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"Supporting
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THE STUDENT
ADVOCATE
VOLUME XVII. NUMBER III
SPRING 1998
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
President's Message
A letter from the editor
Information about braille access to computers
What to look forward to at convention 98!
Web resources of interest to blind students
The life of blind people in South America
A report back from students who attended the JlTLI conference
in Washington DC
From the Desk of the President - Making
the Transition
by Mike Gravitt
When I decided to run for my second term as President of the National Alliance of Blind Students, I knew that I would not actually be a student for my full term. I had already made plans to graduate with my Bachelor of Science degree in December, 1997. My feelings about furthering this organization, were so strong, however, that I decided to pursue the presidency once again.
Now, the time has arrived. I am out of school, have moved 450 miles from home, and started my full-time position as an Associate Systems Consultant with Bender Consulting Services, Inc. I had given you information about my company in the last issue of the Advocate, so I will not elaborate. However, I am proud to say that the founder of my company, Joyce Bender, received recognition in the February issue of Reader's Digest in the article Heroes for Today. You can find her section on page 180 of the standard print version.
This company has given me an opportunity to combine my education background in management information systems with my desire to stay involved with improving lives of people with disabilities. We find competent people with backgrounds in information technology, who just happen to have a disability, and provide them competitive employment opportunities through contracting. My company is proud of the efforts they put forth to employ people with disabilities. I am truly excited to be involved with such an organization as Bender.
Now, you may be wondering why I am telling you all of this, and what all of this has to do with transition. You might even be wondering what sort of transition I am referring to. My point is this: making the transition from education to full-time employment is, at least in my experience over the past few months, a very trying, yet important one. However, getting involved with something you care about makes the transition worth every bit of effort, and proves to be extremely rewarding once all is said and done.
As leader of this organization, I am proud to have this unique perspective. And, in the short length of time I have been out of school and started employment, I have made a few important discoveries. Even though many of these ideas seem like common sense, and might be things you are already aware of, I'd like to take this opportunity to share them with you:
As a student, your major goal is probably to graduate and to go on into the real world. Do not get caught up in the day-to-day activities of being a student. Enjoy and savor the moments while you can. They will end before you know it; and once they do, you will miss it. If I could go back and do one day of school over again, I would love to. Being so far away from mine, however, makes that a little difficult.
Once the inevitable day does come, put some serious thought, research, soul-searching, investigation, and heart into what you really want to do. Even with a standard forty hour week, you nearly spend one-fourth of your week working. Then, if you consider that many professionals work more than 40 hours a week, do work at home, and have to take time to get to and from work, more time than this is actually invested in a career. In this light, make sure that you are doing something that you love doing. If not, you are going to end up hating your career, and hating rolling out of bed everyday. Our lives are our careers, and our careers are our lives it seems. As a matter of fact, I am finding that most new people I meet up here, outside of work, make one of their first questions to me, Aso, what kind of work do you do?@ Make sure that when you are asked that question that you are proud of your answer. Control that now while you can.
So many people who are blind and have other disabilities, unfortunately, have no jobs! Most statistics state that 75% of working-age people with disabilities do not have jobs, and that figure is even higher for people who are blind or visually impaired. You are truly fortunate to be pursuing your education, and the most important thing you can do is to nourish it as much as you can. I have noticed that there are many employers who want to promote hiring people with disabilities, but they simply cannot find the people with the needed education! You are doing great things by educating yourself and setting examples for others in the future. As we try to reverse this unemployment trend, you will serve as a mentor.
Once you finally educate yourself where you are starting employment, and you have worked hard to find and obtain that perfect job that will give you fulfillment, you have two main responsibilities. First, you must fulfill the requirements of your job duties. Secondly, you must do this ten times better than your counterparts. As you well know, we spend a lot of our energy trying to overcome stereotypes of having a disability. The stereotypes of being lazy, stupid, incompetent, incapable. When you make an effort to be a good employee by working hard, getting to work on time, dressing nicely, and having an overall strong work ethic, you will be noticed. You will help to fight the stereotypes we face. This, my friends, will, over time, provide all blind people -- all disabled people -- with more opportunities than we have now. You have this power.
