by Sue Lichtenfels
The announcement of products and services in this column is not an endorsement by the American Council of the Blind, its staff, or elected officials. Products and services are listed free of charge for the benefit of our readers. "The Braille Forum" cannot be held responsible for the reliability of products and services mentioned.
To submit items for this column, send a message to [email protected], or call ACB at 1-800-424-8666 and leave a message in mailbox 26. Please remember that postal regulations prohibit us from including advertisements, and that we need information two months ahead of actual publication dates.
2007 Hall of Fame Nominees
The Hall of Fame for Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field, founded in 2001, is housed at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Ky. It is dedicated to preserving the tradition of excellence manifested by specific individuals through the history of outstanding services provided to people who are blind or visually impaired in North America. In October, the Class of 2007 -- Charles Campbell for his work in vocational rehabilitation and Everett Hill for transforming the field of orientation and mobility -- will be inducted into the hall. For more information on these two leaders, visit www.aph.org/hall_fame/news.html.
Congress For Blind Children
The World Blind Union is sponsoring the first-ever International Congress for Blind and Partially Sighted Children in Pontevedra, Spain, March 25-29, 2008. Twenty-four students between the ages of 14-16 will be selected to travel to Spain and participate in discussions on the status of blind and partially sighted teenagers in the world today, focusing especially on education, the family and relating to your peers. To enter the competition, submit an essay of less than 1,500 words on one of the following by Dec. 31, 2007: your life as a visually impaired teenager (in a creative form, perhaps a poem, a letter or a newspaper article); your experience with children's rights in your community, country or region; or one of the three areas to be addressed during the congress (the family, education and relating to peers). Entries can be in print, braille, or an electronic format. Submit essays by fax at 34 91 589 47 49, by e-mail at [email protected], or by mail to Listening to the Children, Attn. Enrique P‚rez, c/o ONCE, C/ Almansa 66, 28039 Madrid, Spain. For more information, call 34 91 589 45 33 or visit www.worldblindunion.org.
Braille Boutique Opens
Julie Cook Rimes has recently established BRAILLE'iant!, A Braille Boutique that offers personalized braille fine-silver jewelry and braille T-shirts for all ages. The goal of BRAILLE'iant! is to provide sassy and practical products for both visually impaired and sighted people that will help to raise braille awareness. These products are available to browse at www.brailleiant.com. For more information, or to order, call Julie Cook Rimes at (225) 247-0006.
Apprenticeship For Visually Impaired
Get Some Marketing is offering an apprenticeship program called Blind Online Success System (BOSS). They are seeking interested people to participate in the intensive learning environment, where individuals will learn Internet marketing and e-commerce in order to run and manage an online business from home. Interested parties must have a computer with an Internet connection. To learn more, contact Jeff Wark and Loretta Steffen at (410) 433-5943 or e-mail [email protected].
Braille Playing Cards
Carson City Natives and Newcomers is sponsoring a project to offer free braille playing cards to blind or visually impaired individuals. To request a free deck, send an e-mail to Heidi DePuy at [email protected]. In the subject line, type "braille playing cards." Include your name and address, the number of decks you need, and what you will be using the cards for. Cards will be sent free matter.
Two New magazines
Recorded Periodicals recently added two new monthly magazines to its selection: "Better Homes & Gardens" and "Essence." For a free audio sample of these magazines, call (215) 627-0600, ext. 3206, or send an e-mail to [email protected]. You can visit www.asb.org for a complete list of magazines available on audiocassette, as well as over 400 braille titles.
Web Resource
VisionAWARE.com is a self-help web site for vision loss. It contains free, practical information to enhance the quality of life and independence for adults with vision loss. The site has released a special issue of its newsletter focusing on age-related macular degeneration. Also available is a question-and-answer section discussing makeup application for people with vision loss.
Free Directory Assistance
The DuBoff Law Group, LLC, is pleased to announce that as part of the settlement of a case it handled against Vonage Holdings Corp. for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, Vonage will be providing qualified disabled Americans with free directory assistance beginning in late 2007.
New Talking First Aid Kit
The Talking First Aid Kit from intelligentFirstAid (TM) is individually labeled with color-coded injury packs so the user has all the supplies and instructions for managing a specific injury. By the press of a button, the audio module attached to each injury card provides step-by-step instructions to manage the wound, pausing and repeating when necessary for accurate response. Each kit includes nine injury-specific packs: Breathing, Bleeding, Shock, Head & Spine, Bone, Eye, Burns, Bite & Stings, and Basics. To learn more, visit www.intelligentfirstaid.com.
Talking Glucose Meter
The Prodigy Autocode Talking Glucometer offers audible prompts to guide you through each step, and audible test results. To learn more, call toll-free 1-866-805-5016.