[Nfbkabs] FW: The Braille Monitor, December 2007
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-----Original Message-----
From: brl-monitor at nfbcal.org [mailto:brl-monitor at nfbcal.org] On Behalf Of
Brian Buhrow
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 4:23 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: The Braille Monitor, December 2007
BRAILLE MONITOR
Vol. 50, No. 11 December 2007
Barbara Pierce, editor
Published in inkprint, in Braille, on cassette, and by email by
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
Marc Maurer, president
National Office
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
telephone: (410) 659-9314
email address: nfb at nfb.org
Website address: http://www.nfb.org
NFBnet.org: http://www.nfbnet.org
NFB-NEWSLINE® information: (866) 504-7300
Letters to the president, address changes,
subscription requests, and orders for NFB literature
should be sent to the National Office.
Articles for the Monitor and letters to the editor may also
be sent to the National Office or may be emailed to bpierce at nfb.org.
Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about twenty-five dollars per
year. Members are invited, and nonmembers are requested, to cover the
subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation
of the Blind and sent to:
National Federation of the Blind
1800 Johnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES
ISSN 0006-8829
Copyright© 2007 National Federation of the Blind
Vol. 50, No. 11 December 2007
Contents
Convention Bulletin 2008
Avoiding a Big Testing Headache
by Peggy Elliott
Resolution 2007-08
Attorney Parnell Diggs Set to Improve Attitudes
by Jan A. Igoe
Parnell Diggs
Attorney, Musician, Family Man
The Fear Factor
by Mark Stracks, MD
Federationist Gets New Job
Pointers to Help VR Counselors
by the NFB of Ohio Board of Directors
Blind Penn State Graduate Chemist Developing Lab Equipment for Disabled
Students
by Bekka Coakley
Spotlight on Affiliate Action
Ask Miss Whozit
Distinguished Educator of Blind
Children Award for 2008
by Sharon Maneki
The 2008 Blind Educator of the Year Award
by David Ticchi
Holiday Hints and Helps, Part 2
by Barbara Pierce
A Blind Sherlock Holmes: Fighting Crime with Acute Listening
by Dan Bilefsky
Social Security, SSI, and Medicare Facts for 2008
by James McCarthy
Recipes
Monitor Miniatures
[LEAD/PHOTO/CAPTION: Each December the National Center staff has a holiday
party in Members Hall in the Jernigan Institute. Here staff members enjoy
dinner at the party. Those who choose to can participate in a staff-wide
gift exchange. Throughout December holiday-wrapped packages proliferate
under the tree.
A high point of the party is the performance of the Christmas Carol
Parody Singers. Pictured here wearing their Santa hats are (left to right)
Terri Uttermohlen, Jim McCarthy, Melissa Riccobono, Mark Riccobono, Karen
Zakhnini, and leader of the group Chris Danielsen. Until mid-November, we
were still struggling to get the construction company to repair the
Institute Atrium so that the marble wall tiles do not loosen and fall. Here
are the specially written lyrics to "Oh Christmas Tree;"
Oh atrium, oh atrium,
Your marble walls we need to mend.
Oh atrium, oh atrium,
We want you fixed by March's end.
You are so beautiful to see.
Your echoing is missed by me.
Oh atrium, oh atrium,
I have some glue that I can lend.]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: The Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas]
Convention Bulletin 2008
**********
It is time to begin planning for the 2008 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind. This year we are returning to Dallas and the
beautiful Hilton Anatole Hotel, site of the 2006 convention.
Once again our hotel rates are the envy of all. For the 2008
convention they are singles, doubles, and twins, $61; and triples and
quads, $66. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at
present is 15 percent. No charge will be made for children fifteen and
under in the room with parents as long as no extra bed is requested. Please
note that as of November 1, 2007, the hotel became a no-smoking facility.
For 2008 convention room reservations you should write directly to
the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas 75207, or
call (214) 761-7500. The hotel will want a deposit of $60 or a credit card
number. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your
card immediately, just as would be the case with a $60 check. If a
reservation is cancelled prior to June 1, 2008, $30 of the $60 deposit will
be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.
Guest-room amenities include cable television, coffee pot, iron and
ironing board, hair dryer, and high-speed Internet access-this last for a
fee. Guests can also enjoy one indoor and two outdoor pools as well as a
fully equipped health club and tennis courts.
The Hilton Anatole has six restaurants, several bars, and even a
disco. Nana, open only for dinner, offers a five-star dining experience
with panoramic views of the city and prices to match. La Esquina Restaurant
and Tequila Bar, with luncheon buffets and full dinners, offers south-of-
the-border fare with a Texas flair. At Common Ground in the atrium you will
find light breakfast and lunch fare. The Rathskeller Sports Bar provides a
basement hideaway for lunch or dinner. The Gossip Bar is open for light
breakfasts and lunch and is an evening hot spot. The Terrace is an open-air
café open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. See later issues of the Monitor
for information about tours and other attractions in the Greater Dallas/Ft.
Worth area.
The 2008 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be a
truly exciting and memorable event, with an unparalleled program and
rededication to the goals and work of our movement. Make plans now to be a
part of it. The schedule this year is a departure from what many of us
think of as the usual one. Preconvention seminars for parents of blind
children and other groups and set-up of the exhibit hall will take place on
Sunday, June 29, and adjournment will be Saturday, July 5, at 5:00 p.m.
Convention registration and registration packet pick-up for those who
registered online will begin on Monday, June 30, and both Monday and
Tuesday will be filled with meetings of divisions and committees, including
the Tuesday morning annual meeting, open to all, of the board of directors
of the National Federation of the Blind.
Immediately following the NFB March for Independence-the Walk for
Equality to Victory Plaza, the general convention sessions will begin on
Wednesday, July 2, and continue through the afternoon of Saturday, July 5.
The annual banquet will take place on Friday evening, July 4. To assure
yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, you must
make reservations early. The hotel will be ready to take your call or deal
with your written request by January 1.
Remember that as usual we need door prizes from state affiliates,
local chapters, and individuals. Once again prizes should be small in size
but large in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. As
a general rule we ask that prizes of all kinds have a value of at least $25
and not include alcohol. Drawings will occur steadily throughout the
convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly
impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet. You may bring door
prizes with you or send them ahead of time (identifying the item and donor
and listing the value in print and Braille) to Denise Hopper, 3726 Dutton
Drive, Dallas, Texas 75211, phone (214) 339-3697.
The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology; meetings of
our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; memorable tours
arranged by the Texas affiliate; the most stimulating and provocative
program items of any meeting of the blind in the world; the chance to renew
friendships in our Federation family; and the unparalleled opportunity to
be where the real action is and where decisions are being made--all of
these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2008 national
convention. We'll see you in Dallas in 2008.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Peggy Elliott]
Avoiding a Big Testing Headache
by Peggy Elliott
************
From the Editor: The following article and resolution deal with the
topic of standardized testing for blind people, a subject of immediate
personal interest to many of us and our families, and general interest to
those of us who sometimes advocate for blind students and job seekers. To
the careful reader they teach several important lessons. One is that
blindness accompanies us into every facet of life and that, the more
complex the setting, the more complex must be any solutions that include
blind people. Another is that even the most complicated settings can be
modified to be blind-user-friendly if blind people apply enough knowledge
and advocacy. Yet another lesson is that our path to solutions is always
made immeasurably smoother by finding and partnering with people of good
will.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) looms large in the standardized
testing field, and Federationists have been immensely lucky in finding a
person of vast good will at ETS, Ruth Loew, who has been coming to the
student meetings at the Washington Seminar and the national convention for
a number of years now. While her responsibilities at ETS include handling
all disabilities, she has been wise and clever enough to understand the
Federation's position that blind people are largely an identifiable and
routinely handled subgroup of the broader disabled community. Through her
attendance at Washington Seminars and the focus groups and field-testing of
ETS products that she has conducted at national conventions, she has come
to know many capable blind people and has applied what she has learned and
observed to her professional work.
The following article grew out of a talk Ruth gave several years ago
at the Student Mid-Winter Seminar at which she mentioned a little-known
method allowing blind students to achieve standard blindness accommodations
simply and with relatively little bother. Through further conversations
with Federationists on the subject, Ruth has clarified and strengthened
this simplified route for ETS test takers to such an extent that it is now
routine at that company. The biggest problem blind test takers now report
is their inability to apply for accommodations in ETS testing at more or
less the last minute. Through Ruth's interaction with the Federation, the
ETS application process has been greatly simplified. The article below
describes this process and contains important information for potential ETS
test takers. More important, in this sense ETS serves as a role model for
other test owners and administrators, whose processes for achieving
standard blindness accommodations are much more complicated and difficult.
The 2007 resolution reprinted after the following article defines as
Federation policy an approach with all test owners and administrators for
establishing a simple, clear path like the one ETS is already using.
Peggy Elliott is second vice president of the National Federation of
the Blind. She has spent countless hours grappling with the access problems
blind people face in taking standardized tests of all kinds. The good will
and clear understanding established between Peggy and Ruth Loew are
responsible for the signal progress that ETS and we have made on behalf of
all blind test takers. Here is Peggy's explanation of what we have
accomplished together:
************
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) is one of the names about which most
blind people have come to feel less than warm. There are two reasons for
this lack of warmth, only one of which blind people share with the rest of
the country. The first is that most people seeking to attend college or
graduate school or enter professions-blind and sighted alike--have
encountered an ETS test at the gateway of admission either to school or to
a profession. The role of ETS as the keeper of the gate through which we
must successfully pass to achieve our goal causes anxiety in most of us,
blind and sighted alike. The second reason for coolness we share with other
disabled students only: the stress involved in seeking and acquiring
accommodations for taking the test.
With ETS tests, however, it turns out that many blind students actually can
avoid this second cause for headaches, leaving us, like our sighted
counterparts, with merely the universal anxiety to account for our feelings
about ETS. To describe this headache-avoidance technique, I'm going to use
simplified terms. I'll add the ETS technical terms in a few places and
Website information at the end of the article so that potential test takers
can find the desired information in ETS online or printed material.
Let me also specify that this technique works only for tests in which
accommodations are administered by ETS. These include the GRE (Graduate
Record Examinations), the Praxis teacher licensure series, the Test of
English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Test of Spoken English (TSE),
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and the
TExES Teacher Licensure series. Other testing agencies such as ACT and the
Law School Admission Council (for the LSAT) administer other standardized
tests, and their approaches to accommodations may or may not mirror those
of ETS. And, although ETS creates the tests for many of the College Board's
programs, such as the SAT and AP tests, the College Board, not ETS, itself
establishes the accommodations policies for its tests. People planning to
take a non-ETS test should carefully check the rules of the agency handling
the test they are facing.
The headache-avoidance technique takes advantage of a poorly
understood ETS method for requesting accommodations known as the
Certification of Eligibility (COE). I call this the "short route" to
distinguish it from a full documentation review by a panel of experts
retained by ETS, which I call the "long route." In a nutshell, for blind
test takers the short route provides a method for establishing eligibility
for accommodations because of blindness and then choosing and being granted
routine accommodations normal for blind people, but only if the potential
test taker carefully follows very specific rules. The payoff for following
the rules with care is that the set of required documents is small and
precisely defined, and the ETS response is much quicker and more
predictable.
To use the short route, a potential blind test taker recruits an
official familiar with him or her, such as a vocational rehabilitation
counselor or college disability services provider, to certify that the
person is blind and routinely uses the requested accommodations in college
or work. ETS recognizes certain accommodations as typical ones for blind
people: Braille, recorded audio, large print or screen magnification,
scribes, and human readers. ETS also treats time and a half or double time
to complete a test as routine for a blind person. To trigger the short
route, the applicant submits the certification from one official, the
applicant's choice of medium, and the request for extra time, if desired.