One of the quotes that my employer, Joyce Bender, states is that, Ajobs mean freedom.@ This is so true. Without employment, and without a paycheck, you do not have freedom because you are having to rely on everyone else to do everything for you. There is nothing more fulfilling that earning your own keep, paying your own bills, and having earned your possessions. We all appreciate accomplishment, and earning a paycheck is a very important form of it that we can all appreciate and feel good about. Look forward to that moment.
As time goes on, I'm sure that my enlightenment will become greater. I look forward to sharing my discoveries with my counterparts as we all work hard to reverse the current trends of unemployment. It is up to you and I to reverse this trend, and I look forward to working with you to make it happen!
If you would like to get In touch with Mike Gravitt, you may contact him in
one of the following ways:
Via e-mail: mgravitt@mci2000.com
Via phone: 412.344.2313
Via print: 528 Chatham Park Dr., Apt. 1C; Pittsburgh, PA 15220
From the Editor
by Keith Wessel
At last, I welcome you to the Spring, 1998 edition of the Student Advocate. You may have been wondering if this issue of the Advocate would ever happen. I must take full responsibility for this issue of the Advocate being so late. I know that most of you can relate to me when I say that it=s been a rough semester. From February until May, I spent nearly all of my time dealing with inaccessible courses and difficult material. Needless to say, everything else went on the back burner. Everything turned out well, though. I only regret that many of you have already left school for the summer and won=t receive this publication until fall. I apologize for this delay.
The loss of Holly Fults at the ACB national office has also made things a little difficult. Holly has helped quite a bit in the production of the Advocate. There=s been a lot more in my hands for this issue with Holly gone, making the job a little more time-consuming. Holly was a good friend and a tremendous help to me. I'd like to wish her luck in the future. I=d also like to thank Sarah DeYoung, interim coordinator of membership services at ACB, for assistance on this edition of the Advocate.
I believe that the contents of this issue of the newsletter should more than make up for the delay. The complete 1998 NABS convention plans are included in this edition. I hope that many of you are planning on attending the convention this year. Make your plans now for Orlando and help to make this year's program a huge success - the more, the merrier.
Also in this issue, participants in this year=s Tell it to Washington conference have written about their experiences. Read how our fellow NABS members worked to make a difference for all of us on Capitol Hill. Also, Krista Erickson shares her experiences working with disabled people in Mexico. For the computer guru, Imke Durre offers advice on making math and science more accessible with technology. Finally, Mike Gravitt=s president=s message looks at the transition from college to work, something that we will all face eventually.
In conclusion, this is the last edition of the Student Advocate that I will produce as editor. After two years, I feel it's time to pass the pen to someone else. I'd like to give another NABS member a chance. It's been a pleasure to serve as editor for the past two years. I hope you enjoy my final issue of the Advocate and have a great summer. Good luck to all of you with whatever lies ahead in the fall.
About Braille Access to Computers
by Imke Durre
If you are a student who does not read or write print, you are familiar with the difficulties of getting class materials in accessible formats and writing assignments and tests in a form that instructors can read. The production of books and handouts in hard-copy braille is costly and time-consuming, especially when it involves mathematical or technical notation. Often, having texts read onto tape or using live readers is faster but less efficient, especially in science and math classes. If you use a live reader, you can only access the original material while the reader is present and have to rely on your notes at other times. With tapes, you can access the information any time you want, but it is hard to find a specific place in the book, say, equation (10) in Chapter 11 of your math book, or a quote from a novel. When it comes to producing assignments and tests in print, many students now use computers equipped with speech synthesizers, but these systems still limit the student's ability to independently format texts properly and write higher level mathematics.
For the past 15 years, I have been circumventing these problems by using a refreshable braille display connected to a computer together with an eight-dot computer braille notation I am calling COBRA in which up to 256 characters can be represented by unique one-cell braille symbols. The eight-dot braille cell is a four-row by two-column cell in which the lower left and lower right cell positions are numbered 7 and 8, respectively. In COBRA, letters, numbers, and punctuation signs are represented by the same braille characters as in the MIT Computer Braille Code, but accented letters, Greek letters, and many mathematical symbols are assigned braille dot combinations that are more meaningful to the braille reader than those in the MIT Code. Dot 7 is used primarily to indicate capitalization, while dot 8 appears mainly in foreign language symbols. Mathematical expressions are written according to conventions common in programming languages and statistics packages and thus are intuitive to both blind and sighted users. For instance, one-half is represented by 1/2, 2-squared by 2^2, and x+2-squared by (x+2)^2. Thus, the braille reader sees the text exactly as it appears on the computer's monitor and has instant tactile feedback on what he/she is typing.
