by Sharon Lovering
(Editor’s Note: For a full account of the convention, order a full set of tapes from the national office for $35. The diabetes seminar and legislative seminar were canceled this year, and there is no banquet tape. Stay tuned to the next issue for part two!)
This year’s convention might best be described as a whirlwind of activity. From the traditional Sunday night opening session to the closing gavel on Saturday, choosing each day’s activities turned out to be more difficult than expected.
Sunday
President Chris Gray opened the session by stating, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 43rd annual convention of the American Council of the Blind!” Following the posting of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 97, David Trott, president of the Alabama Council of the Blind, welcomed members to Birmingham.
Gray then presented his report to the convention and introduced David Williams, managing director of ACB Radio.
Following a brief recorded excerpt from a John F. Kennedy speech, Gray turned the podium over to Melanie Brunson for her report. “I do want to tell you as I begin my report how much of a privilege it is to me to have been asked to take on this responsibility by the board and to have served in it for the past few months. ... I am committed to forging ahead on the efforts that were begun by these two men. I’m also committed to looking for and to implementing the new projects that we begin together.”
Brunson stated that one of the reasons she was willing to take on the position was because she recognized that ACB had great potential. “We dream big in ACB, and we pursue those dreams until they become reality. The fact that we're here tonight is an example of that.”
Brunson discussed various aspects of advocacy, and mentioned that Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) had reintroduced the Video Description Restoration Act. Pedestrian safety and transportation are other areas where ACB has become more visible, and those efforts continue. “Greyhound is doing some interesting things to their bus service,” she stated. “It’s disappearing. And there’s nothing magical about buses going away. We need to bring them back.”
She also talked about the currency case. “We have been up against the big guns of the Justice Department. The judge said, ‘ACB has a right to their day in court. I’m not dismissing this case.’ And ... he did it twice. ... The Justice Department attorneys are now questioning the right of your leadership to bring this suit.” ACB needs to send a message back to those attorneys saying that its members do support the suit.
Gray then introduced Carl Augusto, president of the American Foundation for the Blind. ACB and AFB are both fighting for the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and trying to get the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act provisions included in that, he stated. The IMAA would require publishers to produce textbooks in standard electronic file formats that could be easily converted into braille. This would allow blind students to receive their textbooks at the same time as their sighted peers.
Cell phone accessibility is also a major initiative at AFB, Augusto said. AFB assisted Bonnie O’Day with her complaint to the Federal Communications Commission a few years ago. In that complaint, she stated that the service provider and the cell phone manufacturer were not adhering to Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The manufacturer and Bonnie O’Day settled out of court; the manufacturer plans to work on accessibility. “Working together, AFB [and] ACB in partnership with each other and with others, we’re going to make cell phones accessible very, very shortly,” he stated.
Last year, AFB, ACB, AER and the National Council of Private Agencies for the Blind joined together on three position papers: the use of sleep shades in rehabilitation; certification of specialized personnel; and supporting the right of guide dog users to have their dogs remain with them whenever they’re in rehabilitation programs anywhere in the United States. “Now these three positions are fine and well as is,” Augusto said, “but we need for you ... to bring these positions to the powers that be in your states: the [state] rehabilitation agencies and other officials in your states.” And take plenty of supporters with you.
Augusto noted that AFB and ACB helped to pass the Help America Vote Act requiring that voting machines be accessible to people with disabilities. “Now it’s time for you to go to your local officials to make sure that there’s a voting machine that’s going to be accessible to you this fall. We’re counting on you to follow up.”
The Unified English Braille Code was another hot-button topic. “I want to assure you that the American Foundation for the Blind is not now advocating for the adoption of UEBC in the United States,” he said. “The Braille Authority of North America did vote to allow other countries ... [to] consider the use of the UEBC in their countries.”
Many challenges confront the blindness field, Augusto stated. “We can’t afford not to work together. There’s too much at stake. So we at the American Foundation for the Blind are looking forward to continuing to work with you on our common objectives.”
Following Augusto’s speech, Nola McKinney and Charlie Hodge presented awards. (See “ACB Award Winners Announced,” elsewhere in this issue.)
Barry Scheur, chair of the information access committee, spoke briefly about the Internet radios now in production. “ACB Radio is the most important voice in the blindness community ... But the unfortunate limitation with that medium ... is that ... the only way they can be received is over a computer.” And it is still a small percentage of blind people able to utilize that technology effectively, he added.
