[Oabs] Fwd: national convention assistance
Elif Emir Öksüz
filerime at gmail.com
Wed May 3 13:13:47 UTC 2017
I personally will not be able to make it. May 9 is the first day of my
teaching career. I encourage students to take part in this event to
make students' voice heard.
On 5/2/17, Richard Payne via OABS <oabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Are any of you guys going to take part in the Columbus seminar? Richard
> Payne NFBO President
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OABS [mailto:oabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Elif Emir Öksüz
> via
> OABS
> Sent: Monday, May 1, 2017 9:10 PM
> To: Ohio Association of Blind Students list <oabs at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Elif Emir Öksüz <filerime at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Oabs] Fwd: national convention assistance
>
> See the application form from Richard at the end of the email.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: ohio-talk-request at nfbnet.org
> Date: Mon, 01 May 2017 12:00:04 +0000
> Subject: Ohio-Talk Digest, Vol 111, Issue 1
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
>
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>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. What is community service? (Cheryl Fields)
> 2. Re: Check this out (Cheryl Fields)
> 3. Re: Why Are You a Federationist? | National Federation of the
> Blind (Cheryl Fields)
> 4. Re: I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 5. Re: I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 6. Re: I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 7. Re: I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 8. Re: Great News (Sheri Albers)
> 9. Re: I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 10. Re: [Cinci-nfb] I am graduating! (Sheri Albers)
> 11. Re: The Urgency of Optimism (Cheryl Fields)
> 12. NFBO 2017 national Convention Assistance Form (Richard Payne)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 15:41:24 -0400
> From: Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com>
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] What is community service?
> Message-ID:
> <CAMVkHWD_+L7Pjt7Mi2CJk9k7eqhu0vUiqLDYXtSqQp1VujGD2A at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Good DayOhio! The post below was sent to the Community Service
> Division today. I wanted to share and know how others in Ohio feel
> about this...Maybe, we can think of a service project to complete
> collectibely during 2017 state convention...
>
> Good Morning,
> a few days ago we discussed the definition of community service in
> general and specifically it?s definition as it relates to our
> Community Service Division.
> As it stands today, the purpose of the division is to encourage
> blind people to serve in their community, either by themselves, with
> their family, friends, chapter members, neighbors, etc.
> If people don?t know where to start, the division helps them find
> out where they can. If people are hesitant to start, the division
> encourages them. If a person faces difficulty serving in their
> community, the division does what it can to help the person through
> it.
> We are a division of the National Federation of the Blind, which
> means we support the programs and policies of the NFB, and
> consequently everything we do is based upon the foundational positive
> philosophy of blindness that all of us in the NFB believe in. Another
> words we believe that as blindness is not the characteristic that
> defines us or our future, that blindness does not define or limit us
> in the way we can use our talents and passions to give to the world we
> were born into and live in. We have long held the belief that the
> real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight, but that the
> real problem of blindness is people?s attitudes and misconceptions
> about blindness and blind people. We believe that blind people are as
> normal as anyone else, having the same interests, likes, dislikes,
> hobbies, desires and fears as anyone else. Our division believes
> that serving in our communities is just the most logical step down
> the path to true independence and equality in society, making this
> not just a nice thing to do, but as essential to everything we do.
> We believe that just as it is important for us to be out in the
> public to protest discriminative practices, or out in force in the
> halls of our legislature to let people know what we want and need,
> that it is just as important to be out in our community, showing just
> what we can do and be.
>
> While service has the benefit of helping others first and foremost,
> it also allows us the opportunity to teach and learn at the same
> time. When we serve our community, we learn about issues we didn?t
> know existed or of stories people share that might cause us to view
> the world differently. There an also be tangible benefits. Through
> national service programs such as AmeriCorps or teach for america, we
> gain professional level skills that make us more attractive to
> employers, life long connections and friendships and assistance to
> help us through school. As a division we can bring these
> opportunities with programs and organizations closer to our reach by
> letting them know about our mission and those who share in the call to
> service.
> So at the end of the day, we want to not only encourage service ,
> but to expand opportunities for blind people (individually and
> collectively) to serve wherever the need to serve may be and where
> their desires and interests lead them regardless of what society tells
> us they can or can?t do.
>
>
> Do you agree with this explanation? disagree?
> what else comes to mind?
> Darian
>
> Darian Smith, President, National Federation of the Blind Community
> Service Division via Community-Service<community-service at nfbnet.org
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
> --
> Wishing You All the Best,
>
> Cheryl E. Fields
>
>
> A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
> life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
> never sit.
> --D. Elton Trueblood
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 17:15:53 -0400
> From: Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com>
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Check this out
> Message-ID:
> <CAMVkHWBXYUsyXVEo2_tTXDt9ictDuPq7wH6tD_qf+2Db9jAk1A at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Bravo! This is really something to think about and not avoid the
> reality that we live in a sighted world.Making the decision to ask for
> assistance or not can become tiring as I grow older, lol! The demo of
> AIRA at the last board meeting was amazing!
> Hey Eric, when I upgrade my flip phone maybe I'll get AIRA, lol! Make
> this a great day! Cheryl
>
>
>
> On 4/27/17, Richard Payne via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>> <https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm170405.htm>
>> ICYMI
>> From the Braille Monitor:"What Do We Really Think of Sight?"
>>
>> In "What Do We Really Think of Sight?", Eric Duffy discusses the extreme
>> emphasis that was placed on sight by the family who loves him, his own
>> journey to learn and use nonvisual techniques, and his awareness that
> there
>> must be a merging of alternative techniques and visual ones to live the
>> life
>> he wants. To read this article and others, visit the
>> <https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm1704tc.htm>
> April
>> Braille Monitor
>>
>> What Do We Really Think of Sight?
>>
>> by Eric Duffy
>>
>> From the Editor: Eric Duffy currently works for the New Jersey Commission
>> for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a technological support
>> specialist.
>> He is a former affiliate president, having recently served as the
> president
>> of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.
>>
>> Many of us have come from backgrounds in which we were more dependent on
>> vision than we now consider comfortable or necessary. We value the
>> alternative techniques that give us independence, still realizing that
> from
>> time to time we need the help of people with sight or, as is becoming
>> more
>> and more possible, the use of visually aware devices to help us. For some
>> people this creates an internal conflict-how dependent must I be on
> vision?
>> When am I using vision when I could rely on the nonvisual techniques I've
>> worked so hard to master and to offer to other blind people as a way to
>> become independent.
>>
>> In this article, Eric Duffy discusses the extreme emphasis that was
>> placed
>> on sight by the family who loves him, his own journey to learn and use
>> nonvisual techniques, and his awareness that in a balanced life there
>> must
>> be a merging of alternative techniques and visual ones to live the life
>> he
>> wants. Here is what he says:
>>
>> At times in our lives many of us have had to consider how much we value
>> sight. Sometimes we ask ourselves this question because of an experience
> we
>> have had, and sometimes we ask because of a development in the medical or
>> technology fields. Most recently I have found myself pondering this
>> question
>> because of a visual interpreting service offered by Aira.
>>
>> Through a special pair of glasses or the camera on a smartphone, one can
>> connect to a live agent who is looking at a computer screen and who can
> see
>> exactly what the camera on the glasses or phone can see. During an Aira
>> session the agent also has access to GPS on the user's phone, Google
>> maps,
>> and more.
>>
>> Shortly before sitting down to work on this article, I went to a store
> that
>> I had not been to before. I bought some storage bowls for my home and a
>> coffeemaker for my son. That was the first time I have gone to a store
>> and
>> shopped without the assistance of a family member, friend, or store
>> employee. How did I do it? I did it with the help of an Aira agent of
>> course.
