[Nfbf-l] FW: NFB Imagineering Our Future: New patterns and possibilities
Sherrill O'Brien
sherrill.obrien at verizon.net
Fri Dec 10 22:38:00 UTC 2010
This is the latest issue of the Imagination Fund's newsletter.
Sherrill
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Riccobono [mailto:JerniganInstitute at nfb.org]
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2010 4:56 PM
To: sherrill.obrien at verizon.net
Subject: NFB Imagineering Our Future: New patterns and possibilities
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View last month’s newsletter.
Imagineering Our Future
Issue 29
December 2010
In this issue:
a.. Message from the Executive Director
b.. What’s New
c.. Education
d.. Braille Initiative
e.. Advocacy
f.. Straight Talk About Vision Loss
g.. Product and Access Technology Talk
h.. From the tenBroek Library
i.. Independence Market
j.. Parent Outreach
k.. Spotlight on the Imagination Fund
l.. NFB Calendar
m.. Citation
Message from the Executive Director
Dear Friends,
This weekend our family decorated the Christmas
tree at our home. As our four-year-old becomes more engaged in the process,
the tree decorating is becoming more and more a part of the new set of
traditions we are establishing for our family. For decades I have been a
part of traditions but it is exciting to be establishing new patterns that
combine the familiar with the emerging personality of our family unit.
The process of traditions and establishing new
patterns of thought and action is very much like the work of the National
Federation of the Blind. Built on an unwavering belief in the capacity of
blind people, our outreach and educational programs continue to establish
new patterns that raise our expectations for the future. I recently was
preparing for a trip to the Virginia International Raceway to participate in
testing of new developments in the NFB Blind Driver Challenge. I was talking
with my son Austin about the trip and about the prospect of a blind person
driving a car. Austin asked if he could ride along with me when I started
driving. Our discussion got me thinking about how different the patterns
will be for him compared to those I experienced. When I turned sixteen, the
notion of driving for me or any other blind person was unimaginable—everyone
believed that it would never be a reality, and therefore I shared that
belief. As I came to know the National Federation of the Blind my
understanding of the possibilities changed, and I have established new
patterns of thought.
One of the patterns that persists during this time
of the year is reflection of where we have been and our hope for the future.
As I establish new traditions with my family, it is wonderful to know that
the future is bright with promise. I am comforted in the knowledge that the
National Federation of the Blind continues to improve opportunities for the
blind in every aspect of life. I am not sure when I will jump in the driver’
s seat and take my son to the market to buy a Christmas tree. On the other
hand, the NFB has empowered me to know that the only limit to establishing
new patterns in my personal life or throughout society is the lack of
willingness to dare to go beyond the current pattern of thought.
As you enjoy the traditions of the season, I hope
that you continue to seek new possibilities in your life and in improving
your community. I also wish to thank you for your continued commitment to
the work of the National Federation of the Blind. I can assure you that your
commitment to this organization has made it possible for hundreds of
thousands of blind people to establish their own traditions in celebration
of this joyous season of hope.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Mark A. Riccobono, Executive Director, NFB
Jernigan Institute
Featured NFB News
Christmas at the NFB
National Federation of the Blind Partners with Santa
to Promote Braille Literacy
Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves
at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute to get
Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas
season.
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
Federation of the Blind, said: “Santa approached the National Federation of
the Blind a couple of years ago and asked us to be his helpers. I’m quite
fond of the fellow and was delighted that we could assist him in his work.
Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but
unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program
will not only spread holiday cheer but will also serve an important
educational purpose, as blind children will be able to practice reading
Braille as they enjoy their letter from merry Saint Nicholas.”
Through December 20, parents can go online and fill
out a Santa Braille Letter request form. The form can also be printed and
faxed to (410) 685-2340. Braille letters will be accompanied by a print
copy for mom and dad to read.
Braille letters from Santa have already started
going out to boys and girls around the country. The deadline for letter
requests is December 20, to ensure that a return letter in Braille is
received before Christmas.
National Federation of the Blind will Award $50,000
in Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 Dr.