With this system, I have been able to take notes in class, complete and print in-class assignments and homework in all subjects, and read textbooks and handouts that were provided to me on disk or via e-mail. Ever since I started to ask for my textbooks and handouts to be put on diskette for me rather than in braille, I have almost always received texts in a timely manner. Since COBRA is displayed simultaneously on the braille display and on the regular monitor, I have found it easy to work on projects together with sighted peers. Thus, COBRA has been a key factor in my success as an applied math major and doctoral candidate in atmospheric science.
How can you start using COBRA? Well, first you'll need a refreshable braille display that has eight-dot braille cells and is capable of representing 256 different characters in braille. I am in the process of determining which braille displays accept respective dot assignments. Once COBRA is displayed on your braille display, you can use it for reading and writing in any word processor or other application that is supported by your screen reader. Depending on your setup, you can enter COBRA from a braille keyboard, the regular keyboard, or both.
To find out more about COBRA or which braille displays will work with COBRA,
contact me:
Imke Durre
5115 24th Avenue NE, Apt. 10
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 522-5729
imke@atmos.washington.edu
Visit my home page at http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~imke.
A detailed description of COBRA will soon be published.
Plans for the 1998 Convention of the
National Alliance of Blind Students
summarized by Mike Gravitt
From July 4-11, 1998, the National Alliance of Blind Students will be holding its annual convention in conjunction with the national convention of the American Council of the Blind. The convention site this year is sunny Orlando, Florida. This year=s convention is sure to be one of the best ones ever!
If you would like to meet other blind students from across the country, participate in programs of interest to you and other blind students, learn more about blindness issues in general, and potentially meet your future spouse like many of our members do at the conventions, I encourage you to attend! NABS will be hosting a whole series of programs (listed below). More so, however, will be all of the programs being put together by the American Council of the Blind and other special interest affiliates which will allow you to network and share knowledge with some of the most active blind people in our country. It is truly a great experience, and I would encourage all of you to participate.
The convention committee of the American Council of the Blind has also put together tours and events within the city of Orlando to enhance your experience even further. More details on these events can be seen in recent issues of The Braille Forum.
The main hotel for the convention is the Clarion Plaza Hotel at 9700 International Dr. And, while the rooms have been sold out at this hotel, NABS has a block of rooms reserved here to accommodate students attending the convention. The rooms are $55 per night.
In addition, ACB has special arrangements with AAA Travel of Muskogee, Oklahoma. for great prices on flights to and from Orlando. If you want to learn more, you can contact AAA at (800)259-9299.
There are many more details about the convention in recent issues of The Braille Forum. If you want to learn more, look in your latest issue; or, if you are not an ACB member, you can look at the website of the American Council of the Blind at http://www.acb.org. You can also call the national ACB office at (800)424-8666 between 2:30 and 5:30pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday. If you are interested in getting one of the rooms reserved for NABS members, you can call me, Mike Gravitt, at (412)344-2313. I am happy to answer any questions you might have.With that said, I now present to you the program schedule for the National Alliance of Blind Students. I look forward to seeing you in Orlando!
1998 National Alliance of Blind Students convention program:
Saturday, July 4:
8:00 PM: NABS Welcome to Orlando Social: A time for students to get to know
each other and mingle (refreshments will be served).
Sunday, July 5:
7:30 AM: Breakfast for Scholarship Winners, the Scholarship Committee, NABS
Officers, and Invited Guests (by invitation only).
9:00 AM: NABS Business Meeting.
Monday, July 6:
7:30 AM: Breakfast for NABS Affiliate Presidents, NABS Board of Directors, and
Other Invited Guests (by invitation only).
1:30 PM: NABS Introduction: Who we are and why are we here? NABS leaders will
give newcomers and scholarship winners an overview of NABS. Moderated by Mike
Gravitt, NABS President.
2:00 PM: Scholarships: Accessing your financial aid. Presented by John Buckley,
chairman of ACBRs scholarship committee.
2:30 PM: How to Find the Dough!: Information on student financial aid. Presented
by Rob Cook, vice-president of NABS.
3:15 PM: Books - Where and How?: RFB&D and National Library Service systems.
