophe of employers who upgrade hardware and software with no consideration of how to be sure that access technology would work with the new technology. No matter how much time he spent educating his supervisors, they continued to ignore his problems. One even placed Mike’s hand on part of a page and said, “Just enlarge this part to read.” The Section 508 compliance officer was no help because that person had no understanding of what the problems were. Sometimes Mike sat for hours or even days waiting for technology fixes that he could use to do his work. The IT people burned up six computers trying to solve the problems. This impossibly frustrating situation went on for years.

Finally in about 2010 Mike filed an EEOC complaint, which of course made him unpopular with supervisory personnel. There were several mandated efforts to settle the dispute, but the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security were not eager to settle. At one point they offered Mike a settlement of $10,000, but his legal costs at that point were already many times that figure, and he was insistent that the NFB, who was paying the law firm of Brown, Goldstein and Levy to take the case, must get its money back. They went to litigation. All in all, the case went to two mediators and two judges as it bounced back and forth between efforts to settle and litigation. The legal fees mounted, though Mike says that they would have been much higher if he had not been able to do much of the legal work himself. Mike’s lawyers lost some key battles, but the case being built through depositions and discovery was strong and compelling. At work Mike was moved from branch to branch, but somehow he continued to get his work done. His fellow lawyers nominated him to receive a merit award, though it was never bestowed. When asked how she had learned what she knew about access technology, the IT director deposed that Mike had taught her what she knew and that she considered him part of her family.

With their own people making statements like that, it is no wonder that last October DHS offered Mike a reasonable settlement; in fact they offered more than they were permitted to settle for and had to spend extra time getting permission from the Attorney General to move forward with the offer.

In late January of this year Mike and his family moved to Columbus, which has a lower cost of living than the Washington, DC area. They bought a condo two blocks from the State House, and Mike has been doing legal work for himself since the move. It is understandable that right now he feels that he never again wants to have a supervisor. Mike has taken some months to recover from this multiyear nightmare, but he has not been idle. He helped at BELL this summer and has been doing what he can to build the Columbus chapter. Over Labor Day he attended a leadership seminar at the Jernigan Institute.

Michael and Heather met at OSSB, where they became friends and Mike tutored her in algebra even though she was older. Heather married after high school and had three children, two of whom are legally blind. She was a parent advocate at the school for the blind in 2000, before she moved to Washington, DC. The two met again in 2006 after her divorce and rapidly became interested in each other. They were married in October of 2009. Mike takes seriously his duties as husband and father. Now that they are back in Ohio, Heather is working toward licensure in the Business Enterprise program. She is preparing to get a guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind. She is very interested in reviving the parents division here in Ohio.

Their son Josh, fully sighted, is a student at Columbus State and working at Walgreen’s. Kaitlyn is a college student in Virginia, but she is planning to return to Ohio to continue her education. Alex is the only child living at home. He is a junior at OSSB. He is quite poised and articulate and is interested in track, wrestling, marching band, and guitar. He currently has a good deal of useable vision, and the school staff is puzzled about why he insists on using sleepshades with his cane to sharpen his travel skills in preparation for the time when he loses more vision. He attended the national convention this summer and is interested in working on projects with the NFB. He also volunteered at BELL this summer.

Now you have met the Leiterman family. We are very lucky to have them living in Ohio. Make them feel welcome when you meet them. They are serious about helping to build this affiliate.

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BELL Academy 2016
by Marianne Denning and Debra Baker

Editor’s note: I have volunteered at all four BELL Academies. These programs are exhausting. It is all hands on deck and working hard every hour that the kids are awake. And trust me, the kids notice everything you do, and they want what they want when they want it. In past years we have heaved a sigh of relief at 4:00 o’clock when the parents arrived to carry their children away for the evening and night. The college students stayed up afterward, but I was in bed by 9 o’clock every night.

So I knew that this year was going to be taxing, to say the least. We had three meals a day to prepare, supervise, and clean up. Then there were the evenings to fill with activities and then the kids to get to bed. In the mornings we did not receive the children dressed, fed, medicated, and eager for a day of fun; we had to get them up and dressed, feed them breakfast, and herd them over to the classroom on time. At the close of the teaching day we still had an hour and a half or so of activities with the kids while dinner was being prepared. Then, revived by food, they were ready for an evening of activities while the kitchen was being tidied, ready for the next day. Then of course there was bedtime and finding the PJ’s that had wandered all over the cottage. Finally there was bed and persuading the children to go to sleep so that they would be ready for the next day of nonstop activity. After that the staff gathered together to talk about plans for the next day. It was, as I say, exhausting.

Presiding over all this frenetic activity were Sheri Albers, our indefatigable BELL coordinator, and Debbie and Marianne, our two amazing teachers. They were everywhere at once: supervising small-group activities, evaluating individual children, talking with parents about intractable problems, answering questions, and planning the next activity. How they did it and do it I will never know. I was worn out just watching them.

