[Nfbf-l] Fwd: FW: good news for blind people

[REPCODDS at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: MisterAdvocate
To: Chucktgraham, REPCODDS, nfbf-l at nfbnet.org,  nfbf-leaders at yahoogroups.com
Sent: 10/29/2009 2:10:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight  Time
Subj: Fwd: FW: good news for blind people





  
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 From: Phyllis.Dill at dbs.fldoe.org
To: Joyce.Hildreth at dbs.fldoe.org,  Michael.Elliott at dbs.fldoe.org, 
brianj at advocacycenter.org,  Brokerbruc at aol.com, dawn.saunders at fldoe.org, 
misteradvocate at aol.com,  ab4zq at juno.com, jnaiman at bellsouth.net, jodinkeith at cox.net,  
lammj at mail.okaloosa.k12.fl.us, paul.edwards at mdc.edu, edwpaul at bellsouth.net,  
pkaminsky at bellsouth.net, robert at conklincenter.org, rufbrown19 at verizon.net,  
RehabMgr at tampalighthouse.org, hullted at verizon.net,  Town111 at bellsouth.net
Sent: 10/29/2009 9:16:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight  Time
Subj: FW: good news for blind people


FYI  Good Info for a change!  Thanks to Brian  for sharing.


(10-20) 17:17 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Social  Security Administration
must give the nation's 3 million blind or  visually impaired recipients
the option of receiving benefit notices in  braille or by audio computer
disc, a federal judge in San Francisco said  Tuesday.   

Ruling in a nationwide class-action suit, U.S.  District Judge William
Alsup said that by sending notices only by mail  and phone calls, the
agency is violating a law that guarantees the  disabled equal access to
its programs.  He ordered the government to  make the additional choices
available by April 15.

The case  involves some of the 100 million notices the Social  Security
Administration sends each year to its 61 million beneficiaries,  advising
them of scheduled appointments, program changes, tax filings  and
possible benefit cuts.  About 250,000 Americans receive benefits  because
of blindness, and another 2.7 million blind or sight-impaired  people get
Social Security for other reasons.   Under rules  authorized by Congress
in 1988 and 1990, they can choose to be notified  of agency actions by
mail, with a follow-up phone call, or by certified  mail with a return
receipt. Those who make no choice are contacted by  mail without a phone
call.

Alsup said the current system may have  been effective 20 years ago, but
no longer provides the "meaningful  access" the law requires, in light of
advanced technology.  Little  evidence was presented that blind people
had lost benefits
because of  inadequate notice, Alsup said, but the current system is
ineffective for  at  least some recipients. For example, he said, a blind
person who  needs to respond to a written notice must wait until someone
is available  to read it aloud, and may have problems meeting  government
deadlines.

Alsup said the Social Security  Administration refused to acknowledge
that it was even covered by the  anti-discrimination law until after the
suit was filed in 2005, and "has  been quick to find lame excuses for
noncompliance."

The agency  must inform all blind and visually impaired recipients by
Dec. 31 that  they will have the choice of getting notices in braille or
by Microsoft  Word CD in mid-April, Alsup said.  He said those who want
another  option, such as notification by e-mail, must be allowed to
request it and  show why they need it.

"This is a huge benefit," said attorney Silvia  Yee of the Disability
Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, a  lawyer for the
plaintiffs.  She said the ruling will allow many  recipients "to have an
independence in working with the (Social Security  Administration) that
they've never had before."  Many sight-impaired  recipients, particularly
the young and those who become blind later in  life, can't read braille,
Yee said, "but for people who do read braille,  it's their first choice."
She said the CD option would particularly help  younger recipients.

Lowell Kepke, spokesman for the Social Security  Administration's
regional office in Richmond, said the agency "will  review the order and
take whatever actions are  appropriate."

E-mail Bob Egelko at
begelko at sfchronicle.com  <mailto:begelko%40sfchronicle.com>  .

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