Presented by Anna Marie Cook, RFB&D, and Greg Gundee, Florida State Regional
Library for the Blind.
4:00 PM: Fully Accessing Your Academic Services Offices. Presented by Don Brown,
Access and Disabilities Services Coordinator, and Paul Edwards, ACB national
President.
5:00 PM: The Tools that can Make an Effective Career. This session will focus
on how to maximize your use of college career services. Successful interviewing
will also be discussed. Presented by Cathy Schmitt.
Tuesday, July 7:
1:45 PM: NABS and National Association of Blind Teachers joint session: Opportunities
through Internships. Different perspectives on the advantages of internships
and how to find them will be discussed. Moderated by representatives from the
National Association of Blind Teachers.
3:15 PM: ACB Special Interest Affiliates and Chapters: How many and where? We
will discuss the list of ACB affiliates and answer questions.
3:45 PM: Accessible Research Techniques via the Internet. Presented by Nolan
Crabb from the ACB National Office staff.
4:15 PM: Enhancing Personal Relationships: A discussion of frienship and dating.
Presented by Dr. Phyllis Burson, Silver Spring, MD.
5:00 PM: Worldwide Exchange Opportunities Through Mobility International. Presented
by Jean Parker, consultant with Mobility International U.S.A.
Thursday, July 9:
* 8:00 PM: NABS Comedy Club (CASH BAR AVAILABLE!)
Useful Web Resources for the Blind
by Monty Cassellius
Introducing the Knowledge Area Page created by Monty Cassellius. This web site can link you to sports, news, disability information, and more. Find information to help with your school work, locate money for school, or discover assistive technology. You can even come to my site to read a newspaper online! The selections are countless. I hope you stop by The Knowledge Area Page at http://www.ilstu.edu/~mjcasse while surfing on the Internet.
Also, just as a reminder check out Blind RAP, another great resource for blind and visually impaired individuals. I am a contributor to the expansion of the Blind RAP which is now in a new location at http://www.linkable.org. I wouldappreciate ideas and suggestions to both The Knowledge Area page and The Blind RAP. I can be reached at mjcasse@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and hope these web sites may help you in reaching all of your goals.
The Fire of Shared Struggle
by Krista Erickson
A Guatemalan activist once said that the fire of shared struggle was the light of his life. In other words, the knowledge that others knew of his and his peoples' plight and were joining with them around the world to share in their struggle, gave him hope to continue on. This is what I was thinking about as, almost at the end of our three week trip to Mexico, our group of about twenty people talked in the cool, evening mountain air around a blazing campfire sharing its warmth, stories, songs, bits of our respective cultures and hugs with people who were our hosts, colleagues, and, now our friends. As members of the MIUSA delegation, we had come to build friendships; develop leadership skills; participate in the sometimes challenging and overwhelming process of cultural exchange and to learn and share experiences and knowledge about issues affecting people with disabilities. As delegates, we were a diverse group who had learned much from each other about meeting each one's varied individual needs. We learned to work together as a cohesive group, sharing the experiences of the trip from meetings with Mexican colleagues to activities with our respective host families. In those three weeks, we spent hours discussing: how to deal with the media (we were mentioned in a local paper and appeared on television) as activists with disabilities-, providing for and protecting fundamental civil and human rights-, educational opportunities and necessary improvements in the existing educational system- employment opportunities along with specific disability-related job seeking skills; governmental services provided for people with disabilities; and grass roots organizing efforts among people with disabilities. Although our culture's living conditions and opportunities were different, they had a remarkable degree of similarity with those we found in Mexico. What issues of the above list aren't of concern to people with disabilities in the United States? We had a lot to learn and to share with one another. We had, in so many ways, clearly established that we shared many of the same challenges and, therefore, many of the same methods for improving them. Together we had not only discussed the above listed issues in great detail but worked together to paint and plant trees at a factory that builds wheel chairs (where last year's delegation had helped to build a ramp), and spent a fascinating morning with architecture students discussing issues of why and how to build accessible buildings. The knowledge@ of traveling to Mexico has provided me with a greater and once again invigorated sense of solidarity and hope. Knowing first-hand that the struggle of people with disabilities is creatively and actively going on around the world as individual and collective efforts, assures us that one day, through our shared struggle, we will all know some semblance of liberation.
