[Nfbf-l] Featured Book from the Jacobus tenBroek Library Braille monitor article: The braille monitor article on Helen Keller

[Brooke Evans]

https://nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm11/bm1109/bm110914.htm

Featured Book from the Jacobus tenBroek Library
Reviewed by Ed Morman

From the Editor: With some regularity we spotlight books in the tenBroek Library. Here is librarian Ed Morman's review of a book in our collection:

To those who remember Helen Keller in her later years, she was a dignified, kindly looking older lady, conservative in dress and comfortable in the company of prominent people ranging from popular entertainers to world leaders. She posed for photos with eyes open and was not often recorded speaking. Although her fame rested, first of all, on her deaf-blindness, it was easy to see her as simply a celebrity who devoted herself to good causes.

But there was much more to Helen Keller as revealed in her own writings and in this book. Its author, Van Wyck Brooks, was a historian of American literature and a member of the social circle of Connecticut intellectuals that included Keller. He wrote Sketch for a Portrait some twenty years after first meeting her, and like many of her acquaintances and friends from the start he had found her to be charming and fun to be around.

Helen Keller was almost certainly a genius; she was unquestionably a fascinating character. Anyone looking at Keller’s life, though, must recognize that, although she became well known as a result of being deaf and blind, there was much more to her than absence of sight and hearing. And, though she generally depended on an intermediary in order to communicate with other people, she formed her own opinions and was outspoken in her beliefs.

Like Louis Braille’ Keller’s talents became evident as a teenager. She wrote her first autobiography, The Story of My Life, while an undergraduate at Radcliffe College. No amateurish piece of juvenilia, this is a lucid memoir written in an elegant style. A few years later—in response to a clamor for more information about how she perceived her surroundings, what she understood of things too big or too distant for tactile inspection, and what she dreamed—she produced The World I Live In. Never a slave to the desires of others, she eventually let people know that she had opinions and thoughts about things other than her own condition. She could have used a copy of the NFB’s “Courtesy Rules of Blindness.” Rule number 9 states: “I'll discuss blindness with you if you're curious, but it's an old story to me. I have as many other interests as you do.”

Helen Keller was born on her family’s property in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880. Her family was well established, but hardly wealthy. Her father had been an officer in the Confederate Army and made his living publishing a newspaper. Keller lost her sight and hearing as the result of an illness when she was nineteen months old. Unable to communicate well, by the time she reached school age her parents found her difficult to control.

How the Kellers happened to engage Anne Sullivan as Helen’s teacher is a fascinating story, involving Charles Dickens’s writings about his visit to the United States and a direct appeal to Alexander Graham Bell. Eventually the Kellers were referred to Michael Anagnos, Samuel Gridley Howe’s successor as director of the Perkins School. Howe had taught the deaf-blind Laura Bridgman, and the Kellers hoped that Anagnos would be able to help with their daughter. As it turned out, Helen Keller was not simply another Laura Bridgman (who spent her whole life at Perkins with limited outside contact). Once she learned to communicate well, Keller demonstrated intellectual brilliance and an urgent desire to explore the world around her. Her mind was matched by a strong body, and she prided herself on her rowing, her ability to climb trees, and other evidences of athletic skill.

Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, was at the right place at the right time for recruitment into this job. An impoverished orphan with some residual vision (vision that increased for a while and eventually diminished entirely), Sullivan had herself been educated at Perkins and needed a paying job once she graduated. Although Anagnos made several mistakes in his dealings with Keller, he hit a home run in his choice of Sullivan to be her teacher.

Sullivan began teaching Keller by finger-spelling words on the seven-year-old’s palm. At first these words had no meaning for Keller, but in a sudden realization she connected the feeling of water with the letters w-a-t-e-r. From then on there was no stopping her. The story as told in the film, The Miracle Worker, conforms to the events as recounted by both Keller and Sullivan.

Of course Sullivan was not a miracle worker at all. She was an intuitive teacher who trusted and loved her student and who brought to the relationship a willingness to work hard and a set of skills she had learned as a child from observing Howe and Laura Bridgman.

After little more than a year, Sullivan and Keller left Alabama for the Boston area, where they could interact with people at the Perkins school. Although Keller never enrolled at Perkins, Anagnos took it upon himself to publicize Sullivan’s successes. Keller quickly became a well-known phenomenon and began meeting notable people from all walks of life. When Mark Twain, then in his fifties, got to know the teenaged Keller, he counted her among his personal friends. He described her as one of the most important people of the century and arranged for a wealthy friend to provide a stipend for Keller and Sullivan, so that they could continue what had become a partnership in Keller’s development.

Communication through fingerspelling was not sufficient for Keller, and neither was the English language. By the time she entered college, she could read Braille and other embossed codes, she could write using a board with metal rods, she could type and use a Brailler, and she was proficient in several languages, ancient and modern. She very much wanted to learn to speak and took special lessons developed by teachers of the deaf. One of her great disappointments was that her speech was never easily intelligible to people who did not know her well.