>>
>> I first heard about Aira at the 2016 National Convention of the National
>> Federation of the Blind, where I saw a demonstration of the service. At
>> that
>> point I asked myself what I would be saying about me and blindness in
>> general if I began using such a service. How would using it fit into my
> own
>> beliefs about blindness and my understanding of the philosophy of the
>> National Federation of the Blind, which are very much one and the same?
>> These two questions and the questions of several of my friends forced me
> to
>> examine closely my attitudes about blindness.
>>
>> So I asked myself how much I value sight. In large part the answer
>> defines
>> how I feel about blindness. I was one of eight children and the only one
>> with a disability. I had very limited functional vision as a child. I did
>> what I could to learn colors and to identify as many things as I could
>> using
>> that vision.
>>
>> When I accurately identified colors, my parents were happy because I
>> could
>> see. When I misidentified colors or objects, I could hear the
>> disappointment
>> in their voices. They weren't disappointed with me; they were
>> disappointed
>> because I couldn't see. That told me how much they valued sight. I went
>> to
>> an endless series of specialists in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York
> City,
>> New Orleans, and too many cities to remember in Ohio, which is where I
> grew
>> up. Although my mom didn't like to drive in big cities, she would do it
>> if
>> she had to in order to get me to an eye doctor. That told me how much she
>> wanted me to see. Sight was quite valuable to her.
>>
>> As a child I loved McDonald's. If I got close enough, I could see the
>> McDonald's Golden Arches. One night as we were traveling in the car, my
>> little sister asked if we could stop at McDonald's. My parents said they
>> might stop at the next one they saw. My sister was quick to point out the
>> next one that she saw, but my dad did not stop. I told my sister just to
>> elbow me gently the next time she saw a McDonald's sign, and she happily
>> agreed. When she not-so-gently elbowed me, I excitedly said, "There, I
>> see
>> it. I see McDonald's!" We stopped at that McDonald's.
>>
>> On more than one occasion as a child, I found my mother crying. She told
> me
>> that she was sad because I couldn't see. She said that she often prayed
> and
>> asked God to let me see even if she had to sacrifice her sight so that I
>> might see. I learned how steep a price she would pay in order for me to
>> see.
>>
>>
>> In junior high school I lost the little bit of vision I had. A doctor
>> told
>> my parents and me that he could remove a cataract and perform a cornea
>> transplant and that I would get some vision back if he did so. My mom
>> thought that the eyes were too close to the brain to take such a risk, so
> I
>> learned that she feared my losing my life or something else happening to
> me
>> and that her desire to keep me safe was greater than my having sight.
>>
>> What did I think? I wanted to have the surgery. I knew what my parents
>> thought about blindness. I knew that even at the Ohio State School for
>> the
>> Blind those who had some vision were expected to do things and allowed to
>> do
>> things that the totally blind students were not. I knew how valuable
>> sight
>> was.
>>
>> How does all of this relate to Aira? When walking into a crowded room,
> most
>> blind people I know don't think twice about taking directions from
>> someone
>> with sight when looking for an empty seat. Getting assistance from
>> someone
>> with sight is the only practical way to do shopping. How many of us take
>> the
>> elbow of a sighted person (or for that matter even a blind person with
>> usable vision) when walking through a noisy and crowded room? How many of
>> us
>> are willing to accept sighted assistance when going through a buffet
>> line?
>> Most of us need sighted assistance when at a restaurant that does not
> offer
>> Braille menus. Many of us have at one time or another paid readers.
>>
>> Many of us use apps on our smartphones to identify currency. There is an
>> app
>> that will let us know if the lights in a room are on or off. Working with
>> our friend and colleague Ray Kurzweil, the National Federation of the
> Blind
>> has developed an app that enables us to read the printed word, the KNFB
>> Reader. To do these things we rely on the cameras on our phones and
>> artificial intelligence. In short, we rely on artificial vision. Yet none
>> of
>> us question whether or not we should use these apps, and I think that is
>> the
>> way it should be.
>>
>> Recently I called Aira and asked them to perform a relatively simple task
>> on
>> the internet for me. A friend asked me why someone with my technology
>> skills
>> would use Aira to do something that simple. My answer was immediate:
>> "Because I could." I said we both know that we have the skills and
>> confidence to walk to some of the places to which we wish to travel, but
> we
>> also have the ability to use buses and trains. We could ask someone to
>> drive
>> us. We could in fact hire someone to drive us in a taxi. In fact we
> usually
>> find it more convenient and less expensive to use one of those
>> new-fangled
>> ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber. All of these solutions
>> insert
>> sighted people and technology between us and walking to our destination.
>>
>> After completing my shopping trip today, I told my son and Claire, the
> Aira
>> agent, how happy I was to do my shopping without assistance from those
>> around me. However, after discovering that I had left my iPhone in the
> Uber
>> vehicle, I was delighted to have my sighted son go and retrieve it for
>> me.
>> I
>> could have done it, but it was more convenient and less expensive for him
>> to
>> do it.
>>
>> Aira provides sight assistance only when you request it. It is available
>> when you need it, and there is no waiting until later when it is more
>> convenient for someone to provide the visual information you have
>> requested.
>> Aira has not made me more dependent on sight; rather, it has changed the
>> way
>> I do some things. As far as I am concerned, this is a change for the
>> better.
>>
>>
>> Media Share
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Wishing You All the Best,
>
> Cheryl E. Fields
>
>
> A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
> life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
> never sit.
> --D. Elton Trueblood
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 17:23:17 -0400
> From: Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com>
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Why Are You a Federationist? | National
> Federation of the Blind
> Message-ID:
> <CAMVkHWD0DE+AKk02ZO+U6YWhoZ6N93edio1t-9a0pyPqp--tWA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Love this! I am hoping to read more comments soon, it is so empowering.
> I am a Federationist because all of you give me courage and
> confidence!Thanks for being here!
> Blessings, Cheryl
>
> On 4/27/17, Richard Payne via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/why-are-you-federationist
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Ohio-Talk:
>>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/cherylelaine1957%40gm
> ail.com
>>
>
>
> --
> Wishing You All the Best,
>
> Cheryl E. Fields
>
>
> A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
> life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
> never sit.
> --D. Elton Trueblood
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 20:12:56 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <04b901d2c20f$afee1740$0fca45c0$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thank you so much, Carolyn!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carolyn
> Peters via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 9:45 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Carolyn Peters
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Apr 28, 2017, at 3:14 PM, Suzanne Turner via Ohio-Talk hello Sheri
>
> Congratulations and kudos to you
> Dr. Carolyn Peters
>> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Congratulations!
>>
>> Suzanne
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Sheri Albers via Ohio-Talk
>> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:35 PM
>> To: NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org>; NFB of
>> Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Sheri Albers <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>>
>> Hello NFBO,
>>
>> For anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me recently, I
>> want to let you know that, I have been underground getting my final
>> projects and exams completed for my last semester at the University of
>> Cincinnati. I will be graduating on Saturday April 29, Magna Cum
>> Laude, with a bachelor degree in Substance Abuse Counseling. This has
>> been an incredibly long and painful journey that began in the spring of
> 2013. Let the job hunting begin!
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Sheri Albers, Vice President
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>>
>> 513.886.8697
>>
>> Sheri.albers87 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 the
>> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create
>> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life
>> you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Ohio-Talk:
>>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/smturner.234%40gmail.
