Newsletter of the
Volume 25, Issue 4, Spring, 2010
The 2010 American Council of the Blind National Conference and Convention By Barbara McDonald
This year
Your best source
of information is the Braille Forum (March, April, May), or the website at
www.acb.org. The following is a general
overview. You may want to arrive on July
8 if you are interested in taking an all day tour to the
This year
Your best source
of information is the Braille Forum (March, April, May), or the website at
www.acb.org. The following is a general
overview. You may want to arrive on July
8 if you are interested in taking an all day tour to the
The 49th ACB
Conference and Convention planning started a few months after the national
convention in
For Your Information By Gail Wilt
Here are two
Toll-Free Numbers you may fine useful: Google’s Goog411 at 1-800-466-4411 is an
automated Directory Assistance (with clear human voice), from any phone,
anywhere in the
TellMe:
1-800-555-8355 (1-800-555-TELL) provides business listings, taxi service listings,
time and weather around the country, sports scores, stock quotes, driving
directions, airline arrivals and more.
Before my last vacation I called to get the turn-by-turn directions from
our house to our destination, the home of friends in
If you know about products or services that may be of benefit to AzCB members please let us know by contacting Gail at gwilt@seeitourway.org
When President
Barbara McDonald asked me if I would attend the mid-year presidents’ meeting
and legislative conference in
The presidents’ meeting, which began on Saturday, the 20th and ran through noon of Sunday, the 21st, was filled with information I’m sure will be of benefit to AzCB as well as focusing on the exciting things we all have to look forward to at the ACB conference/convention to be held in Phoenix, from July 9th through the 17th. So as soon as you have registered for our upcoming fun and informative state convention, (April 15th to 17th), begin planning for one of the best National conventions in years.
Beginning the
afternoon of January 21st until 5 P.M. on the 22nd, we were immersed in the
information we would need to “Storm Capitol Hill” on the 23rd, regarding House
Bill HR 3101 (The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act) and
HR 734, (The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act.) I also brought up HR 571 which would restore
tax credit to persons donating vehicles to charitable organizations. At 9 A.M.
Tuesday morning, Thom and I entered the
Since the
storming of Capitol Hill by ACB members, I’m pleased to report there are now
more than 220 co-sponsors for HR734 and new co-sponsors and interest in
HR3101. Sadly, only three
I found this an interesting and stimulating experience. Happily we were able to spend time with some of our ACB friends from other states. Thank you, Barbara, for giving me the honor of representing you at this conference.
We are seeking stories from former
students or staff of the
Even it you
don’t have a story, we would like to locate all visually impaired/blind alumnus
who graduated/attended/or staffed at ASDB. The Fore~Sight will continue to keep
you updated on activities associated with the upcoming "ASDB 100th
Anniversary-
Please share
your contact information, stories or memories via email to dmmar@qwest.net and
put ASDB Memories in the subject line. You may mail your stories to: ASDB
Stories at
Bobbing Along With BOB By Bob Williams Sr.
In response to a request from our hard working editor, I am pleased to share the following.
“Then and Now” bits of information pertaining to our parent organization American Council Of the Blind’s 31st annual convention held in Phoenix in July 1992, and its 49th national convention to be held in Phoenix this year from Saturday July 10 to Saturday July 17.
Then ACB reserved 600 of the downtown Hyatt Regency hotel’s 850 rooms plus an additional 200 at the adjacent Omni-Adams as hotel backup. The daily room rate at both hotels was $45.00 for singles, doubles, triples and quads. This year, the 1,000-room downtown Phoenix Sheraton is the convention hotel with a daily rate of $89.00 and no backup hotel.
Then
The 1992
convention almost did not take place in
In ‘92 the
implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act that had been approved by
congress and signed into law two years earlier was a hot issue of much interest
at both our state and national conventions. Representatives from the U.S. Department
of Transportation in
Then our AzCB Federal Credit Union received much favorable publicity from Credit Union President Dr. Frank Kell’s presentation during a morning general session. The credit union is no longer in business but former AzCB President Dan Martinez will receive national billing with his talk on diversity at the national multicultural concerns committee Luncheon.
Now for a few closing miscellaneous bits and pieces. 800
volunteers mostly from the
While some
things have changed over the intervening years for
The ACB Walk will take place during the American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention on Saturday, July 10, at air-conditioned Arizona Mills Mall. If for any reason you are unable to attend the ACB Conference and Convention or are just unable to participate, you can still be involved as a virtual walker and seek pledges and compete for medals and trophies. All the details can be found in your Braille Forum. The first 100 people to sign up will be included in a drawing for a neat prize. There's no need to wait, get started now by signing up on our designated walk website at www.acbwalk.com or call Alisha Clauson at (612) 332-3242 for assistance by phone. Let's all "walk the extra mile for ACB!"