In 1905 Sullivan married John Macy, a socialist literary critic and Harvard instructor. Macy took charge of publishing Keller’s life story, appending to Keller’s manuscript, first, a series of letters she had written starting when she was just beginning to communicate and, second, Sullivan’s letters and recollections of the process of teaching language to Keller. Although Macy possibly inserted himself too strongly into the book, he did provide a great service by including the series of letters that show Keller’s phenomenal progress in her ability to communicate, not merely clearly, but with style.

Keller lived with the Macys for  several years, until Macy and Sullivan drifted apart. Once the marriage disintegrated, the two women proceeded on their own, living mainly on income from Keller’s writings and lectures. Meanwhile, in her early adulthood, Keller became a socialist, a supporter of trade unions and racial justice, and a pacifist. At the same time she became strongly influenced by the religious and philosophical writing of the eighteenth-century theologian, Emmanuel Swedenborg. At one point she had plans to marry another socialist activist, but her mother intervened to prevent this. Keller’s disappointment at never being able to speak clearly was matched by her disappointment at never marrying.

Because Keller insisted on writing about her political and religious views—and not just her life and how she perceived the world—the demand for her writing declined. Needing money, she and Sullivan sought other sources of income. They visited Hollywood, then just becoming the center of movie making, where they met Charlie Chaplin and flew in an airplane and where Keller performed in a silent film. But while a career in the movies was not in the cards, the stage beckoned. They were hired to tour with a vaudeville company, presenting a twenty-minute act in which Keller would answer questions posed to her by audience members. During this time Keller met performers such as Sophie Tucker, who advised her on grooming. Because of the greater income and because she was able to be frank in her responses to questions in the vaudeville houses, Keller preferred vaudeville to the lecture circuit. No one ever suggested that it was demeaning for Keller and Sullivan to present themselves in this way.

Although Keller was strong and healthy, Sullivan was beginning to feel her age, and they gave up vaudeville in 1922 after two years on the road. By that time the American Foundation for the Blind had been established by people whom Keller and Sullivan had come to know through the Perkins School and other connections. The AFB seemed a good match, and Keller joined its staff.

By the time Van Wyck Brooks met her in 1932, Keller was, in many ways, the public face of the AFB. She believed she was serving the blind of the U.S. and the world by working for the foundation and traveling the world as its spokesperson. It is ironic that this highly accomplished and outspoken deaf-blind woman was never affiliated with either the organized blind or the organized deaf. To Federationists she was too closely associated with the blindness establishment and its paternalism. And many deaf activists resented her attachment to finger spelling and to Alexander Graham Bell’s insistence that the deaf should learn to speak. Through her life Keller opposed the use of American Sign Language, in part because she could not use it herself, but also because she believed it would lead to segregation of the deaf from the rest of society. Keller desperately wanted to be part of society—and if one believes Van Wyck Brooks, who wrote this entertaining book after knowing her for twenty years--she succeeded admirably, even with her poor enunciation.

Anne Sullivan remained Helen  Keller’s companion until her death in 1936. Totally blind in her final years and not proficient at Braille, Sullivan ultimately relied on Keller to read to her. After Sullivan died, her place as Keller’s companion was taken by Polly  Thomson, who had been working for the two women for several years. With Thomson, Keller traveled widely for the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind, accomplishing much good in providing resources for the education of blind people in poorer countries.

Helen Keller was sixty years old in 1940, when Jacobus tenBroek founded the National Federation of the Blind, and she remained active into her eighties. Therefore, for a period of more than twenty years Keller could have collaborated with the NFB—yet it is very possible that she was never even aware of the Federation’s existence. TenBroek Library staff have found no correspondence between NFB leaders and Keller, and the finding aid for the Helen Keller Papers at the American Foundation for the Blind has no mention of the NFB or Jacobus tenBroek. Regardless of the Federation’s past conflicts with the AFB and the rest of the old blindness establishment, it is fitting that Federationists recognize Keller’s achievements and her unique standing.

Helen Keller: Sketch for a Portrait is available in Braille from the NLS (BRA11078) and in Talking Book format from other libraries. Other biographies abound, but Keller’s own autobiographical writings, including My Religion and Teacher (her biography of Anne Sullivan) are better sources and are available from the NLS and elsewhere. Keller’s political beliefs are discussed by Brook and further documented in The Radical Lives of Helen Keller by Kim E. Nielsen (which unfortunately does not appear to be available in accessible format). 

This month’s recipes come from members of the National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas.

Double Duty Meatballs
by Terry Sheeler

Terry Sheeler is president of the NFB of Arkansas. She says that this is a good cook-ahead recipe.