Why do we take on this activity every summer? Working with these kids is like watching a plant respond to Miracle Gro. They flower before your eyes. From day to day you can observe a child mature and reach out to try new things. They are used to having two sighted parents to follow them, retrieving their discarded possessions and handing them the cane that they threw down somewhere. They drop their cell phones, and a parent hands it to them. Not so at BELL Academy. The adults are blind and don’t see the cane lying in the middle of the floor. No one knows where a kid dropped his phone. Her glasses are wherever she put them down. So quickly they learn to pay attention to what they are doing and where they are putting their things down. By the end of the week they are transformed children. They are learning to be patient with each other and the adults around them. They understand the importance of responding when they hear their names called. Some of them even try to fetch their own drink or hotdog. I can’t think of another investment of time and energy that is as gratifying as BELL Academy. Now that you have heard the down-and-dirty account of BELL Academy, here is the orderly and treachery summary of this year’s Academy experience as recounted by the teachers:

NFB-O held its fourth annual Bell Academy at the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB) from July 17 through July 22. This was our first year of a residential camp experience. Sheri Albers stepped in as the Academy coordinator when Eric Duffy moved to New Jersey to take a new job, and Debbie Baker and Marianne Denning were the lead teachers. We had twelve students from all over the state. They were between the ages of four and fourteen, and most of them had additional disabilities. Six students were returning, and this was the first BELL Academy experience for six students. It was a challenge to try to meet the needs of all of the students.

They arrived late Sunday afternoon and were treated to a pizza party provided by the family of a returning student. They rolled and baked molasses cookies that evening. Monday morning and every other morning the day’s activities began with Bell ringers, that is, reports by the kids of the things they had done the day before that pushed the boundaries of their experience as blind people; the song “Ring My Bell”; and “The Braille Rap Song.” The new students came to love singing that song as much as the returning students. We also had a read-aloud story every day after lunch, and some of our students volunteered to read for us.

We provided a variety of activities during the day aimed at meeting the needs of all students. These included Braille reading and writing, nonvisual skills, blindness skills, group activities, and technology. Students would work one-on-one or in small groups with the adult volunteers. One of the favorite activities for many of our students was technology. They spent time learning about how to use their iPhones and the apps on their iPhones.

It would be hard to cover all of the activities in this article, so we will share a few highlights. The students went to the Whistle Company, where they learned how whistles are made, and each student received a whistle. The students made Mexican Mix Casserole for dinner one evening. The recipe will be included in the recipe portion of this newsletter in case you want to try it at home. They also made brownies to share with their families on Friday afternoon. Evening activities included swimming, goal ball, walking to UDF for ice cream, and a night of singing with music therapist Jean Gallagher.

Not surprisingly we found that many of the students were not used to managing their getting-up and going-to-bed routines, so during the week they necessarily learned to keep track of shoes, clothes, personal care items, and other items in their rooms. They also learned to manage their time so that they could have breakfast before the day began. This was also a learning experience for adults since most of us had never worked with blind students in a residential setting.

We met with the families on Friday to share camp experiences with them and encourage them to continue working toward independence with their children at home. One of our students, who has attended all four BELL programs, announced that this was the best one ever. One student did not want to leave Friday afternoon. Another learned to brush her teeth without assistance. We saw many of them blossom in ways we didn’t expect.

We hope to continue the residential BELL Academy so that students from across the state can participate. We also believe a lot of learning took place outside of the organized program, and friendships were made when students could talk and encourage each other. We want to thank all of our volunteers and chapters who provided food, time, and talent to make this BELL Academy a success. There are too many to name here. We are all part of the village who are working together to raise the next generation of competent and successful blind people one child at a time.

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2016 NFBO BELL Academy Evening Activities
by Sheri Albers

Editor’s note: As Marianne and Debbie explained in the previous article, this year we conducted a residential BELL program. Instead of seven hours of programming a day, we were responsible for filling twelve hours a day, and that was a big difference. Sheri Albers took over from Eric Duffy as BELL coordinator when he left town. So she was the person left with the program hours to fill and staff. She did an amazing job of pulling off the activities. Here is her brief report of our evenings:

Monday night it was “everybody in the pool.” The indoor Olympic-size pool, along with noodles and kickboards, offered the perfect setting to break the ice between kids and volunteers and allow us all to have fun together. My daughter, Brooke Albers, was our lifeguard for the evening.

Tuesday was a night of goal ball instruction led by our own David Perry from the Cincinnati chapter. David is a member of the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). He explained the rules; demonstrated the game; and, with the help of the volunteers, rotated kids in so that they all got a chance to give it a shot. Brandon Voterberg scored a goal and made that his BELL Ringer for the next morning. The evening concluded with a healthy full-court game with the volunteers. I am not sure who won, but my left knee was not very happy with me the next day.

Wednesday night we all took a walk for an ice cream treat to the United Dairy Farmer, located three blocks north of OSSB. Each kid was paired with a volunteer for the walk. Upon arriving at UDF, the kids were given cash so that they could place their own orders and pay for them. This helped promote their communication skills. There was certainly no help needed for ice cream-eating skills.

Thursday afternoon we went on a field trip to the American Whistle Corporation in Columbus. They are the only metal whistle manufacturer in the USA. They gave us a guided tour from start to finish of how their whistles are made. The owner and employees gave detailed description at each stage of production, as well as showing us actual parts to hold and pass around. We were all fascinated by the experience and even got to take home a finished product of our own as a souvenir.

Thursday night we had a relaxing evening with music and songs led by our own Jeanne Gallagher, vice president of the Cuyahoga County chapter. She is a trained music therapist and also a Braille reader, so she could play musical games with Braille questions thrown in. All in all we had a great week of evening activities, and the kids were ready for bed by the time we finished.

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Editor’s Musing
On September 1 Bob and I celebrated our first year of living at Kendal at Oberlin, a residential community for seniors. We have a lovely, air-conditioned cottage and one delicious meal a day in an up-scale dining room. The trade-off is that we spend most of our time with senior citizens, thinking about issues of interest to them. One of these is vision loss.