Jacob Bolotin Awards. Nominate individuals or organizations that have made
outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of the blind
into society on a basis of equality, and the National Federation of the
Blind will distribute $50,000 to the winners.
For further details, go to the Dr. Jacob Bolotin
Award page. You can also read about the 2010 recipients of this annual
award.
Education
2011 NFB Youth Slam
The dates and location for the 2011 NFB Youth Slam have
been chosen!
In the summer of 2011, the National Federation of the
Blind will have its third NFB Youth Slam, a five-day experiential academy
for blind high school students (ages 14-18) focusing on science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This year’s program will be held at
Towson University, July 17-23, 2011.
Registration for student attendees is underway. Adult
volunteers are also being sought to help facilitate the program. If you are
interested in attending the NFB Youth Slam in either capacity, visit
www.blindscience.org to complete an online application, call Mary Jo Hartle,
Director of Education, at (410) 659-9314, extension 2407, or e-mail
youthslam at nfb.org.
2011 NFB Leadership and Advocacy in Washington, D.C.
The second NFB Leadership and Advocacy in Washington,
D.C., (LAW) program will take place April 8-12, 2011. This is an exciting
opportunity for students ages 12-16 to learn about the importance of
collective action, blindness legislation, and the history of the organized
blind movement first hand. Applications are available online.
Braille Initiative
Marina Alonzo. Photo credit: News-Journal | Sean McNeil
Braille Writer Gifts
Late this year, the National Federation of the Blind
received six Braillers to donate to needy youth. The Braillers were made
available through the generosity of the Heloise Bowles Fund and Perkins
School for the Blind. Heloise Bowles was the columnist who authored the
“Hints from Heloise” column in newspapers around the country. She died in
1977 and donated money to Perkins School for the Blind to purchase Braillers
for blind students in the United States. At her request, each Brailler
includes a label inscribed with “Sent with love, Heloise,” in a script
imitating the design used by Heloise in her columns and books.
The NFB identified six blind children who had attended our
summer programs and were in need of Braillers. They range from third through
seventh grades and live in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and
Utah.
This gift, just in time for the holidays, prompted the
feature article “New Smyrna Beach girl receives Braille writer” in the
Daytona Beach News-Journal.
NFB Braille Readers Are Leaders Program
Less than one month left of the twenty-ninth annual
Braille Readers Are Leaders contest. For those interested in joining who
have not done so, please visit the BRAL page to register. The contest ends
on January 4, 2011, so keep those fingers going and read your Braille!
NFB Braille Reading Pals Club
Registrants for the new year of the NFB Braille Reading
Pals Club will receive their packets starting in January. This is a great
program that promotes early Braille literacy for blind children ages birth
to seven. We continue to accept participants throughout the year, so those
interested and eligible to participate in the program should sign up today.
NFB Sharebraille.org
Have a Braille reader on your holiday shopping list? Visit
www.sharebraille.org to find free Braille books in a variety of genres!
Advocacy
The NFB has requested an investigation of Pennsylvania
State University (Penn State) for violating the civil rights of blind
students and faculty. A variety of computer- and technology-based services
and Web sites at Penn State are inaccessible to blind students and faculty,
and federal law requires public state universities to offer equal access to
their programs and services. Read more about the the violations in the NFB
’s statement to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.
A message to institutions of higher education: Does your
institution’s online program serve your blind students? You are covered by
the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
This means that your online course offerings and other programs must be
accessible to students who are blind or have other disabilities. The
National Federation of the Blind works with institutions of higher education
and developers of online learning platforms to ensure that online courses
are fully accessible to students who are blind. To learn more about
ensuring that you are in compliance with federal law, contact Anne Taylor or
Chris Danielsen or visit our Accessibility Resources for Higher Education
Web page.
Straight Talk About Vision Loss
The Straight Talk About Vision Loss series continues this
month with Episode 35. Mark Riccobono talks with Scott White about the
newest innovations to NFB-NEWSLINE®, a free service that provides
independent access by print-disabled people to hundreds of local and
national publications, job listings, and TV schedules.