Recently, in San Luis Potosi one of the cities we visited during the 1997 trip, there has been a successful effort to establish an alternative ( non-state) run school for the blind. This school is desperately needed to provide an environment more receptive to meeting students' needs. As part of our on-going effort to work with friends in Mexico, a few delegates from the trip are working to raise money and donations for the school. This fall the school had an enrollment of fifteen students, with many more interested, several on the way and only one teacher to serve them all. There is a need for almost everything: canes, slates, Braille writers, Braille paper, tape recorders, typewriters and, even computer equipment. Also, there is a need for a certified teacher to volunteer as an instructor of English or Sign Language. For more information, please contact Krista Erickson, 3267 Echo Lane, Northbrook, IL 60062.
Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute
The Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute is a co-sponsored effort by the
American Council of the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind. The
annual event brings together consumers and service providers to discuss issues
related to blindness,
such as employment, education, and aging.
Participants also have an opportunity to be briefed on current legislative issues pertaining to blindness, and to go to Capitol Hill to discuss these issues with congressmen and congressional aids. The conference was held from March 5-8, 1998. This year, there were a total of five participants from the National Alliance of Blind Students in attendance. These are Jonathan Avilla (Virginia), Kimberly Waegel (Colorado), Samantha Schmucker (Virginia), Paulette Monthei (Iowa), and Mike Gravitt (Pennsylvania). The following are some reflections on the conference from NABS participants, and a summary of what they did while visiting our nation=s capital.
Mike Gravitt
While I could not attend the entire conference, I did have the opportunity to attend the latter half. Unfortunately, this half did not include the trip to Capitol Hill. However, Samantha Schmucker was able to take my place. She will comment on her experiences below.
The last half of the session was coordinated by the American Foundation for the Blind. There were several different discussion groups on education, employment, and aging. I focused more on education and employment, being that these were the areas of most direct interest to me.
We discussed issues such as rehab services, advantages of schools for the blind, technology and its potential benefits and harms in the work environment, adaptive software, problems with software inaccessibility, and many others.
Samantha Schmucker
Even though I didn't get to stay for the whole weekend at this year's conference,
I had the pleasure of substituting for Mike Gravitt for Thursday's program sessions
and reception, and Friday's trip to Capital Hill. Both days were exciting and
highly educational.
On Thursday, the leaders of AFB and ACB, and the panelists outlined the issues
we would be discussing, and gave helpful hints on how to be a successful lobbyist.
The group I lobbied with on Friday included Ken Jessup, Mary Meade, and Nelson
and Alice Malbome. We visited with staff members from the offices of Sen. Robb,
Sen. Warner, Rep. Sisisky, and Rep. Pickett, all from Virginia. The main issues
of focus were the appropriations in IDEA, Social Security for the elderly blind,
the Telecommunications Act,
and paratransit in rural and optional areas. Also, we relayed some information
regarding the FCC's system of messages that scroll across your televisions when
bad weather is on its way or school closings are being posted. The one issue
I learned the most about was SSDI for blind and/or disabled recipients who work.
I was shocked to learn that SSDI would cut all benefits like Medicare, if an
individual made one dollar more than the maximum SSDI allocation. This is a
very severe sanction for a disabled
working individual. In most cases, people who know this will not work to their
full ability so they earn less in order to keep the benefits. In addition, they
lose some of their independence and freedom of expression. My group, as well
as most others, strongly urged each congressman to amend Title 11 of the Social
Security Act. We want to encourage and support people with disabilities to work
to their fullest. Therefore, as an individual makes more money than is allocated,
he needs to be weaned off the benefits
slowly.
This experience has not only been educational, but I was also able to use what I have learned. I recommend this seminar to anyone interested in pursuing a career in government policy. I am grateful that I had this opportunity to visit the "Hill.
Paulette Monthei
Many of you don't know me so I thought I might take a few minutes to tell you a little about me. I am currently a second year senior at the University of Iowa and am working on my bachelors in Social Work my minor is in the sociology of disability this program is a diversity of classes in the schools of law, education, sociology and counseling. Currently I work for the University of Iota=s Students with Disabilities office, as an accommodations facilitator. I work in great extent with our students with vision and mobility impairments on providing appropriate accommodations in our undergrad programs.