Recent statistics suggest that 6.8 percent of people over sixty-five are losing vision. That is from the NFB website. The AFB says that 12.2 percent of people between sixty-five and seventy-five report vision loss while 15.4 percent of those over seventy-five are losing sight.

Not surprisingly a number of people here are struggling with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. Also not surprisingly people watch me very carefully. They are always worrying that I may trip someone with my white cane. They also want to know how I do things, and they worry about how I am going to get where I am going.

I am also president of the NFB of Ohio Seniors Division. I am sorry to say that I have not done much with this job this year, but I have been thinking about the NFB’s general responsibility to reach out to seniors losing vision. This is or should be a concern for every chapter across the state. All of us have competent people in our communities who are losing vision and who could be helpful members of our chapters. Retirement centers are a good place to search for these folks and recruit them to join us.

In August I spoke to the Vision Support Group at Kendal. This is a group of people who meet monthly, mostly to learn about cutting-edge research in their particular type of blindness. Once a year they have Magnification and More come out to show them technology, and they are linked with an international group addressing senior low-vision issues. I have not attended a single meeting of this group this year because none of what they were doing was of any interest to me. But the guy who runs the group asked me to come in August and talk to the group, and it seems to have been a great success. They had twice the number of people attend the meeting as the previous record, and they were quite interested in what I had to say. My title was “Exploring the World of the Other Four Senses.” I began by suggesting that focusing intensely on what they could see had disadvantages. Their vision was failing, so they necessarily got less and less satisfactory visual information. I also told them that they were always getting information from their other senses but that their brains could concentrate only on a certain amount of data at once. If they were busy concentrating on vision, they did not have brain power left over to assess the other, more useful information coming in.

I went through what they could learn from touch, hearing, smelling, and the kinesthetic sense of where their bodies were in the world. I covered what one can learn through feet on the ground, what temperature changes or sunshine or the breeze on a cheek can tell you, how to use the balance and weight of what is on the fork to help you eat efficiently, and how the weight and balance of papers can help you find things that are buried in a pile of junk. We talked about marking things with rubber bands or safety pins. I told them about listening for walls, doorways, bushes, and wide open spaces. I answered lots of questions and talked them through how I find my luggage on a carrousel at the airport. I also put in a word for accessible voting machines. They asked good questions and begged me to come back again next summer, when I suspect they will have forgotten everything I talked about, so I can easily do it all again.

I have bothered to describe all of this because I hope to inspire some of you to go and do likewise at retirement facilities near you. One could have done a lot more of course. This is a great opportunity for mentioning the NFB’s vehicle donation program. One could urge them to come to chapter meetings or events or join even if they don’t want to come to meetings.

I also want to urge members who are seniors to join the Seniors Division by coming to our meeting at convention Saturday at lunch. Susan Day will be talking with us about how to stay safe in our homes. We will also be planning activities for the coming year. It would be great to hear that some new folks have made arrangements to talk with seniors in their communities. Seniors too can live the lives they want; blindness is not what holds them back.

If you or a friend would like to remember the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio in your will, you can do so by employing the following language:

 “I give, devise, and bequeath unto the Ohio Council of the Blind dba National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, 6922 Murray Ridge Rd., Elyria, Ohio 44035, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, the sum of $____ (or “____ percent of my net estate” or “The following stocks and bonds: _____) to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons.”

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My First NFB National Convention
by Heather Leiterman

Editor’s note: Heather Leiterman was a first-time convention attendee this past summer. I think it is good for all of us to hear what is of interest to these people and what their impressions are. This is what she has to say:

As a first-time national convention attendee, I was not sure what to expect. I was nervous, excited, and a little scared. After registration my family walked around the convention center to get the lay of the hotel and meet some of our fellow Federationists. Everyone told me that, since it was my first convention, I had to attend the Rookie Roundup. So, with my husband Michael by my side, I walked into my first Federation event, Rookie Roundup. I can't tell you how it felt to sit in a room with many other people who feel the same way I do: things for the blind need to change; only we as blind people can make that change happen. Over the next few days I attended general session and heard Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind, give his presidential address. Hearing all the things that the NFB has done during the past year was truly impressive. I also attended the mock trial, and that was most definitely worth the price of admission.

I attended some events of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children, where I met many other parents of blind children. It was nice to network with other parents who are dealing with some of the same issues I am. It was also nice to talk to and give advice where I could to other parents of blind children.

As a family we attended the discussion session for LGBTQ Federationists. My son Alex Is transgender. It was incredibly moving to hear the stories of fellow Federation members in the LGBTQ community.

On Saturday I spent the afternoon in the exhibit hall at the table for the Ohio affiliate. I had a blast! I was able to interact with many other Federation members and meet many people from the Ohio affiliate I hadn't met before.

At the banquet we were pleased to hear that one of our friends we met through the Virginia affiliate was one of the national scholarship winners. It was a wonderful evening spent with my family and my new Federation friends.

I was pleasantly surprised that I had such a good time at my first national convention. It gave me much to think about and motivation for the year to come. I'm looking forward to attending next year’s convention.

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A Good Read
Editor’s note: Cheryl Fields suggested this column ahead of those cold days of winter. Try one or more of these books loved by some members of your Federation family.