>> com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/drcarolyn-peter
>> s%40att.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 20:15:08 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <04bb01d2c20f$fe6dc370$fb494a50$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thank you Suzanne.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Suzanne
> Turner via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 3:14 PM
> To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Cc: Suzanne Turner
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Congratulations!
>
> Suzanne
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheri
> Albers via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:35 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org>; NFB of Ohio
> Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Sheri Albers <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Hello NFBO,
>
> For anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me recently, I want to
> let you know that, I have been underground getting my final projects and
> exams completed for my last semester at the University of Cincinnati. I
> will
> be graduating on Saturday April 29, Magna Cum Laude, with a bachelor degree
> in Substance Abuse Counseling. This has been an incredibly long and painful
> journey that began in the spring of 2013. Let the job hunting begin!
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Sheri Albers, Vice President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>
> 513.886.8697
>
> Sheri.albers87 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 the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/smturner.234%40gmail.
> com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 20:19:04 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <04ca01d2c210$8b266420$a1732c60$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thank you Delcenia, I appreciate it.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Delcenia
> via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 8:33 AM
> To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Cc: Delcenia
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Congratulations Sheri! Good luck in your job search.
> Delcenia
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheri
> Albers via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:35 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org>; NFB of Ohio
> Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Sheri Albers <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Hello NFBO,
>
> For anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me recently, I want to
> let you know that, I have been underground getting my final projects and
> exams completed for my last semester at the University of Cincinnati. I
> will
> be graduating on Saturday April 29, Magna Cum Laude, with a bachelor degree
> in Substance Abuse Counseling. This has been an incredibly long and painful
> journey that began in the spring of 2013. Let the job hunting begin!
>
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Sheri Albers, Vice President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>
> 513.886.8697
>
> Sheri.albers87 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 the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/delcenia%40prodigy.ne
> t
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 20:21:22 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <04cc01d2c210$dda72630$98f57290$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thank you Lisa!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa
> Hall
> via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 1:37 AM
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Lisa Hall
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Hi Sheri,
>
> Congratulation on your degree and good luck on job hunting.
> I guess I won't be seeing you at our chapter meeting since that might
> conflict with graduation time. I'm happy for you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Lisa Hall, Vice President
> NFB of Greater Cincinnati
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:26:46 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Great News
> Message-ID: <055a01d2c21a$00578680$01069380$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> That is wonderful news Kaiti. Enjoy!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
> Shelton via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 1:59 PM
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Great News
>
> Hi all,
>
> A while ago I mentioned that I was looking into an internship in Cleveland,
> and I am pleased to say that I got the position. I will be One of two music
> therapy interns at The Music Settlement from August of this year through
> June 2018 to complete my 900 hour internship. I will be on a school-based
> track at the Euclid early learning center and other schools in the
> surrounding area, and the other intern will be serving adults on a mental
> health track.
>
> I'm very excited for this opportunity, and it seems like the staff members
> I
> will be working with are very willing and open to providing reasonable
> accommodations. They even managed to find some braille music for my sight
> reading test, which was a part of my audition. Coming from the last
> interview, which made me think that my blindness was what kept me from
> getting a slot rather than my skills, The audition process went great and
> I'm looking forward to working there. Now, the challenge is to find
> affordable housing.
>
> I may be in touch about the internship in the future. I saw Robby's post
> about testing, and have some similar concerns about the certification exam
> I
> will need to take when my internship is done. I will need to have a reader
> of some sorts there to facilitate the music reading section of the exam, as
> I have to demonstrate that I know print music since most of my clients will
> be cited, but aside from having someone there to make tactile
> representations of musical examples so I can answer the questions, I really
> don't need a reader or scribe and would like to use a computer. I think
> part
> of this has to do with the way companies you specific forms and scoring
> methods, but I also think that is no excuse and something else needs to be
> done after the decision about the Barr exam.
>
> Thanks for helping to answer my questions on transportation. I am looking
> forward to joining the Cleveland folks in August, Kaiti.
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:29:28 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <05a401d2c21a$60f56980$22e03c80$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Thank you Cheryl, I like that!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Cheryl Fields via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 8:19 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Cheryl Fields
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>
> Sheri,Congratulations!
> Don?t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet,
> fight for a seat at the head of the table.
>
>
> Barack Obama to Barnard College in 2012
>
>
>
>
> On 4/28/17, Suzanne Turner via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Congratulations!
>>
>> Suzanne
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Sheri Albers via Ohio-Talk
>> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:35 PM
>> To: NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org>; NFB of
>> Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Sheri Albers <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Ohio-talk] I am graduating!
>>
>> Hello NFBO,
>>
>> For anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me recently, I
>> want to let you know that, I have been underground getting my final
>> projects and exams completed for my last semester at the University of
>> Cincinnati. I will be graduating on Saturday April 29, Magna Cum
>> Laude, with a bachelor degree in Substance Abuse Counseling. This has
>> been an incredibly long and painful journey that began in the spring
>> of 2013. Let the job hunting begin!
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Sheri Albers, Vice President
>>
>> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>>
>> 513.886.8697
>>
>> Sheri.albers87 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 the
>> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create
>> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life
>> you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Ohio-Talk:
>>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/smturner.234%40gmail.
>> com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Ohio-Talk:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/cherylelaine195
>> 7%40gmail.com
>>
>
>
> --
> Wishing You All the Best,
>
> Cheryl E. Fields
>
>
> A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
> life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
> never sit.
> --D. Elton Trueblood
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 21:32:07 -0400
> From: "Sheri Albers" <sheri.albers87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] [Cinci-nfb] I am graduating!
> Message-ID: <05a601d2c21a$bfd98e90$3f8cabb0$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Thank you Kaiti! I will do my best.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
> Shelton via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 11:12 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] [Cinci-nfb] I am graduating!
>
> Hi Sherri,
>
> Congratulations! There are many clients who will be lucky to have you as
> their counselor.
>
> Kaiti Shelton
>
>> On Apr 27, 2017, at 7:46 PM, Dave Perry via Ohio-Talk
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Congratulations!
>> Wishing you the best regarding your job search!
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Dave Perry,
>>
>>> On Apr 27, 2017, at 8:35 PM, Sheri Albers via Cinci-nfb
> <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello NFBO,
>>> For anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me recently, I want
> to let you know that, I have been underground getting my final projects and
> exams completed for my last semester at the University of Cincinnati. I
> will
> be graduating on Saturday April 29, Magna Cum Laude, with a bachelor degree
> in Substance Abuse Counseling. This has been an incredibly long and painful
> journey that began in the spring of 2013. Let the job hunting begin!
>>>
>>> Best Regards,
>>> Sheri Albers, Vice President
>>> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
>>> 513.886.8697
>>> Sheri.albers87 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 the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Cinci-nfb mailing list
>>> Cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cinci-nfb_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Cinci-nfb:
>>>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cinci-nfb_nfbnet.org/daveperry509%40gmail.
> com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ohio-Talk mailing list
>> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
>>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/kaiti.shelton%40gmail
> .com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/sheri.albers87%40gmai
> l.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:39:04 -0400
> From: Cheryl Fields <cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com>
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] The Urgency of Optimism
> Message-ID:
> <CAMVkHWBe864PCuMKcGZzYEbPYqF07+aAvtoC2DKQ4srrkVeJpQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Jordy, I just read this article and it is really great. Thanks for
> sharing... Blessings, Cheryl
>
> On 3/12/17, Jordy Stringer via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> For your convenience.
>>
>>
>> Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed
> is
>> always to try just one more time.