Ingredients:
1 jar (26-28 ounces) spaghetti sauce, divided
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 ½ pounds lean (90%) ground beef
¾ cup quick or old-fashioned oats
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt

Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread 2/3 cup of the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Chop onion using food processor. In classic two-quart mixing bowl combine onion, ground beef, oats, 1/3 cup of the sauce, egg, pressed garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt; mix gently with very clean hands. Using small stainless steel scoop, shape meat mixture into balls and place in baking dish. Bake for ten minutes. Pour remaining sauce over meatballs. Continue baking for twenty more minutes. Place twenty-four meatballs and half of the sauce from baking dish in a covered container; refrigerate for later use in spaghetti with meatballs. Use remaining twenty-four meatballs and sauce to make Italian meatball sub. Yield: forty-eight meatballs.

Italian Meatball Sub
by Terry Sheeler

If you don’t want to bake your own bread or you are short on time, you can buy hoagie sub rolls and make the Italian Meatball Sub using them instead.

Ingredients:
½ recipe Double Duty Meatballs (see above)
2 packages (11 ounces each) refrigerated French bread dough
Vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
1 8-ounce package Mozzarella cheese slices

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dough seams-side down on 15-inch round baking stone or large cookie sheet. Join ends of dough together to form one large ring. Using a serrated bread knife, cut eight diagonal slashes (1/2-inch deep) on top side of dough. Lightly spray dough with oil or cooking spray. Press garlic over dough using garlic press; spread evenly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake bread for twenty-six to thirty minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove bread to cooling rack; cool completely. To assemble sandwich, cut bread in half horizontally with bread knife. Spoon meatballs with sauce over bottom half of bread. Top with cheese slices and top half of bread. Cut into wedges and serve. Yield: six servings.
Nutrients per serving: calories 540, fat 17 g, sodium 1420 mg, dietary fiber 4 g

Spaghetti with Meatballs
by Terry Sheeler

Ingredients:
Reserved half recipe Double Duty Meatballs (see above)
1 14-ounce jar spaghetti sauce
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti, cooked and drained

Method: Combine reserved meatballs and sauce in three-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until meatballs are hot, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot cooked pasta. Yield: four servings.
Nutrients per serving: calories 400, fat 17 g, sodium 1250 mg, dietary fiber 6 g

Puppy Chow
by Terry Sheeler

This recipe is a yummy treat and can be divided into individual bags.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 6-ounce bag chocolate chips
1 box Crispix cereal
3 cups powdered sugar

Method: Melt butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl. Pour this mixture over Crispix cereal. Mix gently with a large spoon. Place coated cereal in a large grocery bag and pour powdered sugar over cereal, or divide powdered sugar equally in individual bags and place equal amounts of cereal in the bags. Shake gently until all of the cereal is coated. Enjoy.

Broccoli Soup
by Terry Sheeler

This soup recipe is good any time of the year and is very simple to make.

Ingredients:
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cans condensed cream of celery soup
2 cans condensed cream of broccoli soup
2 cans of water
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 bag of frozen chopped broccoli
1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed

Method: Combine all the ingredients except broccoli in a crock pot and heat just until heated through and then add the broccoli. Continue cooking just until broccoli is tender crisp. Serve immediately.

Easy Peach Crisp
by Terry Sheeler

This is a great simple dessert.

Ingredients:
2 15-1/4-ounce cans Del Monte sliced peaches in heavy syrup, drained
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Method: Place fruit in one-quart shallow baking dish. Combine flour, sugar, oats, and cinnamon; stir in butter until mixture is crumbly; sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for thirty minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Stained Glass Cookies
by Terry Sheeler

We call these stained glass cookies because the colors are as vibrant and intense as those found in stained glass windows, and the cookies are delicious.

Ingredients:
Freshly baked sugar or ginger cookies, cooled
1 egg white*
½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
Pastry brush
Toothpicks
Set of paste-type food colorings or Brown Bag Cookie Painting & Decorating Kit
Paint brushes reserved for food use
Dessert plate, preferably white

Method: In a small bowl whisk the egg white until it is frothy, then stir in the powdered sugar. Paint the cookies with icing glaze using a pastry brush. You want a very thin but complete coat of glaze on the cookies. This will form the ground for the painting you will do with the cookie paint. Let the glaze dry  completely. Prepare your palette. Using toothpicks, place small dabs of the various cookie paints around the edge of a plate.

When the glazed cookies are dry, paint them with whatever colors you want from your cookie paint palette. Use water to thin the colors. Mix the cookie paints to any shade you want in the open center section of the plate to achieve great subtlety. You can make your cookies as elaborately colored or as simple as you want. Use sugar cookies when you want a light background or pastel colors. Ginger cookies are great for brown-furred animals that you may want to dress in intensely colored clothes.

*Note: If you are worried about using raw egg white, use pasteurized eggs available in your grocery store or powdered egg whites, available from: Broadway Pan Handler, 477 Broome St., New  York, NY 10013.