NFB-NEWSLINE® provides blind and physically impaired
people with unprecedented easy access to hundreds of newspapers and
magazines for free. Using this innovative service, people who would
otherwise not be able to read a newspaper can independently access, at any
time and at any place, the same essential and entertaining news that their
neighbors, classmates, and colleagues enjoy.
Subscribers to NFB-NEWSLINE® have unlimited access to over
three hundred local and national newspapers and wire feeds as well as
numerous magazines. Just by picking up a phone or using our online access
methods, subscribers have instant access to such publications as the New
York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New Yorker, Economist, AARP
Magazine, Science News, ESPN, Rolling Stone, and Vogue.
Get more information or sign up for NFB-NEWSLINE®, learn
about the online access methods and keep abreast of service enhancements and
additions, or follow NFB-NEWSLINE® on Twitter.
Product and Access Technology Talk
The Access Technology team is ramping up its preparations
for 2011. Three presentations for the 26th Annual International Technology &
Persons with Disabilities Conference in San Diego have been approved. The
presentations will cover the use of social networks by the blind, tactile
graphics, and comparing notetakers and mainstream alternatives.
Meanwhile, our resources have not gone neglected. The
Access Technology Blog’s current topics are the new Pronto notetaker and
low-cost screen magnification software. The team has also added a Web page
dealing specifically with Web accessibility in higher education, which
offers a step-by-step guide on how to achieve accessibility. Finally, the
online version of the technology resource list is in the process of being
updated to include training resources.
A last noteworthy item is AT’s involvement with the
Department of Justice’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Web
accessibility. To ensure that access to the Web improves under federal
regulations, the team testified at the Chicago hearing on this subject.
From the tenBroek Library
We want your stuff.
What stuff? Whatever you have about your life as a blind
person—or as an ally of the blind in their struggle for equality, security,
and opportunity.
Close-up of tactile map
The tenBroek Library is committed to documenting the
history of the blind in this country (and elsewhere, too), and we’re doing
this by making sure that experiences of blind people from all walks of life
are represented in our collections. For example, one member recently gave us
some fascinating material, including:
• children’s picture books that his mother Brailled, so
that they could read together
• the manuscript of a chapter of a book his mother was
writing about him as he was growing up
• tactile maps that he made with his father
Do you have letters that you wrote home while you were at
residential school?
Do you have old photographs?
Do you have scrapbooks?
Do you have old diaries or have you written your memoirs?
We want your stuff!!
We also want your memories and the memories of other
Federationists and blind people. So please also plan to participate in the
Jernigan Institute Oral History Project.
Remember, you serve the cause of independence for the
blind by letting others know the path you took to become the person you are!
Independence Market
The NFB Independence Market has some specials, which may
be of interest as you are completing your holiday shopping.
We have been selling the Victor Reader Stream, an
accessible palm-sized book reader and recorder with built in text-to-speech
capability, for some time. This device can play DAISY books from the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped,
BookShare, and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic as well as downloads
from Audible.com and other podcasts. Users can also listen to text and HTML
files using either a male or female synthetic voice. The extensive
navigation and bookmarking features make this device indispensable to
students of any age. The ability to make recordings adds another useful
dimension to the VR Stream.
While supplies last, the Victor Reader Stream is available
from the Independence Market with an additional “SoftPac” installed at no
additional charge and can be ordered online. The $49-value software upgrade
enables the Stream to also play MP4 files from iTunes, unprotected EPUB
books, and Microsoft Word 7 DOCX files as well as to record in MP3 and WAV
formats.
The Independence Market still carries the Louis Braille
Commemorative Silver Dollar which the United States Mint released in 2009 to
honor the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. Both uncirculated
and proof coins make for great stocking stuffers and can be ordered online.
Two elegant women’s talking watches are on special (25
percent off) for the holidays. For more information visit the home page of
our e-commerce site.
For questions or to place an order, please contact the NFB
Independence Market staff at (410) 659-9314, extension 2216, Monday through
Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time.
Parent Outreach
Required reading this month for all parents and educators:
a.. Future Reflections, Volume 29 Number 4, the report
on the NFB’s 2010 annual national convention.
b.. The Braille Monitor, Volume 53, Number 10, November
2010, especially “Whose Child Is This if Mom and Dad Are Blind?” by Gary
Wunder and “Parenting Without Sight: What Attorneys and Social Workers
Should Know about Blindness.”