Submitting anything else may divert the application to the long route with
all the time and frustration this longer route can occasion. Please note
that this explanation is simplified for readers of this article and that
the details for the short route are specifically provided by ETS in its
online and printed publications. And, please, please note that providing
any document beyond those specified for the short route can divert the
application into the long route, with its much longer timelines and its
paperwork requirements.
It's my guess that most blind students qualify for the short (COE) route
and accidentally drop themselves into the long (documentation review) route
by adding paperwork not required by the short route, adding to the stress
of the pre-test time. This accidental move to the long route arises out of
the ETS policy of examining everything the test taker sends. The ETS legal
staff has laid down a very firm rule that the short route is available only
to an applicant who specifically follows the short-route rules and who does
not offer any additional information. If an applicant intends to use the
short route but nonetheless adds a letter from an eye doctor or the results
of the last vision assessment or a stack of forms from a college
documenting blindness and the accommodations used, ETS legal staff has
ruled that ETS must assume that this documentation was provided because the
applicant wants this additional material to be evaluated. The result is
sometimes that the application cannot be considered as a short-route
application and must be moved to the long route, which entails external
review by ETS consultants.
This internal processing rule may trip up a lot of blind students. Blind
students ourselves, along with parents, teachers, and college officials
working with blind students, are very used to explaining a lot. If someone
asks a question or challenges a proposed method or wants to discuss an
alternative, we and those working with us explain and explain and explain.
It becomes a way of life, which is understandable, since blindness is a low-
incidence disability. In other words, few people know very much about
blindness, so we are forever explaining how we do things and why we do them
in certain ways. We have all long since learned that most people not only
don't know anything about blindness; they make assumptions about us that we
have to anticipate and explain away, or the assumptions will cause
substitution of wrong or ineffective solutions assumed necessary by
uninformed members of the public in place of our carefully thought-out
plan. It is this explaining that can get us in trouble with the ETS short
route and can bump the applications of blind people into the long route.
That route is long because ETS contracts with professionals in various
fields to provide individual professional opinions on the disability
diagnosis and the appropriateness of the requested accommodations. These
can be granted in full, granted in part, or denied, based on this
individual, file-by-file professional review. Such a review is essential in
many cases of learning disability, attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder, psychiatric disability, and traumatic brain injury. These
disabilities are invisible and very, very individual. The long route gives
ETS a professional judgment about the exact nature of the disability, the
resultant functional limitations, and the reasons the requested
accommodations are justified.
This long-route-review process is also necessary for blind people who
have additional disabilities, whose blindness is recent, who are requesting
unusual accommodations (for example, specialized computer equipment), or
whose requests present other complexities. Those blind applicants who wish
to use an accommodation or combination of accommodations other than the
typical ones should recognize that they must build in a longer time between
application and the accommodations decision because their applications will
be submitted to the document-review process by experts in the field,
referred to in this article as the long route. The task of such applicants
is to show that the accommodations they request are the ones they
customarily use and that they do so for reasons specifically rooted in
their disability and often the length of time they have been disabled.
People who have been blind longer have usually had more time to master ways
of doing things than people who have lost their sight more recently. Of two
blind applicants, one may be able to take advantage of more of the standard
options than the other. Thus for many blind students the expert review is
not needed or wanted while for others documentation review is the only way
to take a high-stakes test the way they are used to studying or working.
As a side note, blind people can more readily understand some of the
questions asked of all disabled applicants by ETS in light of this
potential for individual file review by professionals. Much of the
information is sought to allow the file reviewer to assess the disability
and the methods the individual customarily uses to deal with that
disability. We've probably all read those questions and thought to
ourselves: "Why do they need to know that? Isn't it obvious that I'm blind
and just need Braille or a human reader?" The answer to these questions is
that, for most blind ETS test applicants, ETS knows perfectly well that it
doesn't need a stack of documentation, so they have created the short-route
application process for this very reason.
Some blind people are triggering file review when it is not really
necessary. For others, the file review may be necessary due to the presence
of additional disabilities or due to recent onset of blindness. But, if
recent onset is explained straightforwardly enough and other short-route
rules are followed, recently-blinded applicants may reach the short route
as well. Please remember: the applicant should ask for only the
accommodations he or she actually wants to use. There is folklore in the
disability community that it's best to ask ETS for more accommodations than
are actually needed because then, even if ETS denies some of the
accommodations, it will still grant some others. This is bad advice for
blind applicants. A straightforward request for Braille will very likely be
approved without delay, but a request for Braille, audiocassette, reader,
and a CCTV magnifier will cause processing delays because no one test taker
could use all those media simultaneously. If an applicant needs a
combination of accommodations and the reason for such a combination might
not be obvious because it is rooted in the applicant's own personal
situation and not blindness in general, then the applicant should provide a
few lines of explanation. Please remember to keep the explanation simple
and straightforward such as "I need both Braille and a reader because,
though I prefer Braille, I have only been using it for about two years, and
I'm not 100% fluent. I may need a reader for backup."
Even if you qualify for and carefully design your application to take
advantage of the short route, plan to register for the test and apply for
accommodations as soon as possible. The need to take ETS and other
standardized tests can be anticipated well in advance by most test takers,
and applying for accommodations even months in advance is a good strategy
in case the test owner or administrator is slow. At least at ETS some
commonly requested tests are already on the shelf in alternate formats
while others, usually those less frequently requested, are not. So if a
blind student needs a test in Braille, it is possible that the test will
have to be produced to order, which can add weeks to the time between
requesting accommodations and being scheduled for a test date. Also a
request for a reader may mean that ETS needs time to prepare test materials
for the requested test, since ETS often creates scripts so that readers are
told exactly how to describe graphics or present other nonprose material.
Time can also be required for preparation of tactile graphics for blind
test takers working with readers. All these circumstances suggest applying
and seeking accommodations months in advance if possible and accepting any
test date provided, even if it is not the same date as that issued to one's
sighted peers. It's more important to pass the gatekeeper than to do things
just like one's sighted peers, who do not need to request accommodations or
wait for production of Braille.
Here are a few additional tips that may speed up processing or avoid
unnecessary delays for some ETS test takers: particularly for Praxis II
tests, be sure to request the correct test number. A surprising number of
accommodations requests are delayed because the test taker was using out-of-
date information and requested a test that is no longer offered or is no
longer required by his or her state. For those blind and low-vision test
takers who do need to use the long route and are planning to submit
documentation for review, ETS now has a form for your optometrist or
ophthalmologist to fill out indicating exactly what information is needed
to evaluate the request. And for all applicants for ETS tests: if in doubt,
check ETS printed or online resources, and, if the answer is not obvious or
clear, ask. For example, if you're not sure what provision will be made for
handling graphics if a reader reads you the test, ask a customer service
representative: <stassd at ets.org>, (866) 387-8602.
Here in slightly more detailed language is a step-by-step description
of the short route, loosely taken from the ETS Website describing the
Certification of Eligibility (COE):
(1) The blind applicant has a track record of accommodations used in
the workplace or in college;
(2) The blind applicant's DSS provider, VR counselor, or HR
representative has documentation on file that meets ETS standards and will
vouch for this fact; and
(3) The only accommodations the test taker requests are certain
typical ones (Braille, recorded audio, large print or screen magnification,
reader, scribe, or time and a half or double time).
Under these circumstances the approval of accommodations is generally
simple and, relatively speaking, quick. However, as has already been
mentioned, if the applicant adds any information not specifically named in
the short-route rules, then that application may be moved to the long-route
pile.
For most of us testing is a fact of modern life with which we must
deal, like it or not. For blind students the added necessity of getting
exceptions from the standard method of administration can add another layer
of stress and pressure. For all blind students who can take advantage of
the ETS shortcut (COE) accommodations application procedure, following the
rules meticulously can result in this step's being handled with a minimum
of stress. Now we can all look forward to ETS and other test owners and
administrators' adding access to tests by computer to that list of typical
options for blind test takers on at least some of its tests. There are
strong indications that ETS is working hard on this urgently needed and
surprisingly complex approach to test administration, and all blind people
should cheer on an organization working to identify computer testing as
appropriate for them.
************
Resources:
Disability information on the ETS Website:
<http://www.ets.org/disability>
Specific information on how to apply for accommodations, including all
necessary forms, is in the "Bulletin Supplement for Test Takers with
Disabilities," available in pdf format at
<http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/0708_hed_bulletin_supplement.pdf>.
This publication is also available in plain text format for screen reader
compatibility at
<http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/GRE/pdf/0708_hed_bulletin_supplement.txt>.
----------
RESOLUTION 2007-08
Regarding Accommodations for High Stakes Testing
WHEREAS, Americans encounter high-stakes testing in at least four
pivotal contexts: gateway testing, which determines admission to
undergraduate and graduate school; K-12 standardized-progress testing,
which assesses both schools and individual performance and, among other
results, determines high school graduation in some states; mastery-of-
skills testing, used most often to ascertain a student's mastery of a
subject for correct placement in or satisfaction of college course
requirements; and licensure testing, through which numerous professions
grant or withhold permission to practice a profession; and
WHEREAS, all four types of tests are standardized and administered
under rigid security and advance or admit successful test takers to a
desired and desirable result; and
WHEREAS, blind citizens of all ages share the dread and the hope of
their sighted counterparts when approaching any high-stakes test, but blind
citizens carry an extra and onerous burden because our methods of reading
and writing do not fit into the definitions of standardization and the
parameters of security of the high-stakes testing industry; and
WHEREAS, each blind citizen who approaches one of these test contexts
does his or her best with inadequate tools, manages some solution, and
moves on, leaving the context unchanged for the next blind victim since the
testing context itself is rigidly individualized and demands that each
participant enter and leave alone; and
WHEREAS, standardized test providers and administrators range from
large private companies to state governments to professional associations
to combinations of any two or three, rendering the solution of one person's
testing difficulties irrelevant to a different person struggling at the
same time in the same city with a different set of owners, providers, and
administrators; and
WHEREAS, a partial list of these difficulties includes no access to
practice materials and tests in alternative media; unnecessarily complex
and burdensome procedures for testing in an alternative medium, which often
results in postponing a key testing event to the disadvantage of the blind
person; refusal of test owners and/or administrators to allow testing in a
medium commonly used by blind people; refusal of test owners and/or
administrators to design computer testing to include blind test takers;
demands by test owners and/or administrators for administration in outmoded
alternative media; and refusal of test owners and/or administrators to
recognize that not all human readers are good readers and that meeting and
pretraining a human reader is an appropriate accommodation; and
WHEREAS, these broad failures and the many quirky variations upon
them experienced by an ever-growing line of blind test victims are almost
impossible for a single test taker to combat and overcome due to the
complexity of ownership and responsibility, the time-sensitive nature of
most high-stakes testing, and the smokescreen raised by all too many test
owners and administrators that accommodations for the blind will, they say,
breach test security or invalidate standardization; and
WHEREAS, the result for blind people of this sprawling high-stakes
testing mess is that high-stakes testing of the blind tests the stamina,
perseverance, determination, and creativity of every blind test taker
before the testing day is ever reached and then all too often tests his or
her ability to train a human reader under stressful conditions or to use an
unfamiliar reading medium under stress rather than the purported purpose of
the test itself, leading to scores often wildly at odds with the student's
potential or the professional's routine performance, an outcome that allows
standardized testing to brand blind victims as underachievers when they are
merely being scored for taking a high-stakes test under adverse and often
adversarial circumstances; and
WHEREAS, modern methods of production of materials, including tests,
in alternative media have long since eliminated any rationale for the lack
of high-stakes tests in the medium to which a blind test taker is
accustomed; and
WHEREAS, most testing unfairness victimizing blind students could be
eliminated by the careful crafting of requirements governing the use of
high-stakes testing in educational contexts by the U. S. Department of
Education (DOE), which could by regulation adopt a Testing Bill of Rights
for the Blind in cooperation with high-stakes testers and the National
Federation of the Blind which would mandate the use of modern production
methods for practice and test materials, the elimination of unnecessary
delays in achieving routine accommodations for blind citizens, and the
abandonment of prejudices concerning alternative media along with requiring
test authors to test subjects or mastery rather than the ability to see or
to train a reader; and
WHEREAS, the U. S. Department of Education has regulatory authority
that reaches from K-12 through graduate schools and is also concerned with
licensure testing for teachers, meaning that its regulations would cover
most high-stakes testing, and the areas not specifically covered by DOE
regulations would soon be positively affected by a resolution of this
problem with which all test owners and administrators ineffectually
wrestle: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this sixth day of July, 2007, in the city of Atlanta, Georgia,
that this organization forcefully draw to the attention of the U. S.