Salt Dough Ornaments
by Terry Sheeler

You can make attractive ornaments out of salt dough. They are colorful, durable, easy, and fun to make.

Ingredients:
Brown Bag Cookie Art Cookie Stamp(s)
4 cups of flour
1 cup table salt
1 ½ cups cold water
Vegetable oil
Pastry brush or paper towels
Toothpicks
Spray gloss polyurethane or shellac
Acrylic or tempera paints
Brushes *
Narrow ribbons

Method: Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add water and stir until all flour is mixed in. Turn the dough onto a smooth counter top and knead for five minutes. If you don’t plan to use the salt dough right away, seal it in an airtight plastic bag so the surface doesn’t dry and form a crust.

Form salt dough into three-inch balls and place four inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Lightly oil the ceramic base of your cookie stamp. Stamp each ball, leveling the dough as you press. Continue until all of the dough is used. With a toothpick make a small hole at the top of each ornament so you will be able to string them with a ribbon after they are baked.

Place the ornaments on a baking sheet and bake in the middle of a 225-degree oven for thirty minutes. Remove them from the baking sheet and place them on a wire rack in your oven to continue baking until they are thoroughly dry and hard—about one and one-half hours more. Cool on a rack.

Once they are cool, spray lightly with polyurethane to seal. Paint with acrylic or tempera paints. When paint is  dry, spray both sides of each ornament with a good coat of polyurethane or shellac. String with a pretty ribbon.

*Note: Be sure to use a set of brushes that you reserve for non-food painting.
Attention Cassette Edition Subscribers:
At the convention and in the August/September Braille Monitor we announced that the December issue 2011 will be the last one produced on cassette.  There are, of course, optional ways for cassette readers to continue to get the Monitor.  If you have access to the Internet, the Monitor can be read or downloaded in Microsoft Word, as an audio MP3 file, or as a Daisy recording, meaning that it can be easily navigated by article. If you want to read the magazine in print or Braille, we continue to provide it in these formats.

Starting with the January issue, however, the Monitor will also be available on NFB-NEWSLINE®.  Just access NEWSLINE using any of the options available, and the Monitor will appear in the magazines section.

If you prefer reading by listening to high-quality human narration, we can still ship the Monitor to you by mail, but instead of a cassette tape, you will receive a USB drive.  These are sometimes called thumb drives or memory sticks.  The digital player provided by the National Library Service has two slots for playing recorded material.  The most familiar one is on the front of the unit. It accepts the special cartridge used by the Library.  The second slot is found on the right side of the unit near the headphone jack, and, unless you have removed it or it has become dislodged, the slot is covered by a protective  rubber pad.  Removing this pad reveals an indentation in the unit where the USB drive is inserted.  It will go into the unit in only one direction, so, if you encounter resistance, flip the drive over and try inserting it again.  The main cartridge slot used to play books from the Library must be empty before you insert the memory stick in the right side of the player.  If the main slot has a cartridge in it, the digital player will ignore the USB drive.

Once the USB drive has been inserted, the player should function just as it does when you are reading a book.  Pressing the rewind or advance keys moves back or ahead by five seconds.  Pressing the previous element or next element keys moves from article to article or, in some cases, moves to the next section in an article in which divisions are present. If you remove the USB drive to use the player for other material, when you again insert it, reading should resume from the place you stopped reading.

The USB drive will be every bit as functional as the cassettes we have been providing.  The audio quality should be improved, along with the navigation, and the drive should last many years.  If you think you will want to refer to an issue again, you are welcome to keep the drive, but, because they cost more than cassettes and can be used hundreds of times, readers willing to return the USB drives are requested to use the return address label that will be sent along with your drive.  This will save money that we can use for other programs.

Current cassette readers who wish to continue receiving the Monitor after December must contact Marsha Dyer.  She can handle subscription requests for print, Braille, email, or USB drive.  Call her at (410) 659-9314, ext.  2344.  If you do not reach her directly, please leave your information on the Publications line voicemail. Please be assured that all voicemail messages will be received, and your information will be updated prior to each month's issue being mailed out.  She can also receive your request by email when you write her at <mdyer at nfb.org> or by postal mail at 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230.  Be sure Marsha has your first and last name (if leaving her a voicemail, please spell both), your address, and the format in which you want to receive the Monitor.  If you currently receive the Monitor in another format, you need do nothing; your subscription will continue. But please understand that, if you are currently a cassette reader, doing nothing will mean you will stop receiving the Monitor, so please think about the new options and let us know how to keep you informed.

Margaret Warren: A Life Well Lived
Margaret Warren, seventy-eight, died on August 2, 2011, at the Wesley Acres residence in Des Moines, Iowa. Federationist Cindy Ray officiated at a memorial service at Wesley Acres on August 27. Always thinking of others, Margaret donated her body to the University of Iowa School of Medicine for medical research. Memorial contributions may be sent to the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults (formerly known as the American Brotherhood for the Blind), at 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

Margaret is remembered as a unique individual with definite likes and dislikes who happened to be deaf-blind. She was born August 9, 1932, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and graduated from the Iowa School for the Blind (now the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School), in Vinton, Iowa. Over time she lost contact with most of her family until 1993 when she was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit her brother in Hawaii.

