TVI Tidbits - Volume 2, No. 9
March 30, 2010
BANA Holds Spring Meeting
Helen Keller Day!
Access World Comparison of the HumanWare Victor Reader
Stream, GW Micro BookSense and PlexTalk Pocket software-based digital
book players
Blackboard Learn Platform Brings Accessibility
Enhancements for the Blind
Successful Living w/ Low Vision
JAWS, Fun, tips and tricks!
Perkins Survey
Independence 2010--a six-week residential
summer program for blind and low vision high school teens!
Mass. schools for blind gear up for fencing
match
The following information is for your information and not an endorsement of any product or service:
The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) will hold its spring meeting in Watertown, Massachusetts, from April 9-11, 2010. This meeting is being hosted by the American Council of the Blind, a BANA member organization. The spring meeting of the Braille Authority of North America will be held at the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library. BANA sessions begin at 9:00 AM on Friday, April 9, and end at 12:00 noon on Sunday, April 11th.
Guests are welcome to attend the BANA meetings and observe the deliberations. Space is limited, so to reserve a seat, please contact BANA Chair, Judith Dixon, to register your desire to observe any or all of the BANA sessions. PHONE: 1-202-707-0722, E-MAIL: jdix@loc.gov.
The mission and purpose of the Braille Authority of North America are to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes and facilitates the use, teaching and production of braille. It publishes rules, interprets and renders opinions pertaining to braille in all existing codes. It deals with codes now in existence or to be developed in the future, in collaboration with other countries using English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA considers the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and formats; the ease of production by various methods; and acceptability to readers. For additional resource information, visit www.brailleauthority.org.
2)Helen Keller Day! A great way to...Recruit, Recruit, RECRUIT!
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Helen_Keller_Day
3) Access World Comparison of the HumanWare Victor Reader Stream, GW Micro BookSense and PlexTalk Pocket software-based digital book players: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw100602
4) Blackboard Learn Platform Brings Accessibility Enhancements for the Blind
Blackboard Learn, an online learning platform, is used by thousands of institutions to provide online education, course materials, discussion boards, assignment submissions, electronic grading, and numerous other components intended to enhance the learning experience or to provide distance education. Previously, blind students encountered a number of accessibility barriers when using the Blackboard platform with non-visual screen access technology. Blackboard Learn, Release 9, showed great improvement over prior releases, and during the past year, Blackboard has invested further in a range of enhancements to Blackboard Learn that represent significant improvements to the usability of Blackboard for blind users. The accessibility improvements to Blackboard Learn include faster navigation and improved form interaction, allowing blind users to submit assignments, participate in discussion forums, send and receive e-mail, take tests and quizzes, and participate in polls. Blind instructors can also submit content with the improved accessible forms. For more information, contact Chris Danielsen, NFB Director of Public Relations, (410) 659-9314, extension 2330, or (410) 262-1281 (Cell), or email cdanielsen@nfb.org.
5) Successful Living w/ Low Visionfrom LS&S http://www.lssproducts.com is a large print, 30 page reference guide provides a quick summary of many helpful tips and strategies for living with low vision. Its brevity prevents a reader from getting overwhelmed and gets right to the heart of daily living issues. - from an AERNet post by LaShandra Holmes ldh.clvt@gmail.com.
6) JAWS, Fun, tips and tricks!
The New England Assistive Technology Center at Oak Hill presents: Fun, Tips & Tricks with Your Adaptive Software!
Adaptive software can enable users to accomplish a variety of everyday tasks with their computers, from email and the web, to word processing, spreadsheets and more. Come join us, have some fun and learn useful strategies and fun tips and tricks!
Date: Sat, June 5, 2010; Time: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Fee: $50
To register, please call the NEAT Center at Oak Hill at 860 243-2869
or send an email to info@neatmarketplace.org
Funding available through the Oak Hill Legacy Grant Application, for those who qualify.
The NEAT Center at Oak Hill is located at 33 Coventry Street , Hartford,
CT 06112
Phone: 860-243-2869 Toll free in CT: 866-526-4492 Fax: 860-286-3111
The Connecticut Institute for the Blind, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
corporation.
Dear Friend of Perkins,
We would like your advice.
For the past five years Perkins School for the Blind has been guided
by our current Seeing Possibilities "Strategic
Plan". This document has proven a guiding principle for many
of the key decisions we have made.
We have a committee of staff, parents, trustees and other friends examining our priorities as we prepare a draft of the 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. This is a critical document to help Perkins identify key priorities as we move forward.
We are interested in your ideas and thoughts as we plan for the upcoming five-year cycle. We would appreciate a few moments of your time to fill out this survey, and ask that you feel free to pass this on to others who might want to participate interested in this effort.