Department of Education the urgent need for a Testing Bill of Rights for
the Blind and the Department of Education's responsibility and opportunity
to solve the high-stakes testing challenge so frightening and yet so
important to America's blind citizens in a way very different from the
testing difficulties of other citizens; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization use all persuasive and
legal means at its disposal to bring about a regulation which can be known
as and which can function in reality as a Testing Bill of Rights for the
Blind.
------------
Consider a Charitable Gift
Making a charitable gift can be one of the most satisfying
experiences in life. Each year millions of people contribute their time,
talent, and treasure to charitable organizations. When you plan for a gift
to the National Federation of the Blind, you are not just making a
donation; you are leaving a legacy that insures a future for blind people
throughout the country. Special giving programs are available through the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB).
Points to Consider When Making a Gift to the National Federation of the
Blind
Will my gift serve to advance the mission of the NFB?
Am I giving the most appropriate asset?
Have I selected the best way to make my gift?
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Benefits of Making a Gift to the NFB
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Your Gift Will Help Us
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Your gift makes you a part of the NFB dream!
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Parnell Diggs]
Attorney Parnell Diggs Set to Improve Attitudes
by Jan A. Igoe
************
From the Editor: The following story appeared on October 18, 2007, in
the Myrtle Beach Sun News. Parnell Diggs is president of the NFB of South
Carolina and the newest member of the National Federation of the Blind
board of directors. The story is exactly the message that we hope Meet the
Blind Month media and public education efforts will carry. Here it is:
************
As a child, Parnell Diggs's parents wouldn't cut him any slack. He
was expected to excel in school, do his share of the chores, and take out
the trash just like every other kid in his Charlotte, North Carolina,
neighborhood, sighted or not.
Diggs, thirty-eight, a Myrtle Beach attorney who has been blind since
birth, wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He views blindness as a
neutral characteristic with no more intrinsic significance than blond hair
or olive skin. As president of the National Federation of the Blind for
South Carolina, he's out to challenge any other perception, especially
during October, which is Meet the Blind Month. "I don't think it's all that
bad to be blind. Blindness is not what it used to be," he said. "In the
olden days we had to hunt and gather, be good with a bow and arrow. Now we
go out and buy frozen dinners."
Diggs suspects that those who equate misery with blindness simply
don't know any blind people. Even his parents, who raised Parnell to be
"the exception to the rule" didn't realize what normal lives and
aspirations most blind people have, he said. Technology has opened up new
worlds for those without sight. People who are blind or vision impaired
have become craftsmen, professors, scientists, computer whizzes,
entrepreneurs, and even medical doctors. But of an estimated ten million
Americans who have significant sight impairments, less than 50 percent are
employed, according to the American Foundation for the Blind. Diggs thinks
that unemployment figure is actually closer to 75 percent.
"There is a presumption that blind people will not be able to do the
job as well. The struggle is not blindness. The struggle is attitudes," he
said. "If you're choosing sides for baseball, the blind person is
handicapped. If you're choosing sides for a quiz show, it's equal." He
recalls graduation day from the University of South Carolina when "they
sort of stopped me. They wanted to present me: 'Look what we've done. We
got a blind guy graduating,'" he said. "But they wouldn't have hired me."
Diggs said he couldn't even land a job with his dad's law firm, where his
father was one of three partners. So father and son ventured out together.
Today Diggs shares an office with his assistant, Tracey Weiland, who
handles most of the paperwork and all of the driving. A photo of his wife
Kim and seven-year-old son Jordan is the only ornament on his orderly desk.
His royal blue notebook, thick with client records, lies at his fingertips.
Diggs doesn't sweat much about confidentiality because everything's written
in Braille.
His computer communicates through a speech synthesizer in JAWS for
Windows, which also outputs to Braille displays. He uses the keyboard to
input data. Weiland said he can touch-type faster than she can. Email and
Web access are no problem. "I start drafting letters and rely on Tracey to
make the margins wide enough. I hate it when you leave one word on the next
page," he said. "That's kind of tacky. The only thing I can't do is check
her work. That puts me at a little disadvantage. I want to make sure it's
visually and aesthetically pleasing."
How he senses these things may baffle sighted people, but Diggs said
people have been explaining the difference between stripes and polka dots
to him since preschool. "People tell me how something looks. They take my
hand, move it across the fabric," he said. "I have to care about it.
Whether you're sighted or not, you want to look presentable."
Diggs's practice is about 60 percent Social Security and disability
work, with a sprinkling of criminal cases, such as last month's murder
trial. Everything from drafting wills to handling divorces is fair game,
but disability cases he accepts on contingency are trickier. "If [my client
is] blind, it's a slam dunk. If you're sighted, walking and talking, it's
harder to prove you're disabled," Diggs said. "It's a situation where
someone can't work anymore, you have to win. When you win a case, they tend
to refer you. Guess they wouldn't if you lost all the time."
Deidre Edmonds, Horry County probate judge, has known Diggs for about
four and a half years and holds his work in high regard. "He really does a
good job representing people in the probate court," Edmonds said. "He
represents everyone to his fullest ability, whether he's been retained by
the client or appointed by court for an indigent client. He's certainly
doing a service to the people in this county."
Seeing Diggs navigate hallways with his white cane is pretty familiar
to people around the courthouse, Weiland said. Prospective clients are
another matter. "If we have a new client who doesn't know he's blind,
they'll be taken aback," Weiland said. "But as soon as they meet him and
realize how capable he is, they're fine with it."
Diggs insists that he's a pretty normal guy, though Weiland said he
routinely commits complex client records to memory without breaking a
sweat. "I don't have a better memory. I'm not smarter. I don't have better
hearing," Diggs said. "My wife will tell you that I don't hear her 95
percent of the time." Diggs met wife Kim in high school, when she was a
senior and he was a sophomore. It took him four hours to convince her to
date him. "I didn't want her to think about it. Girls always want to think
about it," he said. "She is one of the most intelligent people I've ever
met. She can solve complex problems in life with relative ease."
When Diggs isn't working on behalf of clients or his blind brethren,
he's practicing for his upcoming tenor solo performance with the Master
Chorale. He learns the music by recording it at practice and having the
lyrics read to him. "When we sing in a foreign language, I'm in the same
boat as everyone else," he said.
"Given the choice of $1 billion or 20/20 vision, I'd take the money.
What would I do with 20/20 vision? I'm married. I'm self-employed. I have a
child. The sky's the limit. I just can't drive myself."
------------
Parnell Diggs
Attorney, Musician, Family Man
************
From the Editor: This seems a good place to print the biography of
Parnell Diggs that appears on the NFB Website as part of the online version
of the publication, "Who Are the Blind Who Lead the Blind."
************
Parnell Diggs was part of the initial generation of Braille-reading
students to enter first grade in the public schools of Charlotte, North
Carolina. It was 1975, and the president of the United States had just
signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, known today
as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the landmark
legislation guaranteeing all disabled children the right to a "free,
appropriate, public education in the least restrictive environment."
Diggs had been born blind because of detached retinas, and two things
were absolutely certain. First, public school officials in Charlotte at the
time did not want to admit him into a classroom with sighted children, and
second, they had no choice but to do so if the school system was to qualify
for public funding. Further complicating the matter was the fact that Bill
and Nancy Diggs simply refused to accept the limitations for their son that
society ordinarily placed on blind children.
Young Diggs did not disappoint. He unequivocally demonstrated that he
could acquire the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic alongside his
sighted peers. But he always looked forward to the end of the school day.
In the yards, woods, and streets of his childhood, he climbed trees, rode
bikes, shot BB guns, and played quarterback on the neighborhood Pop Warner
football team after his family relocated to Columbia, South Carolina.
He taught his younger brother Holland how to play first base, how to
step out of the batter's box until he was ready for the pitch, and how to
wrestle. Holland was sighted, and he taught Parnelli--his family called him
Parnelli--the things in life most of us take for granted: how to dance,
shrug his shoulders, and give the thumbs-up sign. They remained close until
Holland's untimely death in 2005 at the age of thirty-three.
In high school Diggs participated on the varsity wrestling team and
made the South Carolina Honors All-State Chorus, and, while his friends
were earning spending cash bagging groceries, he was earning good money
singing and playing the guitar in Columbia area restaurants.
In 1989 Diggs met Kenneth Jernigan and Donald Capps, two leaders who
had dedicated their lives to helping their blind brothers and sisters.
Jernigan and Capps shared a message of promise and achievement for the
blind and talked about how the blind could accomplish more through
collective action. Diggs quickly embraced their reasoning and passion.
Before long Diggs recognized that the full integration of blind
people into society would be his life's work; and though he was busy double
majoring in political science and religious studies, working, and
maintaining a social calendar, it seemed to him that the best way to help
himself as a blind person was to become a member of the National Federation
of the Blind.
In 1991 Diggs was invited to participate in an NFB leadership
seminar, where he received intensive instruction from NFB President Marc
Maurer. Diggs was strongly influenced by Maurer's leadership style and has
put much of what he learned during that seminar into practice in carrying
out his own leadership responsibilities since that time. It was also in
1991 that Diggs attended his first National Federation of the Blind
convention during the week of July 4. Before arriving in New Orleans that
summer, he had read Dr. Floyd Matson's eleven-hundred-page history of the
first fifty years of the National Federation of the Blind, Walking Alone
and Marching Together, in its entirety and any other related materials he
could find.
Diggs was learning that other blind people thought as he did: that
blind people could exceed society's expectations. But the key to full
integration was acceptance by society into the places where sighted people
lived and worked. In short, he came to know that complete social acceptance
of the blind lies at the intersection of training and opportunity.
By the summer of 1992 Diggs had completed his first year of law
school and was working as a law clerk at the South Carolina Office of
Appellate Defense, the state agency responsible for handling criminal
appeals and post conviction relief applications for indigent defendants.
There he acquired the skills of legal research and oral argument and
learned to interact with clients in the facilities of the South Carolina
Department of Corrections. Walking into the Edisto Unit of the Broad River
Correctional Institution was perhaps the most memorable experience for
Diggs during his time at Appellate Defense.
This was where they housed death row inmates in the early nineties,
recalls Diggs. "There is nothing like walking through five or six sets of
heavy metal electronic doors, each set slamming behind you as you move
deeper into the facility, and never more than one set is open at a time. It
created the feeling that any attempt to escape would be futile."