A few weeks ago, Scheur said, the manufacturer told him that they had a device ready to deliver. “You turn it on, you plug it in, and you know what comes up, folks? ACB Radio when it goes on!” You can purchase it now through the ACB Store; it will provide listeners with ACB Radio and a number of radio reading services. He then gave a demonstration of the radio.
Following the awards and charter presentation, the new life members received their certificates. (Watch for Charlie Hodge’s article in an upcoming issue.) The remainder of the session was taken up with the credentials report and the roll call of affiliates.
Monday
Transportation Day, sponsored by Cingular Wireless, started off with the presentation of the Robert S. Bray Award.
Following that presentation, Judi Cannon, chair of the credentials committee, gave the final credentials report. One affiliate was penalized votes but chose not to challenge, she said. The report was accepted.
Gray reminded his listeners that there was more convention business than usual to handle this year. He then reviewed the proposed policy for debate, which the convention approved.
Ray Campbell, chair of the constitution and bylaws committee, read several proposed amendments. He thanked his committee members for their hard work, and reminded the audience that any further amendments were due by the end of the day.
Next on the program was the transportation panel. Melanie Brunson, ACB executive director, moderated; joining her were Donna Smith, Easter Seals Project ACTION, and Bill Hecker, American Institute of Architects accessibility consultant.
Donna Smith began by discussing federal activities going on with regard to public transportation. She briefly described Project ACTION’s mobility planning services institute: working with communities on transportation needs for people with disabilities. There were 25 teams last year, five of which had ACB members on them. She also described the Federal Transit Administration’s program called “United We Ride,” a joint effort assessing all possible transportation options in the area being assessed, and asks how to make them more efficient.
Smith also touched briefly on three components that are essential to transportation: availability and accessibility; an accessible pedestrian environment; and good independent travel skills. She urged everyone to become involved in transportation issues in their states.
Bill Hecker addressed the issue of pedestrian safety and access. He briefly discussed the seven federal programs that offer opportunities for funding accessibility modifications such as detectable warnings and accessible pedestrian signals. They are: surface transportation programs, including TEA-21 and its extensions; the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program; the recreational trails program; the National Scenic Byways program; high-priority projects and designated transportation enhancement activities; federal transit programs; and state and community highway safety grants. “Remember that it takes you involved to get this going and to ensure that all people with disabilities can benefit from the money that we all pay in our taxes,” he said.
Following a question-and-answer session, the convention heard a discussion on accessible pedestrian signals, addressed by Janet Barlow and Lukas Franck.
Franck defined a few terms for the assembly. “Very typically when you’re talking about pedestrian signage you’re actually talking about timing, and the time that traffic engineers allocate to certain visual signals,” he said. “Time is relevant to all of us.” In suburban areas where wide streets intersect small ones, there are push buttons in place somewhere that pedestrians are supposed to push because that action allows them more time to cross the major street, maybe as much as 30 seconds to cross instead of 11.
He also discussed some research on pedestrian signals. “What seems to work best is a single clear sound,” he said. “[It] gives information from a very specific and precise location immediately next to the pedestrian about when to start [crossing]. Unfortunately, in the real world, it isn’t always possible to put pedestrian push buttons ... in the best possible places, and so what’s coming down is language that says that if you can’t do it perfect, the next best way to do it is to use speech.” Then there’s the matter of what the device should say. “The recommended ‘walk’ message that is going into language will be ... ‘Grand. Walk sign is on to cross Grand,’” Franck stated.
Barlow talked about several studies in progress or recently completed. One study involved collecting data on blind people crossing streets before and after installation of accessible pedestrian signals. Another involved work in two cities, with four different intersections and four different signal manufacturers. The pre-installation results have been analyzed and completed, and generally, pedestrians started walking on the “walk” signal 50 percent of the time. “One of the more concerning statistics there is that on 27 percent of crossings, participants completed crossing after the traffic on the perpendicular street started moving,” she said. “Where there was no push button ... 64 percent started during ‘walk.’ When you had to use a push button, only 20 percent started during ‘walk.’”
After the installation of signals with locator tones, more people used the push buttons, and more people crossed during the “walk” signal. Barlow urged her listeners to use the push buttons, and to get the word out about locator tones.
Following a short break, the convention heard from another panel, this one called “Stop the Violence, Break the Silence.” Panelists were Susan Crawford, Lynne Koral, Darian Hartman and Lorraine Phenix.