Margaret was blind from birth.  During childhood she could hear and understand speech. However, she lost most of her hearing during her teen years and all of it in middle age. In 1990 she received a cochlear implant. She helped to pioneer the concept that a deaf-blind person can benefit from this technology, even if it does not result in understanding voices. She benefited from and enjoyed again hearing sounds such as the typewriter bell and running water.

For many years Margaret was the face of deaf-blindness in the NFB. In the exhibit hall at national conventions she displayed literature and offered personal conversation. People would stop and ask her questions about how one could handle being both blind and deaf, and her many NFB friends would stop to say hi and trade news.

She retained a speaking voice  throughout her life. However, she needed the help of technology for anyone to speak to her. For many years this was the Tellatouch, a portable instrument with a keyboard that brings up Braille cells one at a time. She read fluently this way for many years. In later years, as her health declined, using a single cell became hard for her, so various other devices were used with varying success. During convention sessions and the banquet, a group of devoted interpreters took turns typing a live summary of the proceedings. The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, as well as the Iowa Department for the Blind, helped provide equipment and services. Mary Ann Martin, Cindy Ray, and Doris Willoughby are among those who have been of help to her through the years.

Margaret was a member of the First United Methodist Church, where Lee Kline (farm director at WHO-Radio), along with other members of her Sunday School class, provided transportation and interpreting. Also on Sundays a number of friends took turns inviting Margaret over for a meal and a pleasant afternoon. She was active in the community at large--reading aloud to children and doing Braille proofreading.

At a local NFB meeting in Des Moines some years ago, members were talking about their personal backgrounds, and Margaret said that she had no family. One of the other members said, "Tell Margaret that she is wrong. We are all her family!" Deeply moved, the interpreter repeated these words to Margaret on the Tellatouch. This message is still the same, and we will all miss Margaret’s indomitable spirit.

Independence Market Corner:
For your information the following 2012 calendars are available through the NFB Independence Market:

American Action Fund Braille Calendar: Comb-bound, pocket-sized Braille calendar measures 6 by 6 1/2 inches. Each calendar page includes the days of the month and lists major holidays. A page for personal notes is in the back. Available free of charge.

Large Print Calendar: Spiral-bound large print appointment calendar measuring 8 1/2 by 11 inches with inside pockets. Each month is displayed on two facing pages and features two-inch blocks for each day of the month. The months are tabbed and include a section for monthly notes as well as a three-month calendar overview. $10.00 plus shipping and handling.

Large Print Planner: Featuring easy-to-read large print, This new spiral-bound 146-page organizer measures 8 1/2 by 11 inches. All calendar views are spread over two pages and include current and upcoming year-at-a-glance views, twelve monthly and fifty-three weekly views, and pages for names and addresses, notes, and personal information. $20.00 plus shipping and handling.

For more information contact the NFB Independence Market by email at <independencemarket at nfb.org> or by phone at (410) 659-9314, extension 2216, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. eastern time.

Deaf-Blind Division Report:
This convention was active and productive for the Deaf-Blind Division. We had inspiring speakers at the general business meeting on Wednesday, July 6, and of course the T-shirt table in the exhibit hall kept us busy. This was the seventeenth consecutive year for puffy Braille T-shirts.

President Burnell Brown, assisted by several members of the Deaf-Blind Division, worked to fold and present the T-shirts with puffy Braille and print during the setup of the exhibit hall. This year the colors were definitely characteristic of Florida sunshine--hot pink, lime green, and aquatic blue—and the T-shirt table was very busy.

Many people made requests of the national office and the Deaf-Blind Division to provide interpreting services for the growing number of attendees with hearing loss and deafness. The annual meeting Wednesday, July 6, was a beehive of activity as people from all over the country came together to share their convention experiences as well as their need for improved communication. Two guest speakers offered great information about advocacy and deaf-blind resources.

Before next year’s convention the Deaf-Blind Division will be working with the national office to ensure that the most updated deaf-blind communication technology is available for review at the Jernigan Institute. New technology is opening doors that have been closed to the deaf-blind. The National Federation of the Blind will continue to be on the cutting edge of changing what it means to be blind.

In order to help us provide interpreting services for the 2012 convention in Dallas, please contact Deaf-Blind Division President Burnell Brown by March 1, 2012, if you will need this service. She can be reached at <brownburnell at aol.com>.