Diggs accepted a position as a law clerk in a private firm in 1993
and continued to hold this position after he was hired as a page in the
South Carolina Senate. At one point in 1994 Diggs, a newlywed, was juggling
his final semester of law school with two part-time jobs. He had married
Kimberly Dawn Gossett (his high school sweetheart) on May 22, 1993. The
couple relocated to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1995 when he accepted
a full-time position with the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.
Diggs was given the responsibility of administering rehabilitation programs
for the agency in a four-county area. In 1997, at the age of twenty-eight,
he opened a private law practice in Myrtle Beach, where he remains in
practice today.
Diggs was first elected to the National Federation of the Blind of
South Carolina board of directors in 1992, and he has been reelected every
two years since. He was appointed by Governor Jim Hodges to the governing
board of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind in 1999 and again in
2002 and was twice confirmed by the State Senate. This appointment made him
the only person ever to have been a client, an employee, and a member of
the governing board of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.
In 2000 Donald Capps announced that he would not seek reelection as
president of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina and
recommended that Diggs be elected in his stead. Diggs was elected
unanimously and has held the presidency ever since. In 2007 the nation's
blind community elected him unanimously to the board of directors of the
National Federation of the Blind.
As a private practitioner Diggs has argued before the United States
Court of Appeals in the 4th and 8th Circuits and has represented some three
hundred clients in federal administrative proceedings. While he is no
longer playing requests in local restaurants, music continues to be an
important part of his life. He sings first tenor in the Carolina Master
Chorale in Myrtle Beach and serves on the organization's board of
directors. Diggs sang the role of Remendado in the Carolina Master
Chorale's production of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen in June of 2006.
The Diggses have one son, Jordan, born on January 12, 2000. As he
pondered his son's future, Diggs made the following observation: "Jordan
will be told that he is less fortunate than other children are because his
dad is blind-but, thanks to the National Federation of the Blind, he won't
believe it. Blindness is not a tragedy. With proper training and
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to the level of a physical nuisance.
I am determined that this is the message of blindness that my son will hear
most."
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr. Mark Stracks]
The Fear Factor
by Mark Stracks, MD
************
From the Editor: Dr. Mark Stracks is a member of the board of
directors of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania. He and
his wife Kristen are active members of the Happy Valley Chapter of the
Pennsylvania affiliate. He delivered the following address at the NFB of
Pennsylvania's 2006 convention.
************
The story is told of a homeless man who sought refuge and shelter
inside a rail car in a large, urban train-yard at the end of the day. He
apparently attempted to close the door, either to conceal himself or to
fend off the elements. To his surprise the door locked, and it was only
then that he realized that he had shut himself inside a refrigerator car
with no way out.
He must have yelled, he might have pleaded, and perhaps he prayed.
What is clear, however, is that he managed to write down his thoughts as he
felt his demise approaching. He wrote of getting colder and colder, he
wrote of finding it harder and harder to breathe. His last words trailed
off as he slipped from consciousness. In the morning, when attendants
opened the car door, they found the homeless man dead inside. Apparently he
had succumbed to the cold and lack of oxygen. But had he? Authorities
calculated that he had had an ample supply of air to survive the night.
Moreover, the refrigerator car was broken; the temperature outside never
dipped below the midfifties Fahrenheit.
I heard this story told at a business conference some years ago. The
speaker was trying to make the point that our thoughts are powerful and
that they can drive our destinies. I've thought about this story a lot over
the years. What lessons can we take from this tale?
In the practice of psychiatry, my profession, I often spend a great
deal of time with clients trying to help them understand why they act in
certain ways or think about things with certain preconceptions. While it
may be considered an oversimplification from a technical standpoint, I have
come to believe that people think, feel, and act out of two basic
constructs. These are the fear of something or the desire for something.
Sometimes the thing that is feared is desired, and sometimes the thing that
is desired is feared. Neither is a logical process; this is very important
to understand. We are, by nature, emotional beings, and, if we do not train
ourselves to avoid it, by default we will react with emotion.
Why should we choose to think about this topic in the context of
blindness? After all, we are gathered here this weekend, the membership of
the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania
affiliate of a national organization and a movement that for more than
fifty years has defined the upward mobility of blind people. We come here
to convene in friendship and brotherhood. We come here to unite on issues
important to us. We come here to debate the pathways to our horizons and
beyond. Why talk of fear?
I have been an active member of this organization since 1992, and I
have been an advocate concerning blindness for nearly twenty-five years. In
following all of our legislative, technological, and social achievements as
a group, I remain puzzled by one fact. The more we demonstrate that the
blind can achieve security, equality, and opportunity, the more obvious it
becomes that a number of those who could and should achieve these goals do
not. Now I am not referring to those individuals who strive for their goals
but are stymied in their pursuits by inept bureaucracies such as
Pennsylvania's own beloved state agency. I am not referring to those who
are the victims of deliberate and calculated discrimination. I am referring
to those who never make it out of the starting gate, to those who don't
dare to think beyond where they are to what they want. I would suggest that
fear plays a role
What do we know about fear? Fear is defined by Webster's Dictionary
as "anxious concern," or "reason for alarm." When it is dramatic, we are
aware of the cause. Many of us have had the experience of walking along a
street when suddenly a car horn honks behind us or a car alarm goes off
nearby. We are startled, we get concerned about what caused the car to honk
or the alarm to go off, and we react. The one thing that is always true
about fear is that something causes it. Nothing in the definition of fear,
however, says that any particular thing must cause it, and in fact we find
that what evokes fear in one individual often does not in another.
It is the nondramatic causes of fear, the little things that lead us
to question inwardly our abilities, our desires, our very goals that I wish
to talk about today. I would suggest that consideration of this subject is
relevant for those of us who struggle to advance ourselves in the setting
of our own blindness and those who work to help others. It is an important
subject for those who are blind and those related to those who are blind.
It is important for those who lead in our chapters and affiliates, and this
means it is important for all of us because in one way or another every
member of the National Federation of the Blind leads.
The one binding and universal fact of human interaction is that we
interact as humans. That is, we bring the entirety of our experiences,
beliefs, successes, and failures to the table when we interact with another
person. Each experience that we have, good or bad, leaves an impression
upon us, and the succession of experiences that we have through a lifetime
builds one upon the other. We easily understand the simplest examples. My
three-year-old daughter counted to twenty-four this weekend. Several weeks
ago she couldn't count to twenty without skipping fourteen and sixteen. It
even became a joke after a while. But my wife and I would always approach
the joke with a giggle and encourage her to keep trying, and lo and behold,
she even got past twenty. Let us consider a more subtle example, however. I
once saw a Vietnam veteran in therapy for nearly a year. This man was
isolated from his family; he hadn't seen his grown children in years. He
had grown up a practicing and devout Catholic, and he hadn't gone to church
for years longer than he hadn't seen his children. As I came to know this
man, it became clear to me that this was not the way he always had been. He
had considered himself a family man, as I said, a devout Catholic, and he
enjoyed being with people in general. As with many veterans of war, it was
his time in war that had affected him. But he was not a combat soldier; he
was in charge of entertainment and helping to orient incoming troops to the
culture of Vietnam.
With time and work we both came to understand that it was one tragic
experience that this man had had in wartime that had scarred him. Now this
is the key point. This man had not forgotten the experience; he remembered
it clearly. What he had never done was to make the association between what
he had gone through and the way he had changed. He had never made the
association because he had been afraid to make it. What had happened to him
caused such guilt, such shame, and such self-reproach in his own mind that,
in the more than thirty years since the Vietnam War had ended, he had been
completely unable to deal with the incident on his own. At first glance
this may not seem as dramatic as the honking car, and certainly it is far
more convoluted. The only real difference, however, when you get right to
it, is that we understand what makes us fearful when we consider a honking
car. This man did not understand, and he paid dearly for that for many
years.
This is an extreme example, but I make it for a reason. In order to
understand what drives fear, we must understand ourselves. If I want to
achieve a goal and if time goes on and on and I do not reach that goal, it
would be good for me to ask myself what is holding me back. I should make
the point here that I believe that people are capable of achieving anything
that they want to. It may not be easy, it may not happen quickly, but I see
no reason why any person cannot achieve any goal. So, if I am capable and I
am not achieving, why is that? Assuming that no system is holding me back,
assuming that I can navigate any bureaucracy that might want to hold me
back, the only thing left standing in my way is myself. I would suggest,
then, that, if we come to a point where we think that we are holding
ourselves back, it is quite possible that this is occurring out of fear.
We in the National Federation of the Blind are in a unique position.
We stand at the forefront of an ongoing revolution that is moving blind
individuals, once relegated to economic and social obscurity, to the
forefront of the possibilities of achievement. We have the tools to
navigate the bureaucracies. We have the expertise to fight wanton
discrimination, and we have the knowledge to educate and raise up any
individual who is blind. We have these things, and we have used them every
day for more than fifty years in our organization. But I return to a
question that I raised early on. Why does it seem like so many do not get
out of the starting gate? Why do we still seem to leave so many behind?
To give an explanation of every cause of fear is beyond the scope of
my talk today. Nor would I suggest that everyone needs to run home and set
up an appointment with a therapist to ensure that he or she has mastered
any underlying fears. I would suggest the following. It is important for
all of us to take a long and hard look inside if we are not achieving all
that we want to do. It is important to think about the things that we have
been taught by individuals or groups who may have reacted to our blindness
out of fear. Certainly society as a whole has done this. Witness the idiocy
of truncated domes--millions upon millions of dollars spent to allay the
fears of sighted people who don't understand the value of appropriate
mobility tools, mobility training, and the confidence that use of these
bring to blind people.
Witness the attempts of organized education to hold blind people back
for fear that they cannot manage the rigors of regular education, or the
fear of those educators who suggest that not every blind child need learn
Braille because they don't want the child to look different or feel
different. Worse, some fear that their power as educators might be
threatened! They don't apparently worry about the difference that people
without high school diplomas feel, or the difference felt by those who
can't find employment because they cannot read effectively. Witness parents
of blind children who, albeit out of love, try to protect their children
from the bumps, bruises, and lessons of life that sighted children learn in
order to grow and prosper? Isn't it at least possible that, as we are
exposed to these influences over and over again, some of the fears that
drive these individuals and groups will rub off on us? Might we start to
believe some of the things that they say? Do we see anything in our
experience that suggests another possibility?
The best antidote to fear is understanding, and the best source of
understanding comes from association with those with a proven track record
in the area of interest. When it comes to blindness, no one understands it
better than we do. When it comes to overcoming blindness, no one does it
better than we do. When it comes to setting an example for future
generations for achieving their goals and dreams, no one creates an example
better than we do. We, therefore, are the response to fear. Our vision, our
passion, ourselves: we are the cure, but we must be attuned to the problem.
We must understand that surely those outside of our ranks and many within
our ranks still carry the fears fostered by sometimes well-meaning, but
unknowing people--fears fostered by people influenced by their own fears, a
vicious and perpetual cycle that we in the National Federation of the Blind
work hard to break every day. It is not a question of whether we will have
to help others deal with their fears; it is just a question of who and
when. Probably someone did the same for each of us in the past, perhaps on
multiple occasions. Fear is not something to be ashamed of; it is something
to be recognized and addressed. When the car honks, fear can protect us.
When we let fear of stepping out and being all that we can be rule our
destinies, then fear hurts us.
I have been privileged to be a part of and to work in this
organization for many years. God willing, I will continue for many more to
come. I do so because I believe that we are the best at what we do and that
no one has the ability to help more blind people in a more complete way
than we do. This organization helped me to understand myself more than I
did before I came to it, and I am certainly not the only one to make that
claim. As we move forward in our quests for security, equality, and
opportunity, let us bear in mind that part of our job is to make the fear
factor a null factor.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes
needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Eleanor Roosevelt once
said, "You gain strength, experience, and confidence by every experience
where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you
cannot do." Andrew Carnegie once said, "If you want to conquer fear, don't
sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy." And, as quoted from
Wordsworth:
What are fears but voices airy?