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>> From: Jordy Stringer <jordystringer83 at gmail.com>
>>> Date: February 27, 2017 at 3:18:03 PM EST
>>> To: n8tnv at att.net
>>> Subject: The Urgency of Optimism
>>>
>>> The Urgency of Optimism
>>> As promised
>>> An Address Delivered by
>>> Marc Maurer
>>> at the Banquet of the Annual Convention
>>> of the National Federation of the Blind
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Much has been written about the balance between optimism and
>>> pessimism?as if these two approaches to living were opposite, mutually
>>> exclusive but equally viable methods of thought.
>>>
>>> McLandburgh Wilson said:
>>> Twixt the optimist and the pessimist
>>> The difference is droll:
>>> The optimist sees the doughnut
>>> But the pessimist sees the hole.
>>>
>>> Frederick Langbridge said,
>>> ?Two men look out the same prison bars:
>>> One sees mud and the other stars.?
>>>
>>> However, some imaginative thinkers have suggested that optimism is not
>>> simply a way of looking at a set of circumstances, but a positive
>>> element of power.
>>>
>>> William James said, ?Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.?
>>>
>>> Nicholas Murray Butler said, ?Optimism is essential to achievement,
>>> and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.?
>>>
>>> Colin Powell said, ?Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.?
>>>
>>> For optimism to be an element in the acquisition of power, it must be
>>> more than a cheerful cast of countenance. Rather it must consist in a
>>> commitment to bringing into being a future containing elements of
>>> possibility that have not been a part of the past. Optimism and
>>> reality may (properly understood) be inseparable. If reality signifies
>>> all that has currently been created, this measure of existence is
>>> frozen in time. If, on the other hand, reality denotes both that which
>>> has been built and that which can be brought into being, the potential
>>> for growth encompasses a much more magnificent formulation of life
>>> than would otherwise be comprehensible. In other words, the grandest
>>> understanding of reality incorporates the optimistic anticipation of
>>> innovative thought, and it also implies commitment and effort.
>>>
>>> Anais Nin said, ?Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the
>>> actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the
>>> highest form of living.?
>>>
>>> Douglas Everett said, ?There are some people who live in a dream
>>> world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those
>>> who turn one into the other.?
>>>
>>> Although a goodly number of Americans have been pessimistic (Henry
>>> David Thoreau said, ?Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go
>>> to the grave with the song still in them.?), ours is an optimistic
>>> nation. We have traditionally held the view that we could conquer the
>>> frontier, govern our futures, or invent the tools for our own success.
>>> There is even an American expression for this faith??Yankee
>>> ingenuity.?
>>>
>>> Just as individuals have a life cycle, the theorists tell us that
>>> organizations do. They are established; they grow; they mature; they
>>> prosper for a time; and they cease to exist. At least a part of the
>>> reason for the continued existence of an organization depends on its
>>> optimism. Every organization must possess a purpose and the faith that
>>> the purpose can be achieved. When that faith dissipates, the
>>> organization dwindles, becomes dormant, and ceases to be.
>>>
>>> As we have observed in the National Federation of the Blind,
>>> leadership is one vital element of progress. As an organization must
>>> have faith in its future, the leaders of the organization must be
>>> optimistic. Pessimism signifies atrophy. Operating the same old
>>> program in the same old way will not encourage growth. Optimism and an
>>> openness to imagination must be a part of the leadership. Every
>>> organization is faced with the same imperative: build or wither, grow
>>> or die. The openness to imaginative thought and the faith to believe
>>> that better, more effective programs can be created are part of the
>>> spirit of the National Federation of the Blind.
>>>
>>> Reflections on optimism and discussions about blindness are rarely
>>> found in the same place. People who write or speak about blindness
>>> often grieve, sometimes weep, and frequently employ the most dismal
>>> descriptive words to signify the potential for blind people. It is
>>> extraordinarily rare for somebody to write or think, ?Oh good, a whole
>>> bunch of blind people!? In fact, a convention of blind people is, in
>>> the minds of many, an anomaly?almost a contradiction in terms. At
>>> conventions people are supposed to have fun. But, if most of the
>>> people at the convention are blind, how ineffably dismal could this
>>> be? Adding one miserable life to another in thousands of iterations
>>> simply magnifies the horror of it all. Blind people who are optimistic
>>> about their future?they must be deluded or liars. How could any
>>> substantial group of people wake every day facing the disadvantages
>>> that blindness brings and at the same time maintain optimism in their
>>> hearts? Is there any group so na?ve as to take this position?
>>>
>>> Well, one group of this character does exist. We have created it. It
>>> is the most powerful force ever established in the field of work with
>>> the blind in the United States, and it has a purpose that will not be
>>> abridged or thwarted or denied. That purpose is hard to achieve but
>>> simple to proclaim?it is that the blind will have recognition, that we
>>> will be known for the vital human beings we are with all of the
>>> talent, the energy, and the joy that we possess?that equality must and
>>> will be ours. The organization we have created, the organization that
>>> carries this banner, the organization with the optimistic drive to
>>> change our lives for all time is the National Federation of the Blind.
>>>
>>> Some people depict the blind as unemployed, isolated, frequently
>>> uneducated, and beset with characteristics denoting inability. The
>>> assertion that this summation is reality is made by some of those
>>> dealing with programming for the blind. A senior official of the
>>> Department of Education responsible for rehabilitation of the blind
>>> said within the last few years that the 70 percent unemployment rate
>>> for blind people has remained unchanged for decades.
>>>
>>> Why, I wondered, has this figure remained so high? Do blind people not
>>> want to work? Are blind people lazy, lackadaisical loafers who are
>>> turning down good jobs so that they can continue to receive government
>>> benefits, or has the system failed? Are rehabilitation programs
>>> unequal to the challenge? Are the programs conducted by the Department
>>> of Education unproductive? Is the 70 percent unemployment rate for
>>> blind people an indication of a lack of leadership?
>>>
>>> ?Not on your life,? said this high official in the Department of
>>> Education. ?This rate of unemployment is an indicator that blind
>>> people cannot achieve success unless they are among the most talented
>>> 30 percent of the blind in society. Continuing to spend money on
>>> programming for the blind,? he said, ?is a waste of state and federal
>>> resources.? Rehabilitation for blind clients costs more than
>>> rehabilitation for those with other disabilities. Therefore
>>> specialized programs for the blind should be eliminated because they
>>> cost too much. Never mind that these programs produce positive
>>> results, create tax savings by limiting the number of people receiving
>>> federal and state support, and bring trained and talented blind people
>>> into the workforce. They should be eliminated because they cost too
>>> much, he told me. This federal official in the Department of Education
>>> gave up on 70 percent of the clients assigned to the programs he is
>>> expected to supervise. He thinks that handing out government benefit
>>> checks to blind people is better than training them to work for their
>>> own lives. With such an attitude, with such a failure of optimism,
>>> with such a lack of faith in the clients the Department of Education
>>> is expected to serve, it is not the least bit surprising that the
>>> programs of this department are failing.
>>>
>>> Sometimes it appears that certain officials of the Department of
>>> Education are seeking to punish the blind for demanding equality.
>>> Sometimes it appears that these officials are saying, ?You can demand
>>> equality if you want to, but if you do, we will cut funds from your
>>> programs. If you do as we say?if you behave as we require?if you are
>>> docile, subservient, properly grateful blind people?we will grant you
>>> a modicum of support. However, if you want to be pushy, obnoxious, and
>>> uppity; if you want to be demanding and insistent, you will be sorry.?