Crawford introduced the topic. “Believe it or not, violence is a problem for people with disabilities,” she said. “Everyone in this room here who has a disability is twice as likely to be a victim of violence.” Men and women of all ages, children, young adults, working adults, and elders are all affected.
A few years ago, Safe Place of Austin, Tex., contacted Charlie Crawford, wanting to partner with ACB and disability groups to submit a grant proposal to the Department of Justice Office for Justice Programs to raise awareness about the problem of violence against people with disabilities. The grant went through, and sessions were held in 2003 and 2004; Lynne Koral, Darian Hartman, Richard Rueda and many others attended and were certified as trainers.
Lynne Koral gave a brief overview of the problem of abuse. “There is no one ... who hasn’t been impacted by abuse of one [kind] or another,” she said. “And it’s not just women; it can be men as well.” Physical abuse is not just being hit, she noted; it can involve being told where to go and where not to go, being locked up in the house, being denied access to transportation, and much more.
Darian Hartman discussed prevention and response strategies. One of the biggest barriers to getting help is the individuals themselves, she stated. To change that, people need to talk about it. If you or someone you know is experiencing something that you feel is abuse or neglect or exploitation, tell someone you trust about what’s going on. All communities have aging and disability services, and somewhere in that realm is adult protective services, which have 24-hour hotlines that people can call for help. If someone tells you that they are experiencing such abuse, believe them. More than 90 percent of reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation turn out to be true, she noted.
Joanne Wilson, Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, spoke next. She told the story of a carpenter nearing retirement, who was asked to build one last home for his employer; the carpenter agreed reluctantly. He went out, got whatever material was available, and worked quickly. “When the home was finished, the carpenter took the keys to the owner of the construction company and said, ‘Here. I’m finished with the house.’ The owner of the company smiled and said, ‘I’m giving you back these keys in gratitude for all the work you’ve done all these years. This is going to be your home. I’m giving it to you.’ The carpenter groaned and thought, ‘Oh, if only I would have known this was going to be my home! What a different job I would have done! ...’”
Wilson said she tells that story to other rehabilitation professionals, and asks them to imagine that they have a child who’s going to become a consumer in the rehabilitation system in their agency. She asks them to think about what policies and practices they would like to have in that agency if it was going to serve their children.
Wilson noted that rehabilitation laws have been around for 84 years, and organizations of and for the blind have helped shape the law. She exhorted her listeners to get involved in the rehabilitation system by sharing their knowledge of and experience with blindness.
Following Wilson’s speech, the convention heard an NLS update from Frank Kurt Cylke. The digital program is on target for launch in 2008, he said, and NLS will have a contract to design a digital talking book player by October of this year. By 2008, NLS expects to have more than 20,000 titles available.
Cylke then introduced John Hanson, head of the music section at the National Library Service. “The [music] library at NLS is the largest collection of braille music in the world, and I find it both a challenge and great fun to oversee it and maintain it and make it better,” he said.
Hanson discussed expansion of the braille collection. “Whenever possible, we buy existing scores that others have produced,” he said. NLS gets them from England, Denmark, Italy and others. The library also has a contract with the Danish Library for the Blind to produce new braille music.
Tuesday
Tuesday was Education Day, sponsored by America Online. The first order of business was the nominating committee report, presented by Cathy Skivers. And the slate of officers was as follows: second vice president, Mitch Pomerantz; board of directors, Ed Bradley, Oral Miller, Becky Floyd, Cynthia Towers and David Trott; board of publications, DeAnna Noriega, Ken Stewart and Mike Duke. (For election results, see the article elsewhere in this issue.)
Following acceptance of the nominating committee report, Ray Campbell reviewed the constitution and bylaws amendments read on Monday and presented several new ones. He informed the audience that there were 18 amendments total. (For further information, call the national office and request a copy of the constitution.)
Richard Scribner, president and CEO of Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, gave a brief update on the work of RFB&D. The organization still seeks to use the most modern technology to bring books to users. In the mid-‘90s, RFB&D became involved with the Digital Audio Information Systems (DAISY) Consortium. It was DAISY that put together the first international standard for the digital talking book; RFB&D insisted that the standard be an open one, not a proprietary one.