Whispering harm where harm is not.
And deluding the unwary
Till the fatal bolt is shot.
It was true during times of great crisis for our country; it was true for
my client who fought in Vietnam. It is true for each of us here today. Let
us decide once and for all to make the fear factor go away.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: The Rev. Sam Gleese]
Federationist Gets New Job
************
From the Editor: The Rev. Sam Gleese is a member of the board of
directors of the National Federation of the Blind and president of the NFB
of Mississippi. Now he is also the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
coordinator for the city of Jackson. He began his job on October 1, and the
Jackson Daily News published the following story by Vicky King about the
appointment on October 14, 2007:
************
For the first time in more than a decade, the city of Jackson has an
employee dedicated to improving government services for disabled residents.
"If people with disabilities are going to finally be a part of the
city, they have to be at the table where decisions are made," said Sam
Gleese, who was hired by the mayor on October 1. "The public, in general,
has not taken the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) very seriously. The
message is, for us, the ADA is the same as the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
Gleese, who is blind, has been an advocate for the disabled community
since the late 1980s. He is a National Federation of the Blind board member
and has worked as a project director for Coalition of Citizens with
Disabilities and for Living Independence for Everyone of Mississippi, Inc.
As the city's ADA coordinator Gleese, a Jackson resident, is
responsible for ensuring that the city follows federal laws when designing
public buildings, planning public events and meetings, and making other
decisions that may affect disabled residents. Not only is the coordinator
position helpful for the disabled community, it also is required by federal
law. During the years Jackson had no ADA coordinator, it was in violation
of the law and could have been subjected to federal mediation had it not
come into compliance.
Mayor Frank Melton said he wanted someone from the city's disabled
community to fill the position. "I want to go to the source and get as much
help as possible because they live it every day," he said. "This was
something that was really important to me because I haven't been there."
But Gleese also faces an uphill struggle. Because the city has not
had an ADA coordinator for years, Gleese will have to forge his place in
city administration. He said his first goal will be to learn the details of
the Americans with Disabilities Act. "I have a broad knowledge of the ADA
law, but I need to be somewhat more familiar," Gleese said. "I won't be
memorizing all the statutes, but I need to review them so I know where to
go to find what I may need." Gleese said he also wants to set up a system
for evaluating where the city has shortfalls, starting with public
transportation and employment of people with disabilities.
Complaints against the city's bus service flared up again a few
months ago among disabled riders who claim many of the regular buses are
ill equipped to carry passengers in wheelchairs. Riders also said the
Handilift bus service, which is strictly for disabled riders, was not
adequate because it is too difficult to schedule.
In late September more than two dozen disabled residents protested
outside City Hall until the mayor came out to speak with them. Sitting
outside on the steps, Melton promised to hire a coordinator. Melton also
said he supported improving JATRAN, though he cut JATRAN's budget for the
upcoming year by more than $200,000. After hiring Gleese, Melton said he
wanted the Public Works Department to fix bus stops that are not accessible
to riders with disabilities. But he did not give a timeline in which the
improvements would be done.
Gleese, whose position is full-time, will earn $40,000 a year. The
money will come from the mayor's office budget.
Christy Dunaway, executive director of Living Independence for
Everyone, said besides better public transportation the city also needs to
improve its housing stock. "I don't think we have enough accessible and
affordable housing," she said. "We've heard about some of the poor
conditions of HUD housing. The city could improve on that."
The hiring of an ADA coordinator is a "great first step" toward
solutions, she said. However, many wonder whether the mayor will make good
on his promise to work with Gleese and the disabled community. "The
disability community will be watching and monitoring (the mayor's office)
closely to ensure that there is follow-through," Dunaway said. "The
committee we want to see created will help with that."
The committee, which has yet to be appointed, should consist of
disabled residents from each of the city's seven wards, Gleese said. The
committee would hear grievances from residents concerning services and work
with city administrators to fix problems. Melton told the group of disabled
residents during their meeting outside City Hall that he was open to
working with a committee. "Whenever they want to set a meeting will be fine
with me," Melton said.
------------
Pointers to Help VR Counselors
by the NFB of Ohio Board of Directors
************
From the Editor: The following document is the product of
brainstorming by the board of directors of the National Federation of the
Blind of Ohio. We kept hearing complaints from blind people whose
vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors regularly treated them with
casual rudeness or complete obliviousness to the tenants of simple courtesy
when working with blind people. At the invitation of the state blindness
agency director, Mike Hanes, we prepared this document, which was then
circulated throughout the agency. It seems to have been well received, so
we thought it might be helpful to affiliates and state agencies in other
parts of the country as well. Here it is:
************
This document is intended to be of use to VR counselors with little
or no previous experience dealing with blind people. Part of your job is to
minimize blindness as an issue in your interactions with customers. The
painful truth is that people seeking assistance from the state agency for
the first time may be very far from comfortable with their disability. In
fact, you may be the first person they come in contact with who knows
anything about blindness. Being made to feel awkward or not in command of
their physical situation will distract the consumer and make your job
harder. So here are some tips for coming to terms with blindness yourself
and helping to put your customers at ease.
************
The First Visit to the VR Office
************
Consumers who come to your office for the first time are already at a
disadvantage. They may well not know how to travel confidently with a cane,
and they are unfamiliar with the layout of the VR offices and the
configuration of the furniture.
When you enter the room, walk straight to the consumer and speak
directly to him or her. Introduce yourself. Note whether the person extends
a hand to shake yours. Most adults meeting for the first time or in a
business setting, which this is, shake hands. You can initiate a handshake
by saying, "Let me shake your hand." Blind people will then usually extend
the right hand so that you can grasp it. Even if you have to lean forward
and take the person's hand, this is probably worth doing. It communicates
the message that you consider that you are dealing with an adult who is
your equal. Never leave the customer standing with a hand extended while
you ignore the gesture. Even if you are uneasy, stifle the impulse to pace
around the room. A person who is trying by ear to follow your movements and
look in your direction will have difficulty fixing on a moving target. If
you do need to change your position in the room, speak as you move so that
the other person has a chance to follow your movement by ear. When you are
concentrating on doing something, it may be difficult to remember to
generate enough sound to provide audible notice of where you are and what
you are doing. But remember that for a blind person silence is like having
a fog bank roll down, leaving him or her isolated and uncertain of what is
going on and whether others are still in the room. It should go without
saying that, when you step out of the room, you should mention this little
fact to the blind person.
Make every effort to address the blind person directly rather than
anyone else who may have accompanied him or her. You can glance at the
sighted person from time to time, but your attention should remain on the
consumer, even if you question whether your message is getting through.
When the time comes for the customer to sign forms or agreements, you
can do several things to be considerate. No responsible adult should be
expected to sign a document without knowing what it says. You can read it
aloud to the customer, or, if he or she has an accessible computer or other
means of reading a document before the meeting, you can send a paper or
electronic copy to the person's home address. But, if you are sending an
electronic file, be certain that the document is a file that a screen
reader will be able to open and read. For safety sake this means no PDF and
certainly no TIF or GIF files. You should make it your business to know
which kinds of files will work with a screenreader and which will not. When
the time comes for a signature to be written, discuss how best to enable
the customer to write his or her name most easily: signature guide, crease
in the sheet on the signature line, the edge of a card, indication with a
finger where to begin. Communicating impatience or ignoring the constraints
of blindness on the consumer's ability to sign on the dotted line or even
to tell where the dotted line is is never acceptable.
From the beginning of coming to terms with their disability, blind
people must learn to speak for ourselves and command the respect of being
addressed as adults. However, some blind people have been so oppressed by
their experience of the disability and personal or family reaction to it
that they do not actually expect to be treated as adults. This is one
reason why your modeling ordinary respect and courtesy for a blind adult is
very important. We hope these suggestions seem painfully obvious; they are.
But we can assure you that we frequently hear tales of BSVI counselors who
have overlooked them. Sometimes new customers don't even know why they feel
uncomfortable in the presence of their counselors. Only we hardened old-
timers have the experience and nerve to command and insist upon the
attention and information we require and deserve.
************
Traveling with a Blind Consumer
************
You have no doubt been instructed in the fine points of acting as a
human guide. Assuming that you have successfully offered your arm for the
person to grasp above the elbow, you can begin walking. In a first meeting
this is probably only to another room and a chair. When you reach the
consumer's chair, reach out with the arm he or she is using and pat the
chair back or arm while saying something like "Here is a chair." Most
people will rapidly figure out that they can contact the chair by sliding
their hand down your arm to your hand and thence to the chair. From there
it is easy to figure out how to move around to the seat and sit down.
Occasionally you may have to pat the seat while identifying it before the
person figures out how to get there and sit down. If the customer seems
uncertain how to get from standing at your side to taking the seat, suggest
sliding a hand down your arm to find the chair back or arm or seat,
whatever you are patting. With newly blind or obviously inexperienced
people, watch carefully to be sure that the customer is following through
correctly and will in fact land on the chair seat. You can further set the
scene for the meeting by explaining that you are going around the desk to
sit in your chair, or you are going to sit over here in a chair on the
other side of the doorway.
Blind people should be encouraged to assimilate information about
their surroundings. Many of us are poor at building these mental maps
because we get little practice doing it and we are not expected to know
where we are, so it is surprisingly easy to fall into the habit of allowing
other people to haul us around, we know not where. You can help to fill the
information void. Don't make a production of it, but, as a matter of
course, introduce everyone in the room at a meeting and have each speak so
that their position in the room or around the table is obvious. In a matter-
of-fact tone you can begin the meeting by explaining where the rest room is
and how to get there. This establishes the expectation that the customer
might make that trip independently. Even if it doesn't happen, you have
established the concept that some blind people do this independently and
that this person could learn to do it too.
When walking with a consumer, call attention to landmarks within
cane's reach of your passing. Encourage the person to build a mental map
and use the cane to gather information. Anything you can do in passing to
help him or her bring these skills together will demonstrate effective cane
use. When you reach a car door, again extend your hand and tap the door to
give the person the reference point. With a bit of practice most people can
seat themselves in a car with very limited information from you. In the
name of future independence, tactfully encourage the consumer to bring the
cane along and use it as much as possible even when you are prepared to
serve as a guide.
************
Conclusion
************
You should make a practice of sizing up your customer's skill and
experience quickly and accurately. Those who are comfortable with their
blindness will convey that fact to you quickly and easily. These people
know more about what to expect from the agency and want to know that you
will treat them with dignity and respect. Ask them to identify their needs.
They are likely to know what they want, and the two of you can decide
whether or not their goals are practical or even possible. Newly blind
consumers generally have no idea what is feasible for blind people to do.
They can best be thought of as sighted people who can no longer see because
they have not yet learned how to be blind, and they often assume their
lives are over. At first your job may be to raise their sights and offer
them the possibility of hope for the future. Putting positive information
into their hands like the NFB's Kernel Books recorded by NLS or the monthly
publications of the consumer organizations can be very useful. In this way
you don't have to take meeting time to deliver pep talks.
Your long-term job is to develop an equal partnership with the
customer. You can accomplish this if respect, courtesy, and common sense
are part of your relationship from the beginning.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Cary Supalo and his adviser, DuPont Professor of Materials
Chemistry and Physics Tom Mallouk, received an NSF grant to create
equipment to help visually impaired students gain more independence in the
lab. Here Cary Supalo works on an experiment in his lab.]