>>>
>>> Fortunately, though the Department of Education is responsible for
>>> making policies regarding programs it conducts, it has no power to
>>> make policy for the blind. We of the National Federation of the Blind
>>> determine our own policy and create our own destiny. Those who serve
>>> in government are responsible to the people who put them there, not
>>> the other way around. The blind of the nation have a right, perhaps
>>> even a duty, to examine the performance of the officials who are
>>> selected to conduct the programs to serve us. Those public officials
>>> are responsible to us to demonstrate that they have served well enough
>>> to continue to remain in office, and we demand an accounting.
>>>
>>> At the time of the founding of the National Federation of the Blind in
>>> 1940, almost no blind people in America were employed. By the late
>>> 1950s estimates were that 3 or 4 percent of the blind of the nation
>>> had jobs. By the mid-1970s this estimate had increased to 30 percent.
>>> In certain programs the number of blind people who receive employment
>>> after training is above 80 percent, and some approach 90 percent. What
>>> makes these programs successful? They listen to the blind; they are
>>> responsive to the needs and wishes of blind people; they learn from
>>> the organized blind movement; they form partnerships with the most
>>> powerful entity dealing with blindness in the nation. Do officials in
>>> the Department of Education know these facts? Do they care? Have they
>>> studied the factors that are part of the success for the most
>>> productive programs?
>>>
>>> Those who believe that inability or isolation or dismal despair
>>> describe our lives do not know us and cannot speak for us. We are the
>>> blind, and we will make our own way and live our own lives. We will do
>>> it with the support and encouragement of those who understand the
>>> reality we face. We will welcome partners from government or private
>>> programs for the blind who have the faith to believe in us. We will
>>> conduct our activities with the fundamental faith that blindness
>>> cannot inhibit our progress and with the optimism to know that we can
>>> face whatever obstacle may come. But above all else we will build our
>>> own future, and nothing on earth can stop us!
>>>
>>> One of the elements necessary to the public acceptance of the blind as
>>> equals in society is a correct understanding of what blind people are.
>>> How are the blind perceived almost a decade into the twenty-first
>>> century?
>>>
>>> A report circulated by Fox News in May of this year describes an
>>> incident in which a blind man was refused the opportunity to ride on a
>>> roller coaster because of blindness. The report says that the blind
>>> man had already ridden the roller coaster three times that day. When
>>> the owner of the amusement park discovered that the blind man was
>>> seeking a fourth ride, management refused. Management personnel said
>>> that safety requires a person to assume certain positions during a
>>> roller coaster ride. These positions can be anticipated only by those
>>> who can see well enough during the course of the ride that they can
>>> anticipate the twists and drop-offs before they happen. Furthermore,
>>> if the roller coaster were to malfunction, management said, a blind
>>> person could not easily escape from the contraption without danger.
>>>
>>> The denial of the opportunity to participate in the experience of
>>> riding a roller coaster is an example of the idiocy that blind people
>>> often face. The blind man in question had already ridden the roller
>>> coaster three times without incident or injury. The owner of the
>>> amusement park ignored the evidence. He had already decided that blind
>>> people were not welcome. Evidence was irrelevant.
>>>
>>> Of course evidence is not required from the sighted. If sighted people
>>> need not provide any evidence of their capacity to ride, blind people
>>> should not be expected to provide it either. Nevertheless, the
>>> evidence was there. Consequently, this is a case in which double
>>> discrimination has taken place. I am pleased to say that we in the
>>> National Federation of the Blind assisted in giving this case the
>>> publicity it deserved, and the amusement park owner has changed his
>>> mind. The blind are welcome to ride.
>>>
>>> In 1997 the Portuguese Nobel Prize winning author Jos? Saramago
>>> released the English version of his novel, entitled Blindness. The
>>> premise in this book is that the members of society become blind
>>> unexpectedly, totally, irreparably, and instantly. The description of
>>> society as an increasing number of its members become blind is one of
>>> filth, greed, perversion, and vice. Blind people are depicted as
>>> unbelievably incapable of everything, including finding the way to the
>>> bathroom or the shower. Saramago wants a world view that serves to
>>> offer an allegory for the worst description he can possibly imagine.
>>> He selects blindness as his metaphor for all that is bad in human
>>> thought and action. He describes the blind as having every negative
>>> trait of humanity and none of the positive ones. He argues that this
>>> is an allegory for a picture of the reality of the world today. The
>>> book was used as the basis for a movie of the same name, which has
>>> been shown at the Cannes film festival this spring. The only positive
>>> element to the release of this film is the almost universal reaction
>>> of the critics that it is a failure.
>>>
>>> The depiction of the blind in this movie is fundamentally flawed for
>>> two reasons. First, blindness does not denote the characteristics the
>>> author attributes to it. The capabilities of those who become blind
>>> remain essentially the same after they lose vision as they were before
>>> they lost it. Although the loss of any major asset (including vision)
>>> will bring a measure of sadness to some and despair to a few, it will
>>> also stimulate others to assert their will. Blindness can be a
>>> devastating loss, but it also has the power to galvanize some to
>>> action. The reaction to blindness is not the least bit
>>> one-dimensional. Therefore the description is false.
>>>
>>> In addition to this, the viciousness attributed to the blind is
>>> inconsistent with the assertion of incapacity. Viciousness demands
>>> both venality and ability?at least organized viciousness does. To say
>>> that the blind are completely incompetent and to assert that they have
>>> the ability to organize for the pursuit of vice is a contradiction in
>>> terms.
>>>
>>> But leave the internal inconsistency. The charge that loss of vision
>>> creates a personality alteration of sordid and criminal character is
>>> in itself sordid and defamatory to an entire class of human beings. To
>>> give a man who writes such foolishness the Nobel Prize for Literature
>>> belittles what has often been regarded as a prestigious award. For as
>>> long as I can remember, certain comedians have thought it good sport
>>> to make fun of the blind, and as pernicious as this may be, most
>>> authors have not sought to make us objects of fear and revulsion.
>>>
>>> The description in Blindness is wrong?completely, unutterably,
>>> irretrievably, immeasurably wrong. That such falsity should be
>>> regarded as good literature is revolting and amazing. We know the
>>> reality of blindness, we know the pain it can bring, we know the joy
>>> that can come from correcting the misinformation about it, and we are
>>> prepared to act on our own behalf. We will not let Jos? Saramago
>>> represent us, for he does not speak the truth. He does not write of
>>> joy or the optimism of building a society worth calling our own. We
>>> do, and we will.
>>>
>>> On November 13, 2007, an article appeared in USA Today entitled,
>>> ?Blinded by War: Injuries Send Troops into Darkness,? which describes
>>> the incidence of eye injuries to military personnel facing enemy
>>> combatants in Iraq and Afghanistan. This article indicates that
>>> current conditions for combat cause a higher proportion of injuries to
>>> the eye than in previous conflicts. Though the article is quite
>>> sympathetic to the troops who are blinded, it contains a reiteration
>>> of many of the myths and stereotypes that have inhibited progress for
>>> the blind during the course of recorded history. Brief portrayals of
>>> the lives of three soldiers are part of this writing.
>>>
>>> Here are excerpts from the article: ?About 70 percent of all sensory
>>> perception is through vision, says R. Cameron VanRoekel, an army major
>>> and staff optometrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
>>> Washington. As a result the families of visually impaired soldiers
>>> wrestle with a contradiction: The wounded often have hard-driving
>>> personalities that have helped them succeed in the military. Now
>>> dependent on others, they find it difficult to accept help.?
>>>
>>> I interrupt to say that though the army major may not know it, blind
>>> people do not necessarily lead lives of dependency, some blind people
>>> have hard-driving personalities, and the old story about visual
>>> perception being the primary method of learning is a myth of long
>>> standing but little credence. However, there are other pieces to the
>>> article.