Here are some of Cheryl Fields’s favorite books:

Kindred DB16072, by Octavia E. Butler, reading time: 9 hours, 40 minutes, read by Patricia Beaudry, historical fiction
Octavia Butler was the only African American science fiction writer for many years. Her books have intrigued me follow.

Killer Smile DB58316, by Lisa Scottoline, reading time: 12 hours, 42 minutes, read by Kimberly Schraf, mystery and detective stories, legal fiction
This is one of a series about the women of Risotto and Associates of Philadelphia and my personal favorite. Lisa Scottoline enlightens readers through this masterfully written story.

Spartan Gold DB69719, by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood, reading time: 11 hours, 37 minutes, read by Ray Foushee, adventure
This series is delightful. Clive Cussler’s books are absolutely fun-filled. This series features multi-millionaire couple San and Remi Fargo, but don’t be surprised to find characters from the Neuma Files making cameo appearances.

Sula DB54438, by Toni Morrison, reading time: 5 hours, 20 minutes, read by Gail Nelson, human relations
Many, many years ago, when I first read this book, I cried. The writing is absolutely beautiful, and I fell in love with Toni Morrison, a hometown girl from Lorain, Ohio.

Paths of Glory DB68935, by Jeffrey Archer, reading time: 11 hours, 3 minutes, read by Fred Major, historical fiction, sports fiction
For this one a warm blanket and a cold drink will sustain as you climb Mt. Everest with George Mallory. Just remember to breathe while ascending.

The Hobbit: or, There and Back Again DB11497, by J. R. R. Tolkien, reading time: 10 hours, 5 minutes, read by Bob Askey, fantasy fiction
What can I say? This is a perfect read during a winter blizzard. A cup of hot tea and a slice of rum cake, and Bilbo Baggins and I are off on the first of many adventures.

Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women DB41227, by Geraldine Brooks, reading time: 10 hours, 18 minutes, read by Carole Jordan Stewart, religion, women
Try this nonfiction read and learn about a different culture, excellent.

The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration DB71929, by Isabell Wilkerson, reading time: 19 hours, 57 minutes, read by Erin Jones, U.S. history
This book provides a vivid picture of how and why many southerners migrated to the North. I met this author at a lecture she gave at Tri C--fascinating.

This recommendation comes from Paul and Bernie Dressell, who read almost all their books together:

Backstairs at the White House DB13414, by Gwen Bagni and Lillian Rogers Park
This book describes the lives of maids and butlers who worked at the White House from the Taft administration through the Eisenhower administration.

Annette Anderson suggests the following two books:

Our Souls at Night: a Novel DB81799, by Kent Haruf, reading time: 3 hours, 30 minutes, read by Mark Bramhall, human relations
Seventy-year-old widow Addie Moore asks her neighbor Louis Waters to spend the nights with her in her bed to help with the loneliness they both feel. As the two talk in the night, they become close, but they become the subject of gossip in their small town. Commercial audiobook. 2015.

The Light between Oceans, a Novel DB75192, by M. L. Stedman, reading time: 11 hours, 51 minutes, read by Colleen Delany, historical fiction, Family, bestsellers
Western Australia, 1926. On an island one hundred miles from the mainland, lighthouse keepers Isabel and Tom Sherbourne discover a boat carrying a dead man and a crying baby. The decisions they make that day come back to haunt them several years later.

Sherry Ruth is a prolific reader. Here are some of her favorite books:

Against the Wind DB74445, by Kat Martin
This is the first book in an eleven-book series of suspense romance fiction. All the titles begin with “Against the,” and each book tells you which one is next at the end in notes from the author.

The Darkest Hour DB73650, by Maya Banks
This is the first book in an eleven-book series of suspense romance fiction that revolves around the Kelly brothers, who run a security company. You must go by the DB numbers to know which one to read next.

Whiskey Creek DB78628, by Brenda Novak
This is the first three books in a nine-book series, which takes place in a small town in northern California. It is a suspense romance centering on a group of friends who have grown up together and the relationships and intrigue that follow them.

Also by Brenda Novak is Secret Sister DBC02778
This is a not-to-be-missed book with lots of surprises.

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Let's Dance: How I Dealt with Choreography
by Kelsey Nicolay

Editor’s note: Most of us know Kelsey from the Ohio listserv. She lives in Medina, so she has no chapter near her. Here is a chance to get to know her a bit better:

I have been singing in choir since the fourth grade without much difficulty. However, one day in my freshman chorus the director gave us the music we would be performing at the end-of-year show with choreography. I was really nervous about how it would go. How would I remember the moves? How would I move around without my cane? What about getting on and off stage? My choir director assured me that I would dance and participate like everyone else and that they would find ways to make it happen. We ended up having someone come in to help me. The choir director chose someone who was in show choir and had more dance experience. It worked out really well once the choir director found someone. The person the director found seemed to know instinctively that I was capable of doing the moves on my own once I learned them and made sure that, as soon as she felt I was ready, she insisted that I do as much as I could without her holding onto my arms. After about a week, she said, "I'm not going to help you too much today because I want you to be able to do it on your own during performance." I didn’t do the moves perfectly the first few times I did them alone, but I knew that with repetition I would learn them, and I did. By two weeks before performance, I could do almost all of it alone, and she could simply watch from a distance and correct me if necessary. Performance weekend went pretty well.