Please complete the survey http://psb.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=StrategySurvey by Wednesday, April 7, 2010. At the end of the survey there is an opportunity to sign up for our e-newsletter if you would like to receive updates on our range of activities on campus, in the community and internationally.
Thank you again for your time and interest. For 181 years, Perkins has been strengthened by the insights and ideas of our staff, students, alumni, parents, donors, volunteers, trustees and other special friends.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Rothstein, President
Perkins School for the Blind
175 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-972-7200 Phone
617-972-7315 Fax
Steven.Rothstein@Perkins.Org
www.perkins.org
8) Blind Industries and Services of Maryland announce:
Independence 2010--a six-week residential summer program for blind and low vision high school teens!
The students of Independence 2010 will participate in a fun, action-packed
comprehensive six-week program that will focus on learning the nonvisual
skills which
are essential for teens to successfully transition from high school
to college or employment. Students of Independence 2010 will live
in apartments supervised by adult blind mentors/instructors who will
incorporate budgeting, maintaining a home, preparing meals, doing
laundry, and shopping for groceries.
Independence 2010 will include cane travel, independent living skills, assistive technology, Braille, physical fitness, philosophy class, career exploration, and several confidence-building activities, including attending the 2010 National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Dallas, Texas. In addition to learning the skills of blindness, students will have fun learning from successful blind role models and participate in exciting confidence-building activities such as playing goalball, attending a summer festival, watching movies under the stars, enjoying the Inner Harbor and Little Italy, to name just a few.
Who can apply:
Legally blind high school students who are entering into 10th, 11th
, or 12th grades in the fall of 2010 and have open cases with their
state's vocational rehabilitation agency or who have an alternative
funding source.
The dates of the program are June 20 - August 1, 2010
For more information, application packet, or if you have any questions,
please email aphelps@bism.org or
call 410-737-2642.
- Amy C. Phelps, CRC, NOMC
Director of Rehabilitation Services
Blind Industries and Services of Maryland
3345 Washington Blvd
Baltimore, MD 21227
Phone: 410-737-2642
Mobile: 410-274-1647
Fax: 410-737-2689
Toll Free: 888-322-4567
E-mail: < mailto:aphelps@bism.org>aphelps@bism.org
Join us for a fun filled evening of Bull, Bull, and more Bull at the http://bism.org/2010EmailPromo/BullRoast_Final.htm Blind Industries and Services of Maryland Bull and Oyster Roast!
Find out more about our summer program for blind and low vision
high school students at
http://bism.org/Events/Independence2010Flyer_010510V1.pdf !
9)Mass. schools for blind gear up for fencing match
By MARK PRATT (AP) – 2 days ago (Thanks to Mary Joan D'Amore for sending this article!)
WATERTOWN, Mass. — Cory Kadlik has never let being blind stop him from golfing, skating, learning martial arts or riding a dirt bike. He had his doubts when it came to fencing.
"I never even knew this was possible," said Kadlik, 19, of Medway as epees clanged, his teammates whooped in triumph, and coaches barked out instructions in the gym of Perkins School for the Blind.
"I'm on Twitter, and I mentioned to my followers and friends that I was going to be in a fencing tournament and I had ten replies saying 'Blind people can fence? Really? No way!' Yeah, anything is possible."
Kadlik duels Monday in what's being billed as a first-of-its kind match between students at schools for the blind — Perkins and The Carroll Center for the Blind in nearby Newton.
The match was the brainchild of Perkins fencing instructor Cesar Morales, founder of the International Fencing Club in suburban Boston and also a teacher at the Newton school. Morales said the students got bored fencing against the same people week after week and needed outside challenges.
Fencing teaches the balance, agility, mobility, timing, listening and navigational skills that the blind need to make their way in the sight-oriented world, said Peggy Balmaseda, a physical education teacher at Perkins for 25 years.
"This helps with orientation," said Kadlik, who lives on his own in an apartment on the Perkins Watertown campus. "When you're walking along, and you come to a crosswalk, you need to stay in a straight line to cross the street, and learning to stay straight in fencing reinforces that feeling."
The Carroll Center has been teaching fencing to its students for exactly those reasons since 1954, said vice president Arthur O'Neill. But to his knowledge, this is the first time there has been a fencing match with another school.
About a half-dozen students from each school will compete.
Any kind of physical activity benefits the blind and visually impaired, said Mark Lucas, executive director of the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The organization oversees competition for the blind in sports including cycling, swimming, skiing, and judo, but Lucas said he's never heard of a fencing tournament for the blind, perhaps because it takes so much hand-eye coordination.