>>>
>>> ?Even now, more than a year after her husband?s return from Iraq,?
>>> [the article continues] ?Connie Acosta is taken aback to find her home
>>> dark after sunset, the lights off as if no one is there. Then she
>>> finds him?sitting in their Santa Fe Springs, California, house,
>>> listening to classic rock. Sgt. Maj. Jesse Acosta was blinded in a
>>> mortar attack twenty-two months ago. He doesn?t need the lights. That
>>> realization often makes Connie cry. ?You kind of never get used to the
>>> fact that he really can?t see,? she says. ?He has no light in his life
>>> at all.??
>>>
>>> Again I interrupt. If the article is merely reporting that this
>>> soldier is blind, I would have no argument with the fact. However,
>>> more is implied than the fact of blindness. The meaning is much
>>> broader and much more devastating. The spiritual, the poetic, the
>>> inspirational, the romantic aspects of life are no more for this
>>> combat victim, implies USA Today. Of course USA Today is only a
>>> newspaper. Its reporters have no extensive experience with blindness,
>>> and its editors have not studied in this realm or learned what reality
>>> is for the blind. Personnel at the newspaper have lived with the myth
>>> of deprivation, and this is what they report. They cannot comprehend
>>> that something else might be at least as important.
>>>
>>> Is it really fair to say for those of us who are blind that we ?have
>>> no light in our lives at all? with all of the unspoken implications
>>> contained in this phrase? Is sight essential for poetry? Can there be
>>> no inspiration without the visual sense? Is romance a thing of the
>>> past? Is the song of the spirit only a faint echo in the lives of
>>> blind people when compared with that robust clamor which thrills the
>>> inner being of the sighted? When blindness comes, does it invariably
>>> signify meaningless emptiness? This is what the article would have us
>>> believe. Consider what the reporter says. ?Nothing in the house can be
>>> moved [the article continues]; he?s memorized the location of every
>>> chair and table.?
>>>
>>> The final segment of the article poignantly sums up the grief. This is
>>> what it says: ?The only good news for now is when he sleeps, Castro
>>> says. ?I?ve had dreams where I know I?m blind and, guess what? I?ve
>>> regained my vision,? he says. Reality floods back each morning.
>>> ?There?s not a night that I don?t pray and ask God, when I wake up,
>>> that I wake up seeing.??
>>> This is the report from USA Today about the prospects for blinded
>>> veterans. The only good news is the dream of waking up seeing;
>>> everything else is bad. To imagine a life consisting in its primary
>>> elements of waiting from the time of each waking moment for the next
>>> hour when sleep can be coaxed to disguise the reality of daily
>>> existence with a dream world is to accept despair. What we say to this
>>> soldier, to USA Today, and to all human beings who have become blind
>>> is: ?Don?t you believe it!? Your reporter has missed the good news.
>>> Blindness is indeed a loss, but it is the loss of sight only, not the
>>> loss of the ability to live. Nobody can give us hope unasked, and
>>> nobody can create for us the kind of spirit that will give meaning to
>>> what we do or who we are. However, the hope is abundantly available
>>> for those who seek it; the joy is part of the world we can build; and
>>> the future is as bright with promise as any imagination that exists or
>>> has ever existed. This is what our experience has demonstrated; this
>>> is what we know; and this is the story that should have been reported.
>>>
>>> Incidentally, I get a little tired of the argument that 70 percent or
>>> 80 percent or 83 percent or 90 percent of all information comes
>>> through the eye. The implication is always that, although blind people
>>> have some information, we have only 30 percent or 20 percent or 17
>>> percent or 10 percent of that which all other people have. This is
>>> false, and I find myself annoyed with the necessity of responding to
>>> this idiotic notion repeatedly.
>>>
>>> I am told that the beginning of this argument came from an
>>> advertisement in 1923 put together by Thomas Edison. He was trying to
>>> sell film projectors to school systems. In an effort to sell his
>>> projectors, he said that ?83 percent of all knowledge comes through
>>> the eye.? I wish he had found a better way to sell projectors. Though
>>> I presume sighted people might learn 70 percent of all they know by
>>> using their eyes, I also recognize that this is not the only way to
>>> learn. All of us learn through such senses as we have, and we learn
>>> through using such mental capacity as we possess. Sense impression is
>>> necessary for learning, but it is only one element in the process.
>>> Identifying and manipulating information involves pattern recognition.
>>> Sometimes visual observation helps in recognizing patterns, but other
>>> ways to recognize them also exist, and imagination is at least as
>>> valuable.
>>>
>>> Even though I have been thinking seriously about the subject of
>>> blindness for almost forty years, I am still amazed by some of the
>>> things that people believe about blindness. When I read articles like
>>> this one, I think to myself, ?Did you say that, did you really say
>>> that, how could you say such things about the blind?? Can you really
>>> think that our lives are meaningless, or empty, or without romance or
>>> poetry or passion? Have you observed any of us for more than a moment?
>>> Do you know the struggle that we face to gain recognition for our
>>> talent? Have you heard the ripple of our laughter or the cadence of
>>> the song we sing? If you believe that romance and passion are possible
>>> only through the eye, your experience lacks perspective and
>>> imagination. Love, joy, a fascination with the arts and sciences,
>>> exploration of the unknown, and the unquenchable determination to
>>> build a better life for ourselves and for others?these we claim as
>>> belonging to us, belonging to the human spirit which is ours. In your
>>> reporting you have not included these factors as a part of our lives,
>>> but we know that we possess capacity, and we will not let you forget
>>> it.
>>>
>>> To give perspective to the thought of blind people and romance,
>>> consider the testimony of a Federation member who, as a college
>>> project, decided to find out how blind people fall in love. Here is a
>>> portion of the notice that this student distributed to a number of
>>> blind people in the Northeast:
>>>
>>> This year I am a senior, and I will be working on an honors thesis
>>> investigating the attraction and courtship process for individuals
>>> without sight. The purpose of this project is to explore ways in which
>>> blind individuals use senses other than sight in choosing partners and
>>> in maintaining intimate relationships.
>>>
>>> It is argued that sight is the most important factor in how people
>>> fall in love. What about those of us who lack the benefit of eye
>>> contact and visual cues? I want to explore the roles of other senses
>>> in the process of falling in love. This question is of great personal
>>> interest to me because I was able to experience ?love at first sight?
>>> when I met my future husband, despite the fact that I could not rely
>>> on my sense of sight. I am very interested in investigating the
>>> variety of ways that visually impaired individuals fall in love.
>>>
>>> These are statements from the notice created by the student. She takes
>>> for granted that blind people have romantic interest, and she seeks
>>> less to know whether it exists than how it operates. I suspect that
>>> the research has already been concluded. However, if more evidence is
>>> required, I will let you know.
>>>
>>> The National Federation of the Blind receives unsolicited proposals to
>>> support, endorse, or help to promote individuals, books, films, or
>>> projects about blindness on a very regular basis. Some of these make
>>> sense and get our support, but others have no redeeming social
>>> importance.
>>>
>>> A few months ago we received a proposal that the National Federation
>>> of the Blind become a promoter of a project known as ?Charlesville,? a
>>> housing community to be built in Georgia adapted to the specialized
>>> needs of the blind. The slogan of Charlesville, which gives an idea
>>> about the project, is: ?A Community Where the Blind Can Really See.?