Blind Penn State Graduate Chemist Developing Lab Equipment for Disabled
Students
by Bekka Coakley
************
From the Editor: On Tuesday, October 9, 2007, the following story
appeared on Penn State Live, the online news source at Pennsylvania State
University. It describes from the university's point of view what
Federationist Cary Supalo is doing to increase blind student access to
science education. Here is the story:
************
In high school, chemistry wasn't something that interested Cary
Supalo. In fact he hated it. As a blind student he wasn't allowed to
conduct any experiments--his lab partner did the work, then reported the
results to Supalo. His attitude toward the science changed in college.
Fulfilling a chemistry general education requirement at Purdue University,
Supalo met some graduate students who spent a lot more time with him in the
lab, sparking his interest in chemistry.
Today Supalo is a Penn State student working on his doctorate in
chemistry education and is developing tools to replicate that extra help he
got in the lab so that other visually impaired high school students will
have a better appreciation for the sciences. Supalo's latest project,
funded by a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Research in Disabilities Education program, was given to his adviser, Tom
Mallouk, DuPont professor of materials chemistry and physics. It is called
"Independent Laboratory Access for Blind and Low-Vision Students in
Mainstream High School Science Classrooms."
"There's a big difference working one-on-one with someone who will
explain the concepts to you," Supalo said. "It was great being able to talk
about chemistry and get answers. Chemistry gives you the potential to
discover something new that can change the world."
Mallouk, who is sighted, understands. "Most chemists are fascinated
by the results of an experiment but find it much less fun if someone does
it and tells them what happened," he said. "So that's how we started out on
this project--developing new tools, taking lab procedures, modifying them
slightly, and making them more accessible--all while working with high
school students."
Supalo completed his undergraduate degree with a double major in
chemistry and communications because he thought "a scientist should be able
to communicate." He then came to Penn State in August 1999 to get his PhD
in inorganic chemistry. When he began his doctoral degree program, he ended
up taking a different route than he originally intended.
"Cary was doing a research project, but as a blind grad student he
was having difficulty--research labs aren't really designed for blind
people to work independently," said Mallouk. "A lot of chemistry is visual.
It took him a while to finish his master's degree, and we thought it would
be a more useful thing if his PhD research involved developing enabling
tools for blind people."
Mallouk and Supalo's first grant from the NSF also was for $300,000
and was awarded in 2004. It allowed them to work with students from the
Indiana School for the Blind, testing software with a computerized voice
that narrates each step of the experiment and instruments that essentially
do the same, which they developed with Rodney Kreuter in the chemistry
department's electronics shop at Penn State. The focus of that work was to
improve the way blind students participate in the chemistry laboratory. The
work they did with the first grant was a success. However, Supalo said 75
percent of blind students are mainstreamed in public classrooms, and he
felt the tools he, Mallouk, and Kreuter created could have a greater impact
on more students. Also new tools were needed to enable a broader range of
experiments and to extend the project to physics and other laboratory
sciences.
Supalo is well connected in the national community of blind people,
Mallouk explained. He received emails from parents and teachers of students
in public schools who were interested in their work. Thus came the idea of
the second project--to mainstream the tools and instruct willing teachers
on how to use them through several online training modules. The goal is to
make the tools available as widely as possible, by posting the programs
online for free use and by making inexpensive instruments.
"There's a real push to get people with disabilities in the STEM
(science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professions," said
Supalo. He explained that people with disabilities have spent their lives
problem-solving challenges to adapt to their surroundings. He thinks the
skills they've developed to do so will enhance a career in one of the STEM
fields.
In addition to helping students who are blind, Supalo said the
instruments will even help sighted students in lecture settings because
everyone can hear the experiment being described, regardless of whether or
not their seats will allow them to see what their professor may be doing.
Supalo will spend his next three years visiting the schools that are
implementing the instruments in the classroom, collecting feedback from
students and teachers, sending newsletters, and encouraging online
interaction between the students and teachers using the instruments.
------------
[Graphic/description: The words "In the Spotlight" appear at the top of
this article, and a spotlight is shining on the words "Affiliate Action."]
Fundraising Suggestions
************
Local chapters and state affiliates of the National Federation of the
Blind must raise funds in order to support and carry out the programs
essential to our mission. They can choose any of dozens of fundraising
projects to meet their needs. As protection for chapters and affiliates,
the NFB has an organizational policy against contracting with professional
fundraisers until planners have conferred with the national president;
however, almost any other project you can imagine may well be a successful
fundraiser for you. A reasonable definition of a good fundraiser is
something the members get excited about and are motivated to work on.
Recently representatives from several states who enjoy fundraising
got together and compiled a list of some of the fundraisers they knew one
or more chapters have carried out. With imagination and energy any chapter
can do several of these projects a year and raise thousands of dollars.
Drawings:
For handmade items: quilts, afghans, sweaters, scarves; appliances; donated
merchandise from stores; baskets of gifts; or money (50/50 pot divided
between winner and organization, or specific amount).
Sales:
Sales of specially designed items such as T-shirts, canvas bags, hats, etc.
Bake sale, garage sale, candy sale, craft sale; sell NFB jewelry, NFB art
calendars; coupon books, used books; donations of products sold from
restaurants/stores, or percentage of sale donated (e.g., coffee sales in
restaurant on White Cane Safety Day or book sales in book stores on January
4, Louis Braille's birthday). Other product sales (e.g., evergreen wreaths
available from Frank Likar before Christmas, stuffed Christmas stockings,
or ice cream at an ice cream social).
Ticket Sales:
To dances; barbecues; luncheons; banquets; spaghetti, chili, Italian, etc.
dinners; concerts; gospel extravaganzas; talent/variety shows; etc.
Memorial Gifts:
Invite people to make memorial gifts to the chapter or affiliate when
members or members' loved ones die.
Entry Fees, Business Sponsors, Pledges:
Walk-a-thon, bowl-a-thon, dance-a-thon, bike-a-thon.
Collect Change at Meetings
Staff Booth/Table at Fairs, Festivals, Conventions, Shopping Malls, Etc.:
Sell items such as food, beverages, helium balloons, senior books; collect
donations while you distribute free literature and write names in Braille.
Booths may have both free items and items for sale.
Auctions:
Traditional auctions, silent auctions, Chinese auctions, art auctions, or
auctions combined with a meal or concert.
Sell Advertising:
In state convention agendas or other special events.
Grants:
Apply for general grants or grants for specific purposes such as
scholarships, NFB-NEWSLINE®, equipment, helping to send new people to
convention, providing Braille Is Beautiful kits to schools, Scout troops,
etc.
Write Something to Sell:
Cook books, activity books, etc.
Promos:
Some businesses offer special opportunities to nonprofit organizations. We
know of Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, and Outback Steak House. Contact store
managers for more information.
Items Group Can Make for Sale:
Candy wreaths, Hershey's Kiss roses, wooden crafts, greeting cards, etc.
Use your imagination.
Member Pledges at State Conventions:
To state treasury, Imagination Fund, SUN, PAC, Jernigan Fund, or tenBroek
Fund.
Car Wash
Chapters and state affiliates should plan to share income with the
national treasury. We all benefit from the activities that are coordinated
at our national headquarters, and we need to participate in supporting them
financially. Consider the Braille Monitor and Future Reflections, NFB-
NEWSLINE®, the Independence Market, the International Braille and
Technology Center, the Department of Governmental Affairs, advice on
discrimination cases, the Records Management Center, the Kernel Books, to
say nothing of the new National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute.
These and other activities benefit every blind person in the country, and
they could not happen without the kind of national headquarters we have.
As a chapter or a committee within a chapter gains experience with
the kinds of fundraisers mentioned in this list, the group may wish to take
on even bigger projects. The national president can help you make contact
with groups that are already doing large and complex fundraising events.
Not every chapter will want to or need to organize big events. Fundraising-
from the little projects to the huge ones-can be challenging, stimulating,
strengthening to individuals and chapters, and very rewarding. Of course we
need the money, but the benefits of fundraising beyond the income are every
bit as important and exciting as the money itself.
------------
[GRAPHIC/DESCRIPTION: A formal place setting, complete with placecard
bearing the Whozit logo and the words "Miss Whozit."]
************
Ask Miss Whozit
************
From the Editor: From time to time Miss Whozit answers reader
questions about etiquette and good manners, particularly as they involve
blindness. If you would like to pose a question to Miss Whozit, you can
send it to the attention of Barbara Pierce, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21230, or email me at <bpierce at nfb.org>. I will pass the questions
along. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. Here are the most
recent letters Miss Whozit has received:
************
Dear Miss Whozit,
You may think this is an odd request, but I wish you would talk about
the location and use of napkins in restaurants. I regret to say that my
family did not use napkins when I was a child, so I sometimes forget to
find and use my napkin when I am in public. But part of my problem is that
the wait staff put napkins in such odd places. So please review napkin
etiquette.
Napkin Challenged
************
Dear Napkin Challenged,
Congratulations on recognizing that dealing with your napkin is
important. You are quite right that the first challenge is to locate it. If
it has been wrapped around your knife and fork, you have an obvious
reminder about placing it in your lap. After all, when you unwrap your
tableware, you have to do something with the paper or cloth napkin after it
has been unrolled. Form the habit of placing it across your lap even before
you place your fork or forks to the left and the knife and spoon to the
right of your place at the table. If you wish to tuck the napkin into your
waistband, that is probably acceptable. But Miss Whozit discourages the
practice of using the napkin as a bib by tucking one corner into your
collar.
At a fine restaurant the waiter may offer to place the napkin across
your lap for you. Simply lean back as soon as you are seated so that this
service can be performed. If the napkin does not materialize in your lap,
you must go looking for it. You can place your fingers gently along the
edge of the table to identify any flatware that is in place. If you find
none, it is safe to hypothesize that it is rolled up in a napkin someplace
on your side of the table. It is wise to make a surreptitious
investigation. The left side of your place, perpendicular to your edge of
the table, or across the top of your place setting (if you only had one)
are the first two places to touch. If you do not encounter a rolled napkin
either place, it is likely to be anywhere. On the pretext of identifying
and adjusting your water or wine glass and your butter plate, you can
search a bit further. If this reconnaissance fails, quietly ask a dinner
companion or server for directions. It is always possible that your napkin
and silver are missing altogether or at another diner's place.
If in your investigation you discover that flatware is lined up
together at your place, it may well be lying on your napkin. You should
rearrange it, placing forks on the left, knives to the immediate right of
where the plate will be set, and spoons to the right of all knives. It is
perfectly appropriate to carry out this reorganization since the wait staff
have clearly been excused by management from setting the table properly.
If organizing your place setting does not uncover your napkin, it may
be fanned out or otherwise folded at the top of your place, where sometimes
dessert fork and spoon are laid parallel to your edge of the table. The
napkin is sometimes displayed folded decoratively where your plate will be
placed when you are served-all the more reason to find and dispose of it
properly before someone has to prompt you to remove it so that your meal
can be placed before you.
If your napkin is absent from all of these locations, check your
water glass. This has become a popular place for servers to tuck napkins,
but you must remove it soon after being seated because one of the first
visitors to the table is likely to be the bus boy pouring water.
Do not be discouraged if searching in all these locations is
unsuccessful. Quietly ask a sighted dinner companion or the server where
your napkin is lurking. The answer may be in a dispenser on the center of
the table, or you may not have been given one. In either case your query
will result in your receiving the missing napkin or at least the
information you need to find one yourself. Once you have it, just remember
to place it in your lap and use it appropriately.