While the first show time was mostly successful, I had a few setbacks. For instance, like most students, I chose to take part in my grade's student-led ensemble. We auditioned for the show and were one of the groups selected. When it came time to learn our choreography, the choreographer made a comment that he tried doing the ensemble's dance steps with his eyes closed, and he couldn't do it, so he concluded that I couldn’t either. I felt devastated because I had been working hard in choir and then he told me I couldn't perform the student ensemble choreography. The choir director decided to let me perform anyway and just sing the number with the ensemble. I was grateful he let me do that, but at the same time I felt robbed of an opportunity to prove myself. From this experience I learned that it is important to stay positive and keep working at your dream and trying to change minds even if others don't believe you will succeed.

My sophomore and junior years, however, the performances were not as successful. Again the choir director found someone to work with me. However, this person did not have the same expectations that the former student had had. Instead of encouraging me to do the moves on my own, she stood behind me and moved my arms. It took a lot longer for me to learn the choreography, and on stage during performance she had to help me with most of it. The choir director allowed her to be on stage with me, but he overlooked the fact that she was practically doing it for me. My teacher of the visually impaired, family, and friends all commented that there was no reason for her to be on stage helping me. My TVI helped me with costume changes for one show so that my family could watch the performance. After both my numbers she told me that I could have done most of that myself. The same thing happened both years. My junior year I participated in the student ensemble again. It was comprised of the people I had been in the freshman group with, but they were all in higher choirs than I was. They were familiar with my blindness, and it didn't seem like a big deal to them until it was time to learn the choreography. The group leader chose to make up the choreography herself instead of having our choreographer do it. When it came time for dance rehearsal, no one bothered to teach me until the week of performance. My choir director told me one person was teaching me, my assistant told me something different, and another student in my choir said she was teaching me. I finally decided to call one of the members whom I knew from freshman chorus and who had helped me in that group as well. Luckily she agreed to teach me the next day. However, because it was so close to performance, I ended up dropping the group at the last minute because I could not learn the arm movements in time.

My senior year I was determined to make this the best performance since it was my last one. I told my director that I wanted an assistant to help me learn the choreography but that I did not want him on stage with me. The director had a hard time finding someone who was free during the first period of the day, but she eventually found someone, and, once she did, it worked out fine. This person seemed to know instinctively that I could do the moves by myself. Once I felt confident, I did everything by myself. He was right there, but he never helped me when I didn't need it. It also helped that my sister was in the same choir as me, so she sometimes worked with me at home to correct my mistakes. I also participated in senior ensemble since it was my last performance. That started off shaky, but, once I was taught the dance, I was ok. One of the girls in my choir was also in the group, so she started teaching me. However, this person seemed to have the expectation that I needed constant help and therefore stood behind me and moved my arms. Therefore, two students whom I knew from middle school told me that they had decided to teach me instead. I met with them one on one, and we went through it. I learned the routine in about an hour, and by the end of our time I was doing pretty much all of it with very little assistance. The performance went really well, and my family told me that I fit right in, which is what I wanted.

Based on these experiences, I have several suggestions for students dealing with a similar situation. The most important piece of advice is to be confident. It may be difficult at times, but try to stay positive through performance. Second, self-advocacy is critical. If you feel you are not getting the help you need, speak up. Try to talk to the person helping you and let him or her know that you want to do the moves on your own. It may be uncomfortable to bring this up with the student, but as long as you do it tactfully, there should be no problem. You can also ask your orientation and mobility instructor or TVI for help. She may be able to help if there is a particular dance move you are struggling with. Either way, speak up if things aren't going the way they should. Finally, show appreciation. For example, giving the people who helped you learn the choreography a gift card to their favorite restaurant or just some flowers goes a long way. People will be more likely to help you in future ensembles if they know their work is appreciated.

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Recipe Corner
Three cheers for Cheryl Fields, who spontaneously offered us the following delicious recipe:

Simple and Easy Rum Cake
With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I began to think about food and lots of it. There are family gatherings, friends sharing meals, and of course NFB chapter celebrations that may require you to bring a dish or even a gift. Don’t automatically sign up for the soda pop or plastic ware and napkins. Bring something that will be an instant hit; make this simple and easy rum cake. My cousin, best friend, and I have made this cake for over twenty-five years for the holidays and sometimes between them. This is an easy and flexible recipe that we have had lots of fun experimenting with, trying different flavors to give this cake more zing. No matter how you make it, everyone will devour it. Give this delicious family favorite rum cake a try.

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 box yellow cake mix--brand name cake mix performs the best. (Try spice or chocolate for a change, very good and tasty.)

1/2 cup rum (Experiment with different flavors of rum; choose your favorite.)

4 large eggs

1/ 2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil (Do not substitute other oils. It will affect the taste of cake.)

1 3.5 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix, brand name mixes perform best (When using other flavors of cake mix, try lemon or chocolate pudding mix.)

Glaze Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, no substitutions

1/8 cup water

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup rum--again choose your favorite flavor

Method: Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. In electric mixer mix cake mix, instant pudding mix, water, eggs, and vegetable oil and blend until smooth. Add rum last. Spray Bundt pan lightly with vegetable oil. Add nuts to bottom of pan. Gently pour batter into pan. Scrape sides of bowl. Bake cake for an hour or till toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center of cake. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before inverting on cooling rack. Arrange on cake plate and prick top and sides using a tooth pick. Make glaze. Melt butter in sauce pan. Add water and sugar and bring to boil for five minutes, constantly stirring. Remove from heat and stir in 1/ 4 cup rum. Drizzle glaze over top and sides of cake. To eat, make yourself a good, hot cup of tea or coffee. Slice cake and enjoy.