Inducted:
In the August/September issue we talked about the presentation made by Second Vice President Ronald Brown at the national convention about his experience as an athlete playing beep baseball. In response to an inquiry to follow up on that mention, here is what he says:

I have now been inducted into the Beep Baseball Hall of Fame. I was honored on August 7, 2011, at the banquet. It was awesome. My team retired my number and placed my jersey stamped with the number 25 into a glass shadow box and presented it to me on stage. I also received a certificate for the Hall of Fame and a plaque. They served two big sheet cakes and 250 cupcakes all decorated with the number 25.

Whozit Lapel Pins Available: 
These pins are great on ties, hats, or shirts. They are blue, red, and yellow, and of course the cane is white. These Whozit pins are oven-fired enamel, silver plated pieces of jewelry. You can feel the shape of the Whozit. They make great gifts for members, guest speakers, etc. The cost is one to ten, $5 each; eleven to twenty-nine, $4; thirty or more, $3. A $2 shipping fee will apply to all orders. Contact Liz Lewis at <Liz4Jesus at gmail.com> or call (803) 642-9940.

In Brief

Notices and information in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity.

SWEET TOOTH Offers Braille Treats:
Chocolate is a favorite for many people, and it makes great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays. SWEET TOOTH, in business for over ten years, looks forward to serving the public with its chocolate treats.

Many new items have been added to the list of products, including fudge, chocolate sauce, and truffles; but the standard items are still available. From clusters of all kinds, to molded chocolate to Braille chocolate bars and guide dogs with Braille on them, SWEET TOOTH can accommodate your chocolate needs. The Braille bars come with a choice of various sayings, including “Thank You,” “Have a Nice Day,” “Happy Birthday,” “Love You,” “Merry Christmas,” and “Happy Holidays.” They weigh 4.5 ounces and can be made in milk, dark, or white chocolate or sugar free. The bars can also be made with Rice Krispies, nuts, peppermint, or raisins. The guide dogs can be personalized with the dog’s name or the owner's name and come complete with a harness done in chocolate.

Price lists are available online, in regular or large print, and in Braille. SWEET TOOTH is also on Facebook. Orders can be placed through email at <judydavis12 at rochester.rr.com> or by phone at (585) 544-1853. A brand new website has just been established, so we are including it. Visit us at <www.acsu.buffaloedu/laurabai/sweettooth>.

Three-D Velocity--Flying Faster, Higher:
Everybody’s heard of blind people driving cars because of the NFB’s Blind Driver Challenge™. Blind people are driving tanks, piloting submarines, and participating in races, thanks to audio games. Still we have not heard of one thing—at least until recently. In June 2007, when a new game project began, a small team, including Munawar Bijani as head, set themselves to create the most challenging, serious, and realistic game for blind people to date. In November 2010 they released Three-D Velocity, a combat flight-simulation designed for blind and visually impaired gamers.

Three-D Velocity is the first-ever fully accessible combat flight simulation game designed with the blind in mind. Very little is left to the auto pilot, which means that you are in complete control of every single maneuver done by your aircraft. From taking off, to shooting down other aircraft, to landing on an aircraft carrier, you can do it all with Three-D Velocity. But it isn't just a flight simulation made for pilot enthusiasts. The developers have spent a lot of time ensuring that blind players get the best of both worlds--realism and gaming. This is why, in addition to engaging in an aerial dog fight with other aircraft, players can play what thay have called "Mission Mode," a fully developed and engaging story that takes the player through a mission carried out by the United States military.

If you've listened to people playing games like Metal Gear Solid, Afterburner, and Top Gun, and thought to yourself, "I wish I could play that," Three-D Velocity is for you. If you've ever wanted to fly at mach two, shoot down other aircraft, make split-second decisions to save your own life, and play the lead role in the outcome of a mission started by United States black operations forces, Three-D Velocity is definitely for you. From people who just want to try their hands at flying to the serious gamers who want a real challenge, Three-D Velocity is sure to bring you days of entertainment. Packed with high-quality scenes, a full-length story, and numerous challenges, this game is an interactive movie--from an aerial perspective. Best of all, Three-D Velocity is designed from the ground up with accessibility in mind. Graphics are not used to convey information; it's all done through directional sound.

You can download a copy of this game by visiting <www.bpcprograms.com>, and be among the hundreds of blind people who can now brag to their sighted friends that they've flown a fighter jet.

PATH International Works with Blind Riders:
Every day at the Mariana Greene Henry Special Equestrians (MGHSE), a subsidiary of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) in Talladega, children experience the joy of riding horses. The riding center is one of 800-plus member centers belonging to the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International. PATH International helps people with physical, mental, and psychological challenges (including blindness and visual impairments) gain strength, coordination, confidence, and pride. Formerly NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association), PATH International better expresses the scope of the forty-two-year-old organization whose 6,300 trained therapy horses and 3,500 instructors help 42,000 children and adults find a sense of independence through their involvement with horses.