Before leaving this subject altogether, I think a few remarks are in
order on the subject of disposing of your napkin either temporarily in the
middle of the meal or at the close of the meal. If you leave your seat for
any reason, fold your napkin with the soiled side tidily out of sight in
the center. Place it on the seat of your chair. This indicates that you
intend to return. When you are leaving the table, place the napkin, soiled-
side-in, to the left of your plate. One school of thought advocates
dropping the napkin in the plate as a definitive statement that you are
finished. Let us have none of that nonsense. Servers face sufficient
unpleasantness clearing tables without being asked to dispose of
gratuitously soiled napery or dripping paper napkins.
************
Dear Miss Whozit,
I am a blind mother of sighted children. My older child has recently
started asking to have other children come play at our house and sometimes
stay the night. I am delighted by this request of course, but quite often,
rather than letting their children come to my house, the other parents ask
if my child can come to theirs. I can't help wondering if this is partially
due to my blindness and their assumption that I will not be able to look
after the children properly.
Along the same lines, as my daughter gets older, I find that complete
strangers often comment that she must be a big help to me and that it must
be nice to have my own personal guide. How do I handle these ridiculous and
quite erroneous comments? Similarly, picking up on the comments of
strangers, my daughter has begun to try to lead me around and make comments
about how she can show me where to go. How do I gently yet definitively set
the record straight?
************
In Charge but Uncertain
************
Dear In Charge,
I fear that I know of no indirect, tactful, and sure-fire method for
solving your various difficulties. I agree with you in suspecting that they
all stem from the fact of your blindness. Nothing but dealing directly and
effectively with this issue will educate other parents, strangers, and even
your daughter. This said, Miss Whozit believes that honesty and tact are
not incompatible goals in resolving such matters. For example, when you
call another parent to work out a play date, only to encounter an
invitation for your daughter to go to the other child's home to play, you
might say, "I understand that you may have reservations about my ability as
a blind person to provide a safe and well-supervised environment for your
child. The fact that my children have never had anything more than the
usual mishaps that occur with all children can hardly reassure you without
knowing me better. But it is also true that my daughter wants to be hostess
sometimes, and it is important to me to shoulder my part of the
responsibility for supporting the girls' friendship. Perhaps you could come
with Cindy this first time, and we could get to know each other over
coffee. I think you may be much more comfortable once you see how things
work at our house."
Unless the other parent is beyond hope, the combination of honesty,
maturity, and understanding in a comment like this will require her to
accept your invitation. Then it will be up to you to convince her by your
competence and good management that her fears are groundless. You might
give her a copy of Mary Ellen Gabias's article, "The Play Date," from the
January 2005 issue of the Braille Monitor. It speaks directly to the
problem you are having.
Dealing with the attitudes of strangers and your own daughter
requires less tact and more clarity. Rudeness in your response is certainly
uncalled-for, but in both these situations you aren't seeking permission
for something you wish to do, simply telling others how things are and are
going to be: "In our family the adults make the rules and take
responsibility." You could go on to say to your daughter, "I may ask you to
read a street sign or building number from time to time, but I will keep us
safe as we walk." If you are pleasant, faintly amused at the idea that a
child should be in control, and firm in your rejection of a topsy-turvy
world in which children are in control, you will calmly demonstrate being
in charge and gently reject as absurd the notion that you are dependent on
your child. The more clearly you project this attitude, the less other
people with sense will make silly assumptions. It will not silence all the
fools, but it should arm you against their nonsense.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Sharon Maneki]
Distinguished Educator of Blind
Children Award for 2008
by Sharon Maneki
************
>From the Editor: Sharon Maneki chairs the committee to select the
Distinguished Educator of Blind Children for 2008.
The National Federation of the Blind will recognize an outstanding teacher
of blind children at our 2008 convention next July. The winner of this
award will receive an expense-paid trip to the convention, a check for
$1,000, an appropriate plaque, and an opportunity to make a presentation
about the education of blind children to the National Organization of
Parents of Blind Children early in the convention.
Anyone who is currently teaching or counseling blind students or
administering a program for blind children is eligible to receive this
award. It is not necessary to be a member of the National Federation of the
Blind to apply. However, the winner must attend the national convention.
Teachers may be nominated by colleagues, supervisors, or friends. The
letter of nomination should explain why the teacher is being recommended
for this award.
The education of blind children is one of our most important concerns.
Attendance at a National Federation of the Blind convention will enrich a
teacher's experience by affording him or her the opportunity to take part
in seminars and workshops on educational issues, to meet other teachers who
work with blind children, to meet parents, and to meet blind adults who
have had experiences in a variety of educational programs. Help us
recognize a distinguished teacher by distributing this form and encouraging
teachers to submit their credentials. We are pleased to offer this award
and look forward to applications from many well-qualified educators.
Please complete the application and attach the following:
1. A letter of nomination from someone (parent, coworker, supervisor, etc.)
who knows your work;
2. A letter of recommendation from someone who knows you professionally and
knows your philosophy of teaching; and
3. A letter from you discussing your beliefs and approach to teaching blind
students. In your letter you may wish to discuss topics such as the
following:
4. What are your views about when and how students should use Braille,
large print, tape recordings, readers, magnification devices, computers,
electronic notetakers, and other technology?
5. How do you decide whether a child should use print, Braille, or both?
6. When do you recommend that your students begin instruction in the use of
a slate and stylus, of a Braille writer?
7. How do you determine which students should learn cane travel (and when)
and which should not?
8. When should keyboarding be introduced?
9. When should a child be expected to hand in print assignments
independently?
National Federation of the Blind
Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award
2008 Application
Deadline: May 15, 2008
Name:_______________________________________________________
Home address:_________________________________________________
City:________________________________________________________
State, Zip:____________________________________________________
Phone: (H)____________________(W)____________________________
Email:______________________________________________________
School:______________________________________________________
Address:_____________________________________________________
City, State, Zip:_________________________________________________
Use a separate sheet of paper and answer the following:
List your degrees, the institutions from which they were received, and your
major area or areas of study.
How long and in what programs have you worked with blind children?
In what setting do you currently work?
Briefly describe your current job and teaching responsibilities.
Describe your current caseload (e.g., number of students, ages, multiple
disabilities, number of Braille-reading students).
Attach the three required letters to this application, and send all
material by May 15, 2008, to Sharon Maneki, chairwoman, Teacher Award
Committee, 9013 Nelson Way, Columbia, Maryland 21045; (410) 715-9596.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: David Ticchi]
The 2008 Blind Educator of the Year Award
by David Ticchi
************
From the Editor: Dr. David Ticchi is president of the NFB of
Massachusetts and an experienced educator in his own right. He was named
Blind Educator of the Year in 1998. He chairs the 2008 Blind Educator of
the Year Award Selection Committee. This is what he says:
************
A number of years ago the Blind Educator of the Year Award was
established by the National Organization of Blind Educators (the educators'
division of the National Federation of the Blind) to pay tribute to a blind
teacher whose exceptional classroom performance, notable community service,
and uncommon commitment to the NFB merit national recognition. Beginning
with the 1991 presentation, this award became an honor bestowed by our
entire movement. The change reflects our recognition of the importance of
good teaching and the impact an outstanding blind teacher has on students,
faculty, community, and all blind Americans.
This award is presented in the spirit of the outstanding educators
who founded and have continued to nurture the National Federation of the
Blind and who, by example, have imparted knowledge of our strengths to us
and raised our expectations. We have learned from Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr.
Kenneth Jernigan, and President Marc Maurer that a teacher not only
provides a student with information but also provides guidance and
advocacy. The recipient of the Blind Educator of the Year Award must
exhibit all of these traits and must advance the cause of blind people in
the spirit and philosophy of the National Federation of the Blind.
The Blind Educator of the Year Award is presented at the annual
convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Honorees must be
present to receive an appropriately inscribed plaque and a check for
$1,000. Nominations should be sent to Dr. David A. Ticchi, Newton North
High School, Adams House, 360 Lowell Avenue, Newtonville, Massachusetts
02460. Letters of nomination must be accompanied by a copy of the nominee's
current résumé and supporting documentation of community and Federation
activity. All nomination materials must be in the hands of the committee
chairman by May 1, 2008, to be considered for this year's award. For
further information contact David Ticchi, (617) 559-6253.
------------
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Barbara Pierce wires pine cones into artificial greenery.]
Holiday Hints and Helps, Part 2
by Barbara Pierce
************
In the December 2005 issue of the Braille Monitor we published an
article that discussed holiday baking and included several of my favorite
recipes. Periodically someone asks me to write a similar article passing
along some of the recipes that I only mentioned in the first one. So, in
response to popular demand, here is part two of Holiday Hints and Helps:
I try hard to contain the holiday season so that it begins the day
after Thanksgiving and ends on Twelfth Night, January 6. No matter which of
the major American religious and cultural holidays your family celebrates,
this five weeks or so includes them. The one exception I often make to this
self-imposed limitation is to bake my fruit cakes as early in November as I
can manage. If you do not have a constitutional bias against all fruit
cake, you might try making this moist fruit-and-nut-filled cake.
************
White Fruit Cake
Ingredients:
1 pound candied fruit
1 pound red or green candied cherries
1 pound raisins
1 pound walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
2 sticks butter or margarine
6 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour, divided
1 scant cup orange juice
Brandy
************
Method: Day ahead, in a large bowl or pot with a tight-fitting lid,
combine fruits and nuts and pour about one cup of brandy over them. Stir to
coat all the fruit and nuts. Cover and allow to stand for about twenty-four
hours. Stir several times. Before assembling the cake, sprinkle a cup of
flour over the fruit and stir it in well. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine sugar and butter and
cream well for several minutes, until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the
eggs, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the lemon and vanilla
extracts, baking powder, and salt. Alternately add the remaining two cups
of flour and the orange juice. When batter is combined, fold in the fruit
and nuts and be sure that all the flour and brandy are well mixed in.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Prepare a 10-inch tube pan or three
9-by-5-inch loaf pans by greasing the pans and then lining them with foil
paper. Then grease and flour the foil. If using loaf pans, divide the
batter evenly among the pans. Arrange pans in a larger pan and pour an inch
of water into the outer pan. Bake cakes on the center rack of the oven
until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
Halfway through baking, remove the cake or cakes from the hot-water bath
and finish baking them dry. Cakes usually take from three to six hours to
bake, depending on the size of the cake. Remove baked cakes to a cooling
rack. Allow to stand for about ten minutes before loosening cake edges by
running a thin knife blade around the perimeter of each pan. If you are
using a tube pan to bake one large cake, remember to loosen the cake from
the center tube as well. Invert cake on a plate. Remove foil from bottom
and sides and replace cake, right-side up, on the rack to cool completely.
When cakes are room temperature, wrap them in fresh foil or slide them into
plastic zip-lock bags and pour more brandy over them before tightly closing
the packaging. Store in a cool place. You may sprinkle on additional brandy
each week before slicing the cake during the holidays. You don't want it to
get soggy, but brandy will keep it from drying out. I double this recipe
and use the cakes as Christmas gifts for special friends who appreciate
fruit cake.
************
If the December holidays mean any single, universal thing, it is
probably entertaining. We plan parties and spontaneously invite others over
to visit. Families get together, and friends drop in bearing gifts. It is
always a great idea to have refreshments on hand to offer guests. Some
years ago David Andrews, who faithfully keeps NFB-net and many of our
listservs up and running, gave me the following delicious nonalcoholic
recipe that is actually comforting to the sore throats of cold sufferers.
It can be served hot or cold and keeps in the refrigerator for a month. It
is tasty with both sweets and savories.