>>> The promoters plan to construct 164 homes for the blind in a housing
>>> development along with a theater, places for other small businesses, a
>>> supermarket, playgrounds, and a ?work facility.? The proposal, laid
>>> out in a substantial notebook, contains statements such as,
>>> ?Homes?will have Voice instructions to assist the Blind in being able
>>> to see in their homes, as well as in their outside yards,? and ?The
>>> streets will be designed to have Voice controls to assist the Blind in
>>> seeing where their neighbors live, their playgrounds are, as well as
>>> their work facility.? One other statement in the notebook is, ?Our
>>> firm has been given the ?Vision of Creating Home Ownership, and
>>> Employment? in Charlesville where the Blind can see themselves become
>>> normal independent citizens of our great country.?
>>>
>>> Such are statements from the planners of Charlesville. And you thought
>>> you were normal; you thought you were independent?not unless you live
>>> in Charlesville. Move to Charlesville or you?re not even a citizen of
>>> this great country of ours, according to the movers and shakers of
>>> Charlesville.
>>>
>>> I spoke with the people who sent this proposal to the Federation. They
>>> told me that they understood the problems of blindness; they
>>> sympathized with the plight of blind people; and they wanted to
>>> construct a living community in which the blind could have an
>>> experience of home as close as possible to that which is experienced
>>> by the sighted. With this in mind they imagined that specialized
>>> technology would be installed which would explain to the blind the
>>> interiors of their houses. Other technology would explain what was in
>>> the neighborhood. The explanations would include audible descriptions
>>> of where each neighbor lived and where each nonresidential building
>>> could be located. Special blind-friendly technology to control the
>>> streets would be one of the features of the community, though what
>>> this technology would do had not yet been completely planned.
>>>
>>> The mind boggles at what might be incorporated in the audible
>>> descriptions of the neighbors. It is tempting to try to offer certain
>>> imaginative examples, but those that you have already constructed are
>>> no doubt equally good. I confess that I found myself intrigued by the
>>> notion that the streets themselves could be controlled. What would a
>>> human being want the streets to do? Although I did not express these
>>> thoughts to those visiting the National Federation of the Blind, I
>>> wondered if they meant that control gates would be installed at street
>>> crossings similar to those used for railroad crossings. When a blind
>>> person planned to cross the street, the press of a button could bring
>>> down the control arms, halting traffic and providing a tactile railing
>>> or fence for the blind person to follow from one side of the street to
>>> the other. Indeed, the concept of controlling the streets tickled my
>>> fancy. I wondered if I should suggest to these planners that they
>>> build their community so that a blind person stepping out for a walk
>>> could instruct the streets to go downhill. Maybe the new slogan for
>>> Charlesville could be, ?The Community for the Blind: Where All the
>>> Streets Go Downhill.?
>>>
>>> Those creating the community thought that having sighted people to
>>> assist the blind with their medications might be useful as well as
>>> having individuals dedicated to leading the blind from place to place.
>>> The planners wanted to know if I had any suggestions for other
>>> specialized technologies or services, and they asked for a grant of
>>> more than a million dollars.
>>> I doubt that it will come as a surprise that I decided not to get the
>>> checkbook. I was polite, but I wondered if the people making the
>>> proposal had read any of the Federation?s literature. We do not
>>> recommend that the blind be segregated from society. We do not believe
>>> that specialized homes are required for the benefit of the blind. We
>>> do not recommend that communities be built to isolate the blind even
>>> with voice-controlled streets, whatever this might mean.
>>>
>>> The concept of a segregated community is not merely offensive but also
>>> dangerously socially irresponsible. Some years ago in Japan, Dr.
>>> Kenneth Jernigan, who was totally blind, and Mrs. Mary Ellen Jernigan
>>> were walking along the sidewalk. A bicyclist almost struck Dr.
>>> Jernigan. In the brief heated discussion that followed the
>>> near-accident, the bicyclist said that a portion of the sidewalk had
>>> been set aside with tactilely raised identifying marks for the blind.
>>> This is where the blind should be, the cyclist said. Implied in the
>>> statement is the further thought that blind people should not be
>>> permitted outside the specialized areas designated for the blind.
>>>
>>> Some people have advocated for a special college for the blind. The
>>> argument is that the needs of blind students are sufficiently
>>> different from those of other students that a college designed to
>>> serve the blind would be a significant advantage. Books could be
>>> provided in Braille or in recorded form. Blind people could have
>>> assurance that the lectures, the handouts, and the laboratories would
>>> be designed to ensure accessibility in nonvisual ways. However, we in
>>> the National Federation of the Blind have never endorsed such a
>>> concept; we have actively opposed it. No matter how useful it would be
>>> to have Braille books and tactilely labeled laboratory equipment, a
>>> college for the blind would segregate and isolate the blind from
>>> society rather than integrate us into it. We want to be a part of the
>>> society in which we live. We want to attend the colleges and
>>> universities of our own choice. We want our intellectual capacity to
>>> be recognized for the value that it has. We want all colleges to
>>> understand the necessity of making their educational curricula
>>> accessible to us and useable by us. We will fight for our right to be
>>> included in all aspects of community life. We oppose segregation for
>>> the blind, we oppose all schemes that would isolate us from the
>>> communities in which we live, and we promote full integration of the
>>> blind into society on the basis of equality. We demand equality of
>>> opportunity for all blind people, and we will settle for nothing less.
>>>
>>> Sometimes people ask me how I approach blindness. It is as much a part
>>> of me as dozens or hundreds of other characteristics. I don?t forget
>>> it, but I don?t concentrate on it either, most of the time. Other
>>> people often magnify this one characteristic out of all proportion to
>>> what seems reasonable to me.
>>>
>>> In the early 1980s I was conducting a law practice in Baltimore,
>>> Maryland. Each business day I traveled to my office, very often by
>>> bus, and each evening I returned home, using the same method of
>>> transportation. One summer evening I was standing at a bus stop in
>>> downtown Baltimore. I was dressed in a suit, which is my customary
>>> work attire. I had a briefcase with me, which is almost always a
>>> companion of my travels. I was also carrying a can of coffee. I had
>>> run out of coffee at home, and I needed this can, which, fortunately,
>>> I had on hand at the office. The evening was warm, and the bus was
>>> late. Because I had remained in my office to complete some work, the
>>> rush hour had already passed, and I was feeling weary. The breeze came
>>> off the hot asphalt and did little to dissipate the warmth. I was the
>>> only one at the bus stop, which suited me because I could review the
>>> events of the day without having to worry about fellow bus passengers
>>> or other distractions. A person came up to me and peered at me from
>>> one side. Then the person walked around to my other side and peered
>>> again. I was standing next to the pole that had the bus stop sign on
>>> it. My briefcase was sitting on the ground next to my left leg, I was
>>> leaning on my cane, and I had the can of coffee in my hand. After I
>>> had been examined from both sides, a man?s voice said to me, ?Where?s
>>> the slot??
>>>
>>> ?What?? I asked.
>>>
>>> To which my companion responded, ?Where do you put the money??
>>>
>>> Although I was startled by these questions, I realized suddenly that
>>> he wanted to put some change into the canister I was holding. He
>>> thought I was begging. What else would a respectably dressed blind man
>>> with a briefcase and a coffee can be doing?
>>>
>>> ?This is my coffee,? I said, and my companion left.
>>>
>>> Sometimes we let others make us believe that blindness matters more to
>>> us than reality would suggest. Sometimes we let fear of the unknown
>>> control us, and we attribute the fear to blindness.
>>>
>>> One of the presentations that I have made as president of the National
>>> Federation of the Blind deals with the topic of getting lost. I have
>>> been lost many times, and I expect to be lost many more. In my younger
>>> days I thought that being lost was bad. However, I have learned that
>>> accepting the uncertainty of being lost means that I can find new
>>> places, meet new people, have new experiences, and expand my horizons.