Therapeutic horsemanship includes, not only therapeutic riding, but also equine-facilitated psychotherapy and  learning, therapeutic carriage driving, interactive vaulting, hippotherapy, competition, and programs for leadership, team building, and stable management. Certified PATH International instructors also work closely with physical, occupational, speech, mental health, and rehabilitation therapists to benefit their clients. Many centers partner with schools, hospitals, the Veterans Administration, and residential rehabilitation and adult day care centers in changing lives through equine-assisted activities and therapies. For more information contact Cher Smith at (800) 369-RIDE (7433) or <csmith at pathintl.org>; or go to <www.pathintl.org>.

New Director of Visual Services Appointed in Oklahoma:
Here is part of a release from Oklahoma’s state agency for the blind about the appointment of Dr. Michael Jones as its administrator.

Dr. J. Michael Jones has been appointed as the new division administrator of Visual Services, a state program that provides vocational rehabilitation, employment, and independent-living training for Oklahomans who are blind or visually impaired. Jones’s career serving blind people has spanned more than twenty-five years on four continents.

“What attracted me to Oklahoma is the broad scope of DRS’ responsibilities,” Jones said. “I have the operational freedom in Visual Services to use my skills and experience to help our customers become masters of their own destiny.” “When our customers are educated and have some wealth and political clout or personal influence, then they are controlling their own destinies and have achieved social justice for themselves,” he explained.

Jones served seven years as a rehabilitation program administrator, ten years as a rehabilitation counselor, seven years as a university instructor, and three years working in international rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities. He was previously employed as senior professor of special education in Lushoto, Tanzania, in Africa and administered two federal programs as executive director for the division of rehabilitation in Hawaii. While supervising rehabilitation programs in Hawaii, Jones launched new employment programs for youth with disabilities, created cutting-edge technology programs for children with disabilities living on rural islands, and mentored professionals in rehabilitation techniques.

He was elected six times as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama and led Alabama’s Braille literacy movement, culminating in an administrative rule requiring that Braille be taught and emphasized in Alabama’s school system. He was the creator of the Braillewriters for Blind Children Program, which gave a free Braillewriter to every blind student in Alabama.

Atlas of Northern Africa:
This third volume of maps of Africa, Atlas of Northern Africa, covers thirteen countries: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, and Cape Verde. Each country has an introductory section in Braille with facts and general information followed by a full-page tactile map. The maps show cities, towns, rivers, mountains, and places of special interest. The book contains seventy-eight pages and sixteen maps; price: $14.00; shipping by free mail where eligible. Also available at $14 each: Atlas of Southern Africa and Atlas of Eastern and Central Africa.

To order, send requests and checks to The Princeton Braillists, 76 Leabrook Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540. We cannot accept letters by fax, nor do we accept credit cards. We can be reached by telephone. To speak with Ruth Bogia, call (215) 357-7715; to speak with Nancy Amick, call (609) 924-5207.

Musician Wanted:
We are the Full Circle Band, a new and exciting vocal and instrumental group based in Los Angeles. We feature a twelve-string acoustic electric guitarist, a synthesizer/keyboardist, and a singer and alto recorder player who is totally blind.

We perform a variety of folk, pop, soft rock, and Spanish love ballads, all with our own unique touch. The group is currently seeking a professional flautist. Our goal is to perform at local venues for enjoyment and charity. Interested individuals must be reliable, flexible, and willing and able to participate and follow direction; leave your egos at home. For more information contact Liz at <lizworks at sbcglobal.net>, or call (323) 254-9213.

Refurbished Computers for the Blind Available:
Join your friends in using a refurbished computer that is two gigs or faster. Listen using your Talking Book or CD player for a step-by-step tutorial on how to use WindowEyes or NVDA, including email and reading web pages. It will come with a demonstration copy of WindowEyes or a free copy of NVDA.

Keep track of your tax and insurance files, write letters and emails to your friends and family, keep your own recipes, and maintain your family's genealogy records. Shop online. A demonstration copy of the ZoomText screen-enlargement program is provided. If it works for you, a full, registered copy of ZoomText will be provided when you demonstrate that you can use it.

If you have wanted to have your own computer, now is your chance. A gift of $100 will get you the computer. Call  Lee Mann (214) 340-6328 during Central Time business hours, please. This offer extends to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Learning to use the computer is a lot of work, but it offers many new pleasures. <http://computersfortheblind.net>

Descriptive Videos Available:
Now enjoy 200 movies with added audio information on the soundtrack. Call Ken Man at (972) 530-2949 for a print or cassette copy of the catalog. A one-time gift of $25 gets you started. This will allow you to access 200 movies that you can enjoy alone or with the family. <http://computersfortheblind.net/movie-program.html>

Disability, Accessibility, and Arts Residency--Call for Participation:
Calling artists of all media (visual artists, filmmakers, performance artists, choreographers, sound artists, creative writers, and poets) to participate in a one-week residency at the University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI) at UC Irvine from June 12 to 20, 2012. Six artists will be invited to work in conversation with other artists and scholars, to consider issues of multiple access/disability in the conception and design of a creative work.