************
Cranberry Tea
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh cranberries
10 whole cloves
2 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup red hot candies
Water
Juice of three lemons
Juice of three oranges
************
Method: In a covered saucepan bring cranberries and cloves to a boil
in one quart of water. Reduce heat and simmer long enough for the berries
to pop and the water to be well colored. Pour the water through a sieve to
remove cloves and berry seeds and skins. In another bowl combine red hots
and sugar and pour a quart of boiling water over them. Stir to dissolve.
Combine cinnamon sugar water and cranberry water and add the lemon and
orange juices. This is the tea concentrate. Store it in the refrigerator.
To serve, add two more quarts of water and heat or serve cold. I dilute the
concentrate by guess and by golly by just adding a bit less than an equal
amount of water to the concentrate I need for my guests.
************
During this past year we have published a number of recipes in the
Monitor that would make wonderful holiday gifts for friends and neighbors.
Here is a spectacular bar cookie suitable for serving to your own guests or
giving to neighbors as part of a platter of homemade treats.
************
Chocolate Highlander Bars
************
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectionery sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
4 eggs
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups chocolate chips, melted
1/3 cup confectionery sugar
************
Method: Using a food processor fitted with its knife blade or two knives
scissor-fashion, combine first four ingredients to make a crumbly dough and
pat into the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for fifteen
minutes. Meanwhile beat four eggs well and add sugar, melted butter, baking
powder, salt, and flour with mixer on low. Stir in melted chocolate chips.
Pour batter over crust and bake at 350 degrees for twenty-five minutes.
When cookies are done, sprinkle with 1/3 cup confectionery sugar and cut
into small bars before chilling. If you like chocolate, these are
unforgettable.
************
Lots of blind people feel insecure about decorating for the holidays.
You can make your decorating dollars go further if you gather pine cones in
your yard or the woods. To get them to open wide, line a cookie sheet with
foil and arrange the cones in a single layer. Then dry them in a very slow
oven, perhaps 200 degrees, for several hours. The pine cones will gradually
open and stay open. You can pile them in a pretty glass bowl or large
hurricane shade and add a bright loop of ribbon and large bow, and there
you have an instant arrangement for coffee table or buffet. You can also
work a six-inch length of twenty-eight-gauge green or brown wire around the
base of the pine cone and twist one end around the shank of the wire,
leaving a tail that you can use to fasten the cone to a pine wreath or a
branch of real or artificial greenery. Add berries or glass balls to the
arrangement and perhaps some little bells or silk flowers, and you are well
on your way to creating a memorable table or door decoration. You can also
wind gold, silver, or sparkly garland or strings of tiny lights into a
wreath or length of pine roping, real or artificial, for use on your door
or to festoon your staircase.
By the time I have made it to Christmas Eve each year, for better or
worse I figure that I have made it through much of the stress of holiday
preparation: the cards are in the mail, the house is decorated, the
packages for out-of-town friends and family are on their way, and almost
all the rest are wrapped and under the tree. Holiday meal preparation is my
one mountain left to climb. Since the children were small I have been
baking Stolen (German Christmas bread) for Christmas and New Year's morning
breakfasts. I usually double the recipe to make four loaves so that I can
give some away to special friends and still have enough to enjoy fresh
before we open gifts on Christmas morning and still have a loaf to freeze
for a week as well.
************
Stolen
************
Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/3 cup raisins
1 cup candied cherries
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Confectionery sugar icing
************
Method: Heat milk and butter just until butter melts and mixture is
comfortably warm to the touch-about 110 degrees. Stir in the sugar.
Dissolve yeast in water and stir into the milk mixture. Be sure that it is
not too warm. Cover the pan and allow to rest in a warm place for about ten
minutes. If the yeast is lively, the mixture will be bubbly. In a large
bowl measure two cups of flour. When yeast mixture is bubbling well,
carefully pour all of it into the flour. Begin beating the flour mixture
with an electric mixer. You can do this with a wooden spoon if you enjoy
exercise. Add the three eggs, beating well after each. Add salt and a half
cup of flour. This will make a thick batter. Gradually work in the
remainder of the flour. Eventually you will have to turn the dough out onto
a floured board to knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about ten
minutes. Clean and butter the bowl and return dough to it, turning once to
butter the top side. Cover the dough with a clean damp towel and place bowl
in a warm (eighty-five degrees), draft-free place to rise till dough
doubles in bulk.
Punch it down and release all the air from the dough. Work in
raisins, cherries, and slivered almonds. You can then divide the dough into
three equal pieces and roll each into a 12-by-7-inch oval. Fold each
lengthwise and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover loaves with a damp
towel. Allow to rise in a warm place till again doubled in bulk.
Those are the instructions from my original recipe, but I now divide
the dough in half and divide each half into three equal pieces. I then
shape ropes and braid them, three strands in each, to make two loaves that
will fit into a greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Again, brush the tops with
melted butter and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise in a warm place
until double in bulk. Bake loaves at 350 degrees for twenty-five to thirty-
five minutes, till loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove to a cooling
rack to cool completely.
Serve warm or reheat to serve. Before serving, combine confectionery
sugar and a teaspoon or so of rum extract. Then slowly stir in just enough
milk to achieve spreading consistency for the icing. If you add too much
milk, add more sugar. Quickly spread icing over top and down sides of loaf.
Slice and serve with butter.
************
Every year, when we have finally packed away the holiday decorations,
entered the changed addresses from the cards we have received, and settled
down to shed the extra pounds that holiday feasting has saddled us with, I
marvel anew at just how much all of us accomplish during these shortest
days of the year. May your holiday season this year be filled with laughter
and good cheer, and may the year ahead bring challenge and opportunity to
you and yours, wherever you live.
------------
A Blind Sherlock Holmes: Fighting Crime with Acute Listening
by Dan Bilefsky
************
From the Editor: The following story appeared on Monday, October 29,
2007, in the International Herald Tribune. The view of blindness it
expresses is in some ways startlingly different from American expectations
of normal competence for blind people, but despite the limitations accepted
by everyone as part of being blind, a new job for blind people seems to
have been established in Belgium. Here is the story:
************
Sacha van Loo, thirty-six, is not your typical cop. He wields a white
cane instead of a gun. And from the purr of an engine on a wiretap, he can
discern whether a suspect is driving a Peugeot, a Honda, or a Mercedes.
Van Loo is one of Europe's newest weapons in the global fight against
terrorism and organized crime: a blind Sherlock Holmes, whose disability
allows him to spot clues sighted detectives don't see. "Being blind has
forced me to develop my other senses, and my power as a detective rests in
my ears," he said from his office at the Belgian Federal Police, where a
bullet-riddled piece of paper from a recent target-shooting session was
proudly displayed on the wall. "Being blind also requires recognizing your
limitations," he added with a smile, noting that a sighted trainer guided
his hands during target practice "to make sure no one got wounded."
Van Loo, a slight man who has been blind since birth, is one of six
blind police officers in a pioneering unit specializing in transcribing and
analyzing wiretap recordings in criminal investigations. An accomplished
linguist who taught himself Serbo Croat for fun, he laments that he is not
entitled to carry a gun on the job or make arrests. But such is his acute
sense of hearing that Paul van Thielen, a director at the Belgian Federal
Police, compares his powers of observation to those of a "superhero."
When police eavesdrop on a suspected terrorist making a phone call,
van Loo can listen to the tones dialed and immediately identify the number.
By hearing the sound of a voice echoing off a wall, he can deduce whether a
suspect is speaking from an airport lounge or a crowded restaurant. After
the Belgian police recently spent hours struggling to identify a drug
smuggler on a faint wiretap recording, they concluded he was Moroccan. Van
Loo, who has a library of accents in his head, listened and deduced he was
Albanian, a fact confirmed after his arrest.
"I have had to train my ear to know where I am. It is a matter of
survival to cross the street or get on a train," he said. "Some people can
get lost in background noise, but as a blind man I divide hearing into
different channels. It is these details that can be the difference between
solving and not solving a crime."
Grappling with his handicap, he says, also has given him the thick
emotional skin necessary for dealing with the job's stresses. "I have
overheard criminals plotting to commit murder, drug dealers making plans to
drop off drugs, men beating each other up. Being blind helps not to let it
get to me because I have to be tough."
The blind police unit, which became operational in June, originated
after van Thielen heard about a blind police officer in the Netherlands and
was looking at ways to improve community outreach. He made the connection
that blind people could prove more adept than the sighted at listening to
and interpreting wiretaps. That idea, he says, was given added impetus
after the Belgian government passed a law a few years ago giving the police
extended powers to use wiretaps in the investigation of thirty-seven areas
of crime, including terrorism, murder, organized crime, and the abduction
of minors.
The police also recognized that blind officers like van Loo could be
particularly valuable in counterterrorism investigations because wiretap
recordings--derived from a phone tap or bug placed in the safe house of a
terrorist group--are often muffled by loud background noise, requiring a
highly trained ear to discern voices. Alain Grignard, a senior
counterterrorism officer at the Brussels Federal Police, notes that
wiretaps proved instrumental in the recent arrests of a large terrorist
cell in Belgium recruiting for the insurgency in Iraq.
Beyond his keenly developed ears, van Loo is also a trained
translator who speaks seven languages, including Russian and Arabic--a
skill Grignard said makes him indispensable, since his knowledge of accents
can help him to differentiate between, say, an Egyptian or Moroccan
suspect. "You need every edge in a terrorism investigation, and a blind
officer with languages could be a powerful weapon."
The Belgian police say they were amazed at the number of qualified
blind applicants for the posts. Scoring high marks on a hearing test was a
prerequisite for the job, as was being at least 33 percent blind. Van
Thielen, the police chief, says he was forced to turn away dozens of
applicants whose sight was too good, including one so-called blind man who
shocked police recruiters by arriving at his interview in a car.
Recruiting blind people posed other challenges, van Thielen recalls.
Because they would be used almost exclusively for wiretap investigations
and the force did not want to expose them to dangerous situations, they
were given special status under a 2006 law tailored for forensic work that
grants civilians some police powers, but forbids them from making arrests
or carrying guns.
Van Thielen, a no-nonsense police veteran, also faced some resistance
from other veterans on the force, who feared that having blind colleagues
would be a burden. Others felt awkward about how to behave in front of
blind people and wondered if saying "au revoir"--literally "see you again"--
would cause offense. To assuage their concerns, van Thielen arranged for
sensitivity-training sessions with blind volunteers. One hint: don't leave
computer cables trailing on the floor since blind officers could trip on
them.
"At first, when members of the police heard that blind people were
coming to work here, they laughed and told me that we were a police force
and not a charity," said van Thielen. "But attitudes changed when the blind
officers arrived and showed their determination to work hard and be
useful."
It wasn't only attitudes that needed updating. In addition to
installing elevators with voice-activated buttons at the police station,
the force issued each blind officer with a special E10,000 computer
equipped with a Braille keyboard and a voice system that transmits visual
images into sound.
As van Loo transcribed a wiretap recording on a recent day, he wore
earphones and passed his index finger over a long strip of Braille
characters on the bottom of the keyboard, whose characters altered to
replicate whatever was on his computer screen, which was turned off. When
he goes outside, he carries a compact police-issued global positioning
system device, with a voice that directs him to his destination, street by
street.
A father of two, van Loo attributes his success to having parents who
taught him at an early age to be independent. He recalls that, as a young
child, his father, a film buff, took him to watch movies. His father also
taught him to drive a car by hoisting him on his lap and guiding his hands
on the steering wheel. His ability to adapt, he says, was further
reinforced by his attending a regular high school. He also attended a
special school for the blind, where he learned how to maneuver with a cane
and to read Russian in Braille. To relax, he skis, rides horses, and plays
the Arabic lute.
"My parents accepte