Ugly Apple Cake
by Shelbi Hindel

Judge this cake by its taste, not its appearance.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced (approximately 3 large apples like Granny Smith)

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a ten-inch tube pan. Set aside. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Work the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. It is best to do this in three additions. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into the prepared tube pan. Bake in preheated oven for approximately one hour and ten minutes. When the cake is done, a tester inserted in the cake’s highest point should come out clean and the cake should be golden brown. Allow the baked cake to cool in the pan for fifteen minutes. Transfer to a plate. Turn right side up. Cool completely and then glaze if desired. You can also dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Nacho Pie
by Shelbi Hindel

Ingredients:

4 cups nacho cheese tortilla chips, coarsely crushed

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

1 15 ½-ounce can chili beans

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese

Method: Place chips in a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate and set aside. In a skillet over medium heat cook beef, onion, and pepper until meat is no longer pink; drain. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon over chips. Top with beans, tomato sauce, and cheese. Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees for fifteen to seventeen minutes, or until heated through. Serve with fresh lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, and extra crumbled chips. Makes four to six servings.

Mexican Mix Casserole
The kids at BELL Academy made this recipe for dinner and discovered that they loved it.

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can chili (Use a heavy hand with this or substitute your own chili.)

1 to 2 cups crushed corn or nacho chips (7.5 oz. bag)

1 12- or 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

1 8-ounce package grated cheese or grate one cup brick cheddar cheese

Method: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Empty chili into greased medium casserole bowl. Add drained corn to chili. Add grated cheese to the casserole. There is no need to mix casserole. Crumble chips in your hands over the casserole and press them down gently, part way into the mixture. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes. You can serve the casserole with extra whole chips if you wish.

**********
Buckeye Briefs
Here is a summary of what is going on in the Cleveland Chapter:
The Cleveland chapter is happy to report that our Amish Country trip was successful. Another trip is in the works for 2017. Look for more details next year. Suzanne Turner hosted an event at her place of employment, Medical Mutual, “Lunch and Learn.” It was an overwhelming success. Kudos to NFB-O President Richard Payne, Carol Akers, and her son Dustin, who represented the Federation at this event. The Cleveland and Cuyahoga chapters paid it forward at Chik-Fil-A for a brief meeting and dinner. Thank you, Chik-Fil-A for supporting the hospitality room at the 2015 NFB-O state convention and for agreeing to support us again this year. Hats Off to Milena Zavoli of the Cuyahoga chapter for developing this partnership. On Friday, October 7, we will celebrate Meet the Blind Month at Public Square. There will be lots of literature, and we will be on the square to inform the community about what it means to be a Federationist. Once again we are proud to announce that Owen McCafferty’s art work will be among the holiday card selection at Cleveland Sight Center with one of our newer members, Regina Dorfmeyer. Cards will be on sale at the Cleveland Sight Center. Call 216.791.8118 or visit clevelandsightcenter.org to place your orders. Last year Owen’s signature art was very well received. You can also look for more of Owen’s incredible art at the NFB-O state convention in. November.

The following people in the chapter are recovering: Richard and Mary Kirks, Octavia Culbert, Paula King, and Charlene Bolden. It is a pleasure to have Billy Graham back in the swing of Federation business.

Debbie Baker reports with sadness the deaths of Springfield chapter members Eleanore and Ernie Brown. The Browns donated $1,000 toward the Ohio scholarship program in 2014. Ernie died on February 15, 2016, and Eleanore died on August 13, 2016.

Kyle Conley has accepted a position teaching fifth-twelfth grade orchestra and seventh-twelfth grade choir and high school piano. Two years of struggles have finally paid off. He will be leaving the state and moving to Williamstown, West Virginia, which is across the river from Marietta. He started on August 29. His plan is to come back to Ohio, but who knows.
NFB Scrip Ohio Reminder: The Scrip program is a fundraiser for the affiliate that costs participants only pennies. “Scrip” is another word for money, so this program gives us an opportunity to replace our cash with a gift card for places like gas stations, department stores, restaurants, drug stores, auto repair shops, auto parts stores, hotels, airlines, some supermarkets, Sam’s Clubs, hair salons, QVC, movie theaters, and many more. Our state affiliate makes money from every card purchased. We receive a different rebate amount from each business. The rebate amounts range from 1.74 percent to 18 percent, and, when there are promotions, the rebate amounts are more. The person buying the card pays the face value and $.15 for the total order as a transaction fee. The cards are delivered to Shelbi Hindel, sorted, and mailed to the proper person. The affiliate is charged approximately $8.50 Fedex fee for the shipment, so there is an expense for each order. However, the orders usually net more in rebates. You can choose from two mailing options. The first is standard mail, for which the affiliate covers the cost. The second is certified mail, for which you must prepay $5.00. This requires a signature upon receipt of the package.
 The more people that participate, the more money our affiliate makes. It is a wonderful ongoing fundraiser. The Capital Chapter has signed up for its own account so the members can order gift cards as door prizes or to use for chapter activities.

Some examples of a few gift cards and their rebate amounts are Ace Hardware 3.74%, Advance Auto Parts 6.74%, American Airline, 7.74%,. Applebee’s 7.74%, Arby’s 7.74%, Lane Bryant 5.74%, Avis Car Rental 7.74%, Barnes and Noble 8.74%, Bath & Body Works 12.74%, Best Buy 2.74%, Bob Evans 9.74%, BP Gas 1.24%, Burger King 7.74%, Comfort Inn 3.74%, Country Buffet 3.74%, Cracker Barrel 8.74%, CVS 5.74%, Denny's 6.74%, Family Video 11.74%, Starbucks 6.74%, and Walgreens 5.74%. This list is just a sampling of the retailers who participate in the program.