(Approaches to accessibility could include but are not limited to audio description, captioning, sign language, multimodal design, etc.)

We are interested in expanding notions and strategies for works that are multiply accessible. Leading scholars in disability studies will offer daily workshops on disability and access in the arts for a small group of graduate student participants. These workshops are optional for artists in residence. The week will culminate in a final day of informal public presentations aimed at sharing findings in the form of discussion, sketches, and performances.

Residency will include basic support for travel, accommodations, and materials fees, as well as a small stipend. Some meals will also be provided. This residency is organized by the Critical Disability Studies research group <http://www.uchri.org/Fellows/Residential-Research-Groups/2011F-Critical-Disability-Studies.php>, and is partially funded in kind by UCHRI and a grant from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts (UCIRA).

By November 1, 2011, please submit a one-page résumé; a one- to two-page written statement regarding your interest or experience in disability, access, and the arts; and relevant work samples. Send URL(s) and PDFs of the above to <criticaldisabilitystudies at gmail.com>.

Music Instruction for the Blind:
This season you can learn to play your favorite musical instrument without having to use print or Braille. Music for the Blind has beginner courses for a dozen instruments, including piano, guitar, harmonica, violin, banjo, saxophone, and flute. These courses are taught totally by ear--in an all-audio format, so there is no print or Braille to read. Each course contains at least four tapes or CDs and costs as little as $39. If you already play, Music for the Blind also has over 800 individual song lessons that are taught in the same all-audio format. These individual song lessons start at only $11.95 each. For more information go to the website <www.musicfortheblind.com> or call (888) 778-1828. Start playing today.

Perkins SHELF Project Offers Free Book Downloads:
The Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library is the first NLS regional library in the nation to offer patrons the  SHELF Project, a new download service for digital audio books like those produced at the Perkins Library's own recording studio on the Perkins School for the Blind campus in Watertown, Massachusetts. The SHELF Project (SHared ELectronic Files) provides an online catalog of locally-recorded digital audio books, plus the capacity to download and play them on a variety of devices available to eligible NLS patrons. People unable to read standard print materials may be eligible to use Perkins SHELF and other free services from the Library. Eligibility details are online at <www.perkinslibrary.org>.

Massachusetts is the first state to make its locally-produced audio books available on the national SHELF Project developed by Keystone Systems. Other libraries' content will soon come onboard, and users will have access to that content in addition to Massachusetts titles. Talking Book versions of national best-sellers and other high-demand books are  available through the Library's affiliation with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Books by local authors and titles of particular interest to Massachusetts readers are recorded by volunteer narrators at Perkins's Watertown recording studios. Interested borrowers can access Perkins SHELF Project through the Library's online catalog <www.perkinslibrary.org>. Using the Perkins SHELF Project, patrons can browse the collection and download a desired title immediately.

Keystone Systems, Inc., in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a leading provider of software and services for libraries with distinctive needs. "The SHELF Project will be a repository for sharing locally recorded titles from across the country. The fact that Perkins has taken the lead on the SHELF Project will be instrumental to its success. Without the Library’s expertise, feedback, input, and support, it would not have been possible to launch such an ambitious program," said James Burts, executive vice president of Keystone Systems. States that have already committed to putting their titles on SHELF include Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Missouri, Vermont, Maryland, and the Braille Institute of America in southern California. Several other states will soon add their locally-produced titles to the SHELF Project. More than one thousand titles will be available for Perkins and other states' libraries on the service. Patrons can email <download-support at perkins.org> or call (617) 972-7240 for details about Perkins SHELF Project.

Monitor Mart

The notices in this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made or the quality of the products for sale.

For Sale: 
I have the following items for sale:
BookPort, including manual, connectivity cable, and software. Asking $225 or best offer. 
Braille Blazer, which has built-in speech synthesizer, used minimally. Does not include connectivity cable or paper. Asking $500. 
Braillino with Bluetooth. In good condition, recently cleaned and updated. Includes manuals, software, charger, and connectivity cable. Asking $1,900. 
Please email <mybusinessmail16 at gmail.com> if interested.

For Sale:
Braille TDD, comes with carrying case, never been used, asking $650. Call Donna Webb at (501) 655-4369 or (501) 249-6196.

For Sale: 
BrailleNote mPower BT 32, $949 or best offer (shipping included). The unit is in very good condition. Braille display, buttons, and keys are all in fine shape. Comes with AC adapter, earphones, leather carrying case, carrying strap, SD card, external SD card reader, and network card to allow for wireless network connectivity. The internal SD card reader does not recognize SD cards, but, as mentioned, the unit does come with an external reader. The CompactFlash and PCMCIA slots work fine too. I can be reached at (519) 669-1456 or at <dvm975 at gmail.com>.

NFB Pledge

I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.




Brooke

Sent from my iPhone