RFB&D also believed that students shouldn’t have to wait for digital files, Scribner said. Two years ago, they started the first collection of digital textbooks for students. Now, RFB&D has a digital library of 15,000 textbooks and academic books spanning all grade levels and all subjects. It has mastered 4,200 new books to add to that collection. All books now recorded are being digitally mastered, he added. RFB&D has also renovated its web site, www.rfbd.org, and included a new “search and order” tool that allows members to search the catalog and order books online.
The convention continued its focus on education with a panel moderated by Dr. Terry Graham, president of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. “In the state of Alabama, I really do believe that we are making progress,” he said. “I believe that there’s reason to be optimistic about services for people who are blind in our state. However, there’s much work that remains to be done, as many of you know.” He then introduced Brenda Uptain, an English and psychology teacher at AIDB.
Uptain discussed her teaching experiences in public and residential school settings. “One of my dreams came true when I obtained my first teaching position as a resource teacher for blind and visually impaired children in a school in Tuscaloosa County,” she said. “However, sometimes the dream was not so pleasant. Those were the days before the wonderful resource center that produces and loans textbooks in both braille and large print.” After exhausting her APH quota money, she had to appeal to civic clubs to help her buy books for her students. One principal asked her not to tell parents their rights, as it was costing the school system too much money; another told her she had a smart mouth because, when he asked her how she would get to his school when it was raining, she answered that she would use an umbrella.
There are three issues that must be addressed in education, she said. They are: universities training teachers of the visually impaired must hold themselves to higher standards, and understand that braille is a complex skill that must be learned thoroughly and taught with enthusiasm; children must be in an environment where they can have normal peer-group interactions; and parents must do their homework and select a program that meets their child’s academic, social, emotional, recreational and independent living needs.
The second speaker was Steve Shivers, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. He told his listeners that Alabama has a continuum of services. Programs funded jointly by AIDB and state rehabilitation include: the rehabilitation teacher program; the business enterprise program; the orientation and mobility program; and the Alabama Instructional Resource Center. Recent collaborations include the joint funding of the AIDB regional center staff to provide personal adjustment, job coaching, assistive technology and other services that can assist the local community.
Shivers also talked about the transition weekend, to help students make the transition from high school to college, and the summer work experience, which gives students an opportunity to work for a six-week period earning minimum wage. The department hoped to expand the program next summer.
Following a question-and-answer session and a brief break, Patty Slaby, chair of the scholarship committee, presented scholarships. The winners were: Lisa Boettcher; Sina Bahram; Kaitlyn Snyder; Michael Beukenkamp; Leslie Sears Randolph; Ben Manning; Jeffrey Smith; Christie Gilson; Jeremy Johansen; Marcia Dellagardelle; Tim Vernon; Ashley Fritz; Harris Singer; Michael Malver; Aaron Matthews; Meghan Briggs; Lisa Gordon; Mary Rogers; Renee Gutell; Jason Perry; and Cammie Vloedman.
Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of National Industries for the Blind, spoke next. NIB’s business leadership and management training program is well under way; last October, the company launched the first part of the program. A class of fellowship recipients comes in for a two-year rotation; individuals gain experience in a variety of disciplines in business management, and land a management-level job within NIB or its associated agencies when they’re done. “This particular program is really designed to pack eight years of experience into two years, and if not eight years of raw experience, eight years of exposure so that the fellows ... really can springboard from this program into a fast track program and a very exciting career,” he said. “Today’s NIB is not your father’s NIB. It’s a very innovative place in terms of the types of contracts, the types of businesses that we’re creating.”
The final speaker of the day was George Abbott, Dean of Education of the Hadley School for the Blind. Hadley is a distance education school that started back in 1920. Its first student was a housewife in Kansas learning braille. The minimum age for students is 14. Some of the benefits of working with Hadley are: you work at your own pace, in your own home; you develop one-on-one relationships with the instructor you’re corresponding with; and courses are free of charge. Hadley offers a variety of courses, from adult continuing education to high school diploma, recreation to enrichment, more than 100 courses in all, and more are in the works.
What’s new at the school? “We’ve made a commitment to strengthening our high school program,” Abbott said. “Over the next couple of years we are completely revamping our math curriculum; we are introducing new and exciting courses in history ... we have courses in development in economics, American government, and many new courses.” Coming up in the near future are online student information services. The web site currently has detailed outlines of most courses, with lesson by lesson objectives, and a sample lesson and assignment for review. For more information about Hadley, call 1-800-323-4238, visit www.hadley-school.edu, or e-mail [email protected].