Nominate an outstanding teacher for the NFB Distinguished
Educator of Blind Children Award for 2011! The education of blind children
is one of the National Federation of the Blind’s most important concerns.
The NFB will recognize an outstanding teacher of blind children at its
annual convention in Orlando, Florida, in July 2011. The winner of the
Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award will receive an expense-paid
trip to the convention, a check for $1,000, an appropriate plaque, and an
opportunity to make a presentation about the education of blind children to
the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children early in the
convention. Anyone currently teaching or counseling blind students or
administering a program for blind children is eligible to receive this
award. It is not necessary to be a member of the National Federation of the
Blind to apply. Teachers may be nominated by colleagues, supervisors, or
friends through May 15, 2011. Go to the December 2010 Braille Monitor
article about the award for more information and the application form.
Spotlight on the Imagination Fund
The 2009-2010 Imagination Fund project grants have been
awarded!
The NFB Imagination Fund distributed over $60,000 to NFB
affiliates and divisions for projects and programs that will improve
opportunities for the blind all over the country. Twenty grants to seventeen
of our affiliates and divisions were awarded (see complete list). Funds will
be used for projects and programs at the local level that will further our
mission by reaching out to blind people and their families, providing
innovative educational opportunities for blind students, educating the
general public about the capabilities of the blind, and developing members
into significant leaders of our movement.
NFB Calendar
November 1, 2010 Application period begins for 2011 NFB
Scholarship Program
December 20, 2010 Braille Letter from Santa request
deadline
January 1, 2011 Room reservations open for 2011
National Convention. Call (866) 996-6338
January 4, 2011 Louis Braille’s birthday; Braille Readers
Are Leaders contest reading period ends
January 22, 2011 Deadline to make room reservations for
Washington Seminar. Do not contact the hotel; call (303) 778-1130, extension
219, or e-mail Lisa Bonderson
January 29, 2011 Blind Driver Challenge first public
demonstration at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona
Beach, Florida
January 31-February 3, 2011 NFB Washington Seminar,
Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, S.W.; Washington, D.C.
March 1, 2011 NFB 2011 Youth Slam application deadline
March 31, 2011 Deadline to apply to win one of thirty
2011 NFB Scholarships
March 31, 2011 Deadline for Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award
nominations
April 8-12, 2011 Leadership and Advocacy in Washington,
D.C., (LAW) Program, Baltimore and D.C.
April 14-15, 2011 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law
Symposium, National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, Baltimore
July 2011 The 71st Annual NFB National Convention, Rosen
Shingle Creek Resort, Orlando, Florida
July 2011 The 3rd Biennial NFB Youth Slam, Towson
University, Maryland
Citation
Photo Credit: Ed Pfueller/The Catholic University of
America
It’s been so refreshing to work with musicians who
recognize me as a peer and realize that it’s not that different from working
with a sighted singer. The thing that matters most is musicianship, and the
faculty here judge me on that alone.
—Jessica Bachicha, blind Doctor of Musical Arts degree
candidate, on her role as Queen of the Night in Catholic University of
America’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
Back to Top
Thank you for reading the NFB Jernigan Institute’s
Imagineering Our Future.
Support the Jernigan Institute through the Imagination
Fund
Interesting links:
Archive of Straight Talk about Vision Loss videos
National Center for Blind Youth in Science
Access Technology Tips
Blogs:
Access Technology
Voice of the Nation’s Blind
Publication archives:
Future Reflections
Braille Monitor
Visit us at nfb.org
Jernigan Institute, National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD
21230
(410) 659-9314 Fax (410) 659-5129 E-mail
JerniganInstitute at nfb.org
Visit us at www.nfb.org
The National Federation of the Blind meets the
rigorous Standards for Charity Accountability set forth by the BBB Wise
Giving Alliance and is Top-Rated by the American Institute of Philanthropy.
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Photo credit: News-Journal | Sean McNeil
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