Whether you register as an On-site Walker or a Virtual Walker, the registration is just $25.00. This year the entire registration amount goes directly to ACB to help us with the costs associated with organizing the Walk, such as the cost of the busses to take us to the Arizona Mills mall, the awards, refreshments, etc. In like manner, all of the pledges you obtain to sponsor you in the walk also go entirely to ACB. Last year we raised over $23,000, after expenses, for the ACB. This year we know we can do even better.
This year, we are promoting the sale of ACB Raffle tickets with an early-bird incentive. The person who sells the most raffle tickets before the deadline of June 30th will be awarded a cash prize of $200. Call Dena Wilson at (202) 559-2045 to request tickets to sell. Up to five individuals can go in together to purchase one raffle ticket, costing each person an investment of just $10 and the chance to share in a grand prize of $5,000. The odds are far greater of winning than with the Powerball lottery. Proceeds from this raffle will go to support the Braille Forum. Take a chance on ACB and we will all be winners!
Call Dan Dillon, co-chair of the RDC, at (615) 874-1223 if you have any questions. Thanks in advance for your support!
If you want to become an Officer and Director of the AzCB, what do you do?
Officers and Directors of AzCB are responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the organization, for decision-making and for ensuring that the work of the organization is carried out in accordance with the will of the membership. Officers and Directors are members of the Council who are elected to serve at the Annual Membership Meeting, usually called the State Convention.
The President, Second Vice-President and Secretary and two Directors are to be elected at the annual business meeting held during each even-numbered year and serve two-year terms with other position being available during odd numbered years. The AzCB Bylaws requires that members who are blind/legally blind fill Officers positions and a minimum of two Directors must be legally blind.
Any member in good standing present at the Annual Membership Meeting may nominate or be nominated and compete for election to available Board positions in an open election. A member may even nominate him or her-self for election.
Does a candidate have to be endorsed by the nominating committee in order to have a chance of being elected? Some observers believe that nominating committees are vulnerable to manipulation by the controlling leaders of the group and that this is the main reason for their formation. Some believe that candidates running for office outside of the nominating committee's choices stand little chance of election.
The nominating committee presents a slate of candidates as a starting point for the election process but it is certainly not necessary to be a committee candidate in order to run for office or the be elected to office. There is also an opportunity for prospective candidates to contact the nominating committee to let them know of there willingness to stand for election.
Before appointing a person to the Nominating Committee, the President should ensure that the prospective appointee has no interest in serving as a candidate for any office to be voted upon in the upcoming election. This helps to ensure an objective process.
If you would like to do more research on the roles and responsibilities for specific board positions you may want to view the bylaws on the www.azcb.org web site. The American Council of the Blind also has some great information on the www.acb.org website and link to HELPFUL RESOURCES.
VOLUNTEERS, VOLUNTEERS, VOLUNTEERS By Barbara McDonald
Approximately
1500 blind and visually impaired people from all over the
Sally Benjamin, the ACB Volunteer Coordinator, has estimated that we will need 20 to 25 volunteers every hour starting from seven in the morning to ten at night. That literally adds up to thousands of volunteer hours. Besides a fantastic exhibit area, there are over 350 meetings, workshops, seminars, tours, and social events scheduled for the conference.
Here are some of the things that you, your family, friends, and groups can do:
Welcome people
to
Act as ushers in general sessions
Help people locate booths in the exhibit hall
Read and complete forms
Act as guides between meeting rooms
Help with childcare and youth activities
For more information or to register as an ACB Volunteer visit the website at www.acb.org, or contact Sally Benjamin at volunteer@@acb.org or call her at 877-268-3664.
Thank you in advance for helping to accomplish this immense task.
In addition to airport, tour, and hotel volunteers, separate volunteers are needed for two other events.
Walk-A-Thon - This event is being held on Saturday, July 10. A bus will be leaving the hotel at 7:00 in the morning to arrive at Arizona Mills for the 8:00 walk. Volunteers are needed to walk and to guide the walkers, who are raising funds from sponsors. Volunteers are not required to donate money, just time. For more information, please contact Dan Dillon, Walk-A-Thon Chair at 615-874-1223.