I was introduced to ACB through my parents and as my father is the state president
of the Iowa Council of the Blind would say I have been a member of ACB since
I was knee hi to a tad poll. But it was not until I was a freshman at Creighton
University in
Omaha Nebraska that I became actively involved with the American Council of
the Blind. I meet Kristal Platt at a White Cane Banquet and she invited me to
join the Greater Omaha Chapter of ACB, I was warmly welcomed and soon after
joining I found myself serving on the State Board of Directors not to shabby
for being the youngest member in the state. Through the support of the Nebraska
ACB and the Iowa Council of the blind I found myself at ACB's Affiliated Leadership
League Legislative Conference as Nebraska's representative for three years.
And in 1995 I had the honor of getting to know DC and many of ACB=S members
as the student intern in the national office. This year was the first JLTLI
conference I have attended, however as I mentioned have had a little experience
on capital hill. But it was a whole new experience for me being able to now
represent the state of Iowa, and have the opportunity to meet our senators and
representatives. The day we were to make our hill visits, I was exceedingly
nervous, especially since my first appointment was with the office of Senator
Tom Harkins of Iowa. As I sat and talked my fears and nervousness subsided as
I was greeted with a very warm response from his staff including Sharon Perley
Masling his council on disability related issues. I found his office, as usual,
up to date on current issues in this area. We discussed the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act and the effects it had on the public school system
as well as other potential eras where it could have impact. She was helpful
in giving me several names of individuals that would be interested in the development
programs to provide better services for children with disabilities and train
teachers on disability awareness and how to accommodate student with disabilities.
I also pointed out that with more schools starting programs where computers
and the inter-net will be used, assistive technology is important. This lead
to further discussion on inter-net accessibility. I reminded them that the majority
of the web pages and announcements even those put out by the government were
not accessible for the blind.
I found all of the Senators, Representatives, and staff to be supportive of disability issues, some on a very personal level. When I discussed the issues of assistive technology with the staff people they were extremely interested, as that is a gray area for them. We spoke in great depth about the inaccessibility of the inter-net for the blind and mobility impaired. I discussed the concept of inter-net providers charging more per the amount of time spent on-line, explaining that it takes a person using assistive technology two to three times as long to access information. We proposed using a system similar to the TTY relay service in which charges are based on the disability and the amount of time spent using the telephone. They thought that it would definitely be something worth looking into.
I also spoke briefly about continuing the linkage between persons with disabilities receiving SSDI and SSI and those 65 and over in relation to work incentives for the disabled to work. All in all I found the JLTLI conference to be quite informational as well as an opportunity to meet many new people and see old friends. It was wonderful to visit DC at this time of year, and see everything in bloom from the warm weather. It was a nice break from the below zero weather we have been having here off and on. I also want to take a minute to thank Mike Gravitt for the invitation to participate in the JLTLI conference. I believe that, had I not been sponsored in part by NABS, Iowa would not have sent anyone this year.
Jon Avila
When one hears the phrase "lobbying congress", a person generally thinks some high up political corporate mingling on the hill, or some speech on the steps of our capital. Lobbying our government is important, but it is not just for rich or powerful corporations. I had the opportunity to speak on behalf of the American Council of the blind (ACB) and visually impaired Americans this March at the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute conference. Before our day on the hill, we were briefed with legislative updates from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and the ACB. We were told about the most current legislation that was on the floors of both houses. At our last session we were prepped and given position papers and memorandums to present to congressmen.
The other NABS members and I joined members of the ACB and AFB to lobby for
legislation that will effect our lives. This legislation included funding for
teacher preparation in IDEA, Social Security linkage, accessible telecommunication
devices, and
important paratransit issues. I had the opportunity to speak with the staff
members of three Virginia congressmen, Frank Wolfe, James Moran, and Senator
John Warner. I also spoke with the staff of one Colorado Congresswomen, Diana
DeGette. During the
remainder of the JLTLI conference I was able to meet professionals involved
with teaching of the visually impaired. We participated in several workshops
dealing with the National Plan for services in the education of the blind and
visually impaired. Our team
even had the opportunity to interact in a role playing situation on separate
specialized education.
The conference and lobbying on Capital Hill were awesome. Thanks to the hard
work of ACB and AFB, we let our congressmen know what is important to us. Thanks
to much support from our congressmen, hopefully we will see the benefits of
our efforts
in the coming years. I invite all visually impaired persons to get involved
with these national matters, even if you are not involved in politics. It was
truly a gratifying experience one should not miss. Let's exercise our freedom.
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