>>> I also tell other people it is perfectly all right to be lost. How
>>> different is this attitude from the one that I found on the Internet
>>> recently. Here is what one blind person said:
>>>
>>> If I don't know a state, I won't take buses anywhere. Why on earth
>>> would I wish to get lost? I wouldn't even know how to tell the
>>> transportation where I wanted to go. I would ask others if they are
>>> going the same way I wish to go. If not, there isn't any reason to go
>>> there then. I would just stay home where I know I could get help if
>>> needed and not feel afraid of getting lost.
>>>
>>> Many of us may have faced this kind of fear as part of learning who we
>>> are, and many of us may face it again. Nevertheless, with the support
>>> of one another we know that we can solve the problems that come to us,
>>> large or small, dramatic or mundane. Though I sometimes find myself in
>>> unfamiliar surroundings, I never find myself without capacity, and I
>>> never encounter a day in which my colleagues in the Federation are not
>>> willing to help me if I need it. I realize that I have the ability to
>>> learn what I need to know to get from the place where I am to the
>>> place where I need to be. Furthermore, I will always want to know what
>>> we can do to build a brighter, more productive future. I will always
>>> want to know what is around the next bend in the road or over the
>>> summit of the next hill. I will always want to know what I can do to
>>> bring joy to my friends. I will always want to know how I can show
>>> them that there is excitement in being lost.
>>>
>>> Optimism is an element in the acquisition of power, and the power once
>>> derived fosters optimism. The power of optimism stimulates the
>>> optimism of power. Optimism is one element of our faith. It is
>>> inherent in all that we say and all that we do. Because it has come to
>>> be such an integrated part of our thought process, we sometimes fail
>>> to recognize the urgency of optimism.
>>>
>>> For all time blind people have been regarded as dependent,
>>> incompetent, and subnormal?some would even describe us as subhuman.
>>> However, we know better than to accept such a description of us, for
>>> it is false. We have decided to correct the error of the authors who
>>> tell us that we are base and unhuman, of those rehabilitation
>>> officials who write off 70 percent of us as fundamentally incompetent,
>>> of the newspaper reporters who tell us that our lives are empty and
>>> meaningless, and of the amusement park operators who believe that we
>>> can?t even ride a roller coaster. We have made this decision because
>>> we know the strength which is within us, we share the spirit that is
>>> part of us, and we feel the determination to create the factors that
>>> will shape the future.
>>>
>>> Who can tell us what our lives will become? Nobody can do this except
>>> us. There are those who would like to dismiss us, but we will be
>>> heard. There are those who would like to instruct us, but from our
>>> experience we have gained more information than they can hope to
>>> accumulate. There are those who would like to control us, but if they
>>> try, they will do so at their peril. Partners we seek from every
>>> aspect of public and private life, but those who would seek to dictate
>>> to us what our lives should be will be tolerated not at all.
>>>
>>> As we face the struggles of the time to come, we know with absolute
>>> certainty that we will take whatever action is necessary to confront
>>> those who would stop our progress or belittle our ambitions. We will
>>> make whatever sacrifice is necessary; we will pay whatever price is
>>> required. We will demand the equality that must and will be ours, and
>>> we will never cease our efforts until we have it. We have the will, we
>>> have the strength, we have the optimism. The future belongs to us; we
>>> will make it our own!
>> _______________________________________________
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> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/cherylelaine1957%40gm
> ail.com
>
>
> --
> Wishing You All the Best,
>
> Cheryl E. Fields
>
>
> A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
> life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
> never sit.
> --D. Elton Trueblood
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 12
> Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 03:12:22 -0400
> From: "Richard Payne" <rchpay7 at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'"
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] NFBO 2017 national Convention Assistance Form
> Message-ID: <000d01d2c24a$480e4970$d82adc50$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio 2017 Convention Assistance Form
>
> The National Federation of the Blind convention will be held July 10-15 at
> the beautiful Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando Florida.
> Due to limited affiliate resources, we are only able to offer partial
> assistance to those who qualify.
> Assistance requests must be submitted to President Richard Payne before May
> 29, 2017. Any application forms received after that date will not be
> considered. If you have any questions about the form or the process,
> contact
> Richard by email at rchpay7 at gmail.com or call (937)396-5573.
> NOTE: For anyone receiving convention assistance, you will be expected to
> attend all general sessions, meetings and workshops. There will also be
> various volunteer positions available that you will be expected to get
> involved in.
> How to apply for Convention Assistance:
> 1. Submit a personal request letter. Please tell us why you wish to
> attend the convention and what you hope to accomplish as a result. Since
> financial need is the basis for this request, briefly describe the
> extenuating circumstances that are preventing you from attending
> convention.
> This is a major consideration in the decision making process.
>
> 2. Contact your chapter or division president, and ask him/her to send
> a letter of support for your application directly to President Richard
> Payne. This letter must also state what assistance, if any, you will be
> receiving from that chapter or division. NOTE: If you are not yet a member
> of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, please call President
> Payne
> for an interview by phone at (937)396-5573.
>
> 3. Describe in detail how you have been involved in state fundraising.
>
> 4. What part do you take in keeping your local chapter engaged in the
> national federation of the Blind?
>
> 5. What arrangements have you made to assist in getting you to
> the national convention?
>
> 6. How long have you been a member of this affiliate?
>
> 7. Complete the convention assistance form below.
>
> NFB 2017 CONVENTION ASSISTANCE FORM
>
> Name:
> Street Address:
> City, State, Zip:
> Phone:
> Email:
>
> Number of adults planning to attend:
> Number of children planning to attend:
>
> Date of arrival:
> Date of departure:
>
>
> WHAT TYPE OF ASSISTANCE DO YOU NEED?
>
> 1. Hotel Room: Yes or No. If No, skip this section.
>
> This applies to a single adult, are you willing to share a room with one
> to three other adults? Yes or No. If Yes, are there any habits or
> health problems that your roommate should know about? Please explain. Do
> you
> have a guide dog? Yes or No.
> Have you made a room reservation? Yes or No? If Yes, what name is
> the
> reservation listed under?
> 2. Food stipend: Yes or No.
> Food allowance is $40 a day per adult and $20 a day per child.
>
> 3. Transportation: Yes or No.
> If you are driving, NFBO will reimburse 48 cents per mile. What is the
> mileage from your home to the location of the convention?
> If you have already made transportation arrangements, please explain what
> they entail.
>
> 4. Convention Fees: Yes or No.
> registration is now available online at nfb.org and by mail. We urge
> everyone to save money by pre-registering.
>
> If you are requesting cash assistance in advance, you will have to sign an
> expense reimbursement form, which you will receive from President Richard
> Payne. Without a signed blank form that we will fill out with the amount of
> cash granted, we cannot advance any funds to you.
>
> Please return this completed form and your personal letter of request by
> email to rchpay7 at gmail.com or mail to the following address. No faxes will
> be accepted.
> NFB of Ohio
> Po box 20544
> Kettering, Ohio 45420
>
> Richard Payne
> President, National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
> Your message is ready to be sent with the following file or link
> attachments:
>
> NFBO 2017 national Convention Assistance Form
>
>
> Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent
> sending or receiving certain types of file attachments. Check your e-mail
> security settings to determine how attachments are handled.
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> ------------------------------
>
> Subject: Digest Footer
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> End of Ohio-Talk Digest, Vol 111, Issue 1
> *****************************************
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