Auction - Volunteers are also needed for the auction which will take place on Wednesday, July 14. These volunteers are needed to help carry items to the display room during the day, and to help monitor bidding during the evening at the actual auction, which starts at 7:00 p. m,, and hopefully will end by midnight. This committee is seeking donation items that are new with a minimum worth of $25.00. Of course, collectibles, such as dolls, do not have to be new.
Please contact: Brenda Dillon, ACB
Auction Chair at 615-874-1223.
In December Lisa and Ron Brooks graciously hosted our holiday celebration in their home.
We started the
New Year with three new members – Deb MacIlroy, Dawn Meigs, and Ted
Chittenden. At the January meeting Larry
Wanger demonstrated the multitude of accessible applications available via the
IPhone. In February several members
participated in a self-defense workshop presented by Mike Armstrong at his
senseimike@blindtigerma.com
www.Blindtigerma.com
Hello,
everybody. I am very happy to be the new president of the Southern Arizona
Chapter of the Arizona Council of the Blind in
My plans are simple. We need to see our chapter grow and to have more social fun times. I also will continue to support and increase our chapter's white cane use and awareness programs locally. Third, with all the snazzy computers and recorders I can use I still am a regular Braille user who believes in the usefulness of knowing basic Braille. I want to increase awareness of the importance of Braille in every day life, not necessarily easy fluency but as a useful tool at home, at work, and recreationally. Without Braille I wouldn't be nearly the card shark I am today.
I'm really
looking forward to meeting a lot of you at the convention in
An Editorial: A Question of Literacy By
Dan Martinez
With braille learning in steep decline and an increase in audio output from computer-based technology, people who are blind are moving away from traditional forms of reading and writing. The absence of written language has become a reality for a majority of people who are blind. This change in literacy has and will continue to negatively impact the lives of people who are blind. Time-honored views hold that people without a written language are illiterate and lack the tools necessary to compete socially or economically.
According to the National Institute for Literacy, literacy is “an individual’s ability to read, write, speak in English, compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual, and in society”.
Many people, blind and sighted, argue that braille is extremely socially isolating, costly and slow and therefore obsolete in the computer age and that computer audio is sufficient to function.
Statistical data tell us a different story about braille and literacy. A study in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness compared outcomes for congenitally legally blind adults who learned to read braille or print as their original reading medium. Those who learned to read using braille had higher employment rates and educational levels, were more financially self-sufficient, and spent more time reading than did those who learned to read using print. Another study found that legally blind students who learned Braille at the same time sighted students learned to read achieved, at the high school level, literacy rates similar to their sighted classmates. But students who learned Braille later or were taught to read using their limited vision and magnification devices suffered high rates of illiteracy.
There is an education system tendency to have students with low vision (legal blindness) learn to read using large print or standard print with magnification. I’m not sure I understand the reasoning for this trend. It may be that it is easier for the teachers, but it is more likely that it is an entrenched in cultural bias. A value system that equates blindness as bad and eyesight as good, would explain such a trend. The real issue is what is best for the student.
Student with low vision should learn to read using printed material and because it is slow and detrimental to educational attainment, they should also learn to use braille. Students who are functionally blind must not be taught to rely on the spoken word alone. Braille is essential.
From my
perspective, it is a question of literacy. With the mass availability of
computer technology, print has not become obsolete for students who are
sighted. Braille is not obsolete for students who are blind. There is
absolutely no reason in the world that our schools should not be teaching
students who are blind to read braille.
If all students were taught at the literacy level at which we teach students who are blind, society would return to the dark-ages.
AzCB
The Arizona Council Of The
Blind works to enhance the independence, Equality of opportunity, and to improve
the quality of life for all blind and visually impaired people in
Foresight is available in Braille,
large print and audiocassette, half-speed.
Publication is Quarterly with free subscription to members of AZCB. Subscription requests, address changes and
items intended for publication should be sent by e-mail to the newsletter
editor, Dan Martinez. AZCB is the statewide affiliate of the American Council Of The Blind based in
AZCB staff and governing board are all volunteers and perform their duties without pay.
Those much
needed tax-deductible contributions should be sent to the Arizona Council of
the Blind at the office mail address above.
All contributions are gratefully acknowledged in writing in a timely
manner. If you wish to remember AZCB in
your will or if your contribution involves complex issues, please call our
Barbara McDonald, President 602-285-0269 mrsmcdee@q.com
Daniel M. Martinez, Editor 623-873-1378 dmmar@qwest.net
OFFICE MAIL: 3124 East Roosevelt,
602-273-1510