To sign up for this fundraising program, go to www.shopwithscrip.com. To register a new account, go to the green smiley sign-up box on the left side of the page and click Create Account. Follow the registration instructions to fill in required information and accept the terms and conditions of using the site. Choose two challenge questions from the list and provide answers. These answers will be required if you forget your user name or password. These are case sensitive. You must enter the organization’s enrollment code to associate your account with NFB Ohio. To get the enrollment code, you must contact Shelbi by email, shelbiah1 at gmail.com. We do not advertise our code for security protection. There will be an option for Presto Pay on the page. If you want this service, which is very convenient, it will ask you if you want to sign up for this. Enter your account information. Two small amounts of money will be deposited in to the account. Verify the two small deposit amounts that show up on your bank account statement. Now you will be given an approval code via email. You need to get that approval code to Shelbi. She will enter the code in to the coordinator portion of the website. This will activate your personal account. Now you are ready to shop and spend your money while feeling good because you are benefiting the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.

To place an order, go to www.shopwithscrip.com. Once you have signed in to the website, you can browse, which enables you to look through the whole list of retailers, shop by category to find what you want, or search by name. You can add retailers to your shopping list so you can easily access specific items that you want to purchase frequently instead of going through the complete list each time.

Some of the companies have reload as an option on plastic cards. These plastic cards can be reloaded directly from the website. You need to have the card numbers to do this. When you look at a specific retailer on the website, it will give you the options that are available.

“ScripNow” is the name for the eCards that you can print directly within moments. These can be used at businesses or for online shopping. Again, when you look at the specific business on the website, the available options will be given.

Remember that, when you purchase gift cards from this fundraiser, you will be earning money for the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio while spending very little additional money to that which you were planning to spend. Happy shopping.

The NFB of Lorain County will conduct its annual Meet the Blind Month hike-a-thon on October 1 this year. As nearly as we can recall, this will be our thirty-sixth walk.
As you know, plans for the 2016 NFB Ohio 70th Anniversary Convention are underway. This year’s theme, “Marching for Independence,” will inspire, empower, and celebrate our accomplishments. Our goal is this: everyone will walk away from the 2016 convention with a deeper knowledge of NFB philosophy, ready to advocate for change, ready to enhance the way we live and work, and excited to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.
You may be wondering how you can help. Sign up to be an NFBO convention marshal. Why do we need convention marshals? Navigating an unfamiliar place can be frustrating. We want conventioneers to have the best experience possible. Who would be a perfect marshal? You. The important role of convention marshal provides the opportunity to show your great hospitality skills and your strong vocal ability. What are the duties of a marshal? Marshals will be stationed at various strategic points and will use their voices to help convention attendees locate meeting rooms. Marshals may also be asked to give oral directions to other nearby areas, such as exhibit hall, rest rooms, hospitality, dog relief areas, and exits.

Will marshals miss meetings? No, marshals will work only before and after meetings, not while the meetings are in session. What time and which days? Your choice--check your schedule and sign up for a time that is convenient for you. Read on to select the days and times that work best for you.

Friday--5:30 pm-9:00 pm

Saturday--noon-6:00 pm

Sunday--9:00 am-until start of general session

This sounds fantastic. Where do I sign up? Contact Cheryl Fields at email cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com. Send your available days with times. If you are not available, be proactive. Share this information with another chapter or division member who is looking for a volunteer experience. Presidents, do you have first-timers? Share this information and let them explore the possibility of getting more involved. The 2016 NFBO convention marshal volunteer schedule will be posted in advance of the convention. Thank you in advance for your participation and cooperation. For additional information, contact Cheryl Fields at 216-566-4317 or email cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com.

Karen Noles, a member of the Miami Valley chapter and a longtime member of the parents division, died after a battle with liver cancer on July 24. She will be deeply missed.
Here are some notes from BSVI:
Did you know that the American Printing House for the Blind has over 250 videos covering a variety of topics, like quick tips, product demonstrations, and historical videos? While you are there, don’t forget to subscribe to the APH YouTube channel so that you can receive updates on new content.

The National Council on Disability has issued an advisory brochure on best practices for making prescription drug container labels accessible to people with vision impairments. Based on recommendations from a U.S. Access Board stakeholder panel, the brochure outlines methods pharmacists can use to provide access to drug labeling. These include Braille and large print, as well as newer technologies such as digital voice or text-to-speech recorders, radio frequency identification tags, and smart devices and computers. The brochure also provides best practices to follow, such as maintaining patient privacy and selecting containers that best support the accessible label. Details here: http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?

Want to know how accessible some iPhone apps are? Check out www.applevis.com

Over 50,000 free eBooks are now available using Capti Narrator through a partnership with Project Gutenberg http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13391110.htm. Users can listen at any pace, any time, switch between devices, and continue from where they left off. Capti is being adopted worldwide as a resource for language learning, providing alternative formats for students with reading difficulties. Details here: https://www.captivoice.com/capti-site

Recently the Internet has been buzzing because of an RP Foundation Fighting Blindness social media program to raise funds by making sighted people feel frightened and guilty enough that they will contribute to the organization’s efforts to combat blindness. This is a laudable goal, no doubt, but the NFB is asking if it is worth the damage that it does to us.
The Foundation asks sighted people to blindfold themselves and then make a video of them trying to do everyday things. They of course make fools of themselves and feel really stupid to boot. Mark Riccobono has asked Federationists to make videos of ourselves doing some of those same things and doing them easily and effectively. He suggests that we identify ourselves as members of the National Federation of the Blind and maybe even request contributions to the NFB. He asks us to send them to social media with the hashtag “as I see it” and be sure to tag three friends and send them to the national office.

Shelbi spotted a teachable moment, so she printed out the email to show to her daughter Aliyah Johnson. Aliyah showed the message to her social studies teacher and explained why she thought the Foundation’s media effort was destructive. (By the way, Shelbi is going to the school next week to talk about blindness and how we do things.) Then Aliyah came home and wrote a response on her Facebook page. Here that message is:

Anti How Eye See It

DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE HASHTAG “HOW I SEE IT”!

Dear people who are ignorant about blindness,

Putting on a blindfold and doing a random task to prove how "awful/ difficult" it is to be blind is not an accurate representation of what it is to be blind. So here are my issues with this hashtag. For a sighted person sight is a sense that you depend on heavily to do everyday tasks. For a blind person such as my mom adaptations are made so that things can be accomplished without sight. So here are the top adaptations that are not prevalent in these videos:

1. Talking computers/ phones. Putting a blindfold on and randomly trying to type a message is not the same as using a speech program.

2. Identifying money. Personally my mom uses a way of folding bills so that she can tell what they are. For coins she can also tell by size, and, to tell dimes and pennies apart, she feels for the ribbed edge on dimes. Also bill readers are available free of charge.

3. Eating. I'm not sure whether this is an adaptation or just an acquired skill, but blind people for the most part are perfectly capable of bringing a fork to their mouths.

4. Clothing. This one is a bit more difficult because for some blind people colors are an abstract concept. However, the majority of blind people don't just randomly choose an outfit out of their closet. People either use a color identifier or have a sighted friend/ family member help them learn what goes together, and then they remember the combinations and identify their clothes by touch.

5. Cooking. A lot of people say this, but I promise that my mom is one of the world’s best cooks. We have an oven that has tactilely marked dials so that she can tell the temperature. And she uses online or Braille recipes.

6. Walking. The majority of blind people use either a cane or guide dog. Being a sighted person walking somewhere with your eyes covered is not the same. When a blind person is traveling, it's almost as if your cane or guide dog is your set of eyes.

7. This is probably the dumbest one I have seen. If you're blind (well unless you're only legally blind), you cannot read print. I kid you not; I saw a video in which a girl put on a blindfold and say that she couldn't read. For reading there are Braille books and screen-reading programs.

Sorry this is a long post; it's just a personal matter, and I truly hate this hashtag because it is portraying blind people as incapable. It is oppressive and discriminatory.

Aliyah R. Johnson

Shelbi has good reason to be proud of this young woman.

**********
Activities Calendar
October 1-31, Meet the Blind Month

October 9, Deadline for submitting Gavel Award reports and award nominations

October 15, White Cane Safety Day

October 21, convention room block released

November 4, Deadline for submitting chapter and division dues, membership lists, and annual reports

November 11 to 13, Annual convention, NFB of Ohio, Independence, Ohio

December 1, deadline for expressing interest in Washington Seminar

January 4-11, Braille Literacy Week

Jan. 4-Feb 28, Ohio Braille Reading Contest

Jan. 30-Feb. 3, Washington Seminar, Capitol Holliday Inn, Washington, D.C.

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio - 2016 Convention
DoubleTree Independence
6200 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131 - (216) 447-1300
November 11-13, 2016

Pre-Registration Form and Payment Instructions
We are accepting pre-registration for the 2016 NFBO Convention through Nov. 1. Follow the instructions as indicated below to register for our 70th anniversary convention and purchase your banquet ticket. Convention attendees may also purchase a boxed lunch and join one of the scheduled meetings by selecting from the options listed below. You can also register online and pay by credit card by using the link http://nfbohio.org/new/registration.

Convention Attendee Information

Name (for name tag)

Address:

City/State/Zip

Home Phone

Cell 

Work Phone

Email

Is this your first NFBO convention? (Yes/No)

Prefer Braille program? (Yes/No)

Registration ($15 each, $20 if after Nov 1)
Number

$

Banquet: $35, $40 After Nov. 1 (indicate meal preference for each ticket)
# Meat

# Vegetarian

Total $

Breakfast Ohio Association to Promote the Use of Braille ($18)
Number

$

Boxed Lunch - Sat. Nov 12 – select one of the 3 options listed below and your meal preference
Ohio Organization of Blind Seniors Meeting, $18 each
Number

$

Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users Meeting, $18 each
Number

$

Other – To-Go Lunch, $18, each
Number

$

Please indicate your boxed lunch meal preference.
Italian
Sub

Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap

Vegetarian Wrap 

I wish to make an additional donation (always appreciated)

Total check enclosed

Convention registration and meal orders are not valid unless payment is received. Email the completed form to rchpay7 at gmail.com and mail a check made payable to NFB of Ohio, to 6922 Murray Ridge Rd, Elyria, OH 44035. Be sure to place “Convention Registration” on the memo line.



The Mail Chimp version of this newsletter will include a link that yo can use to download a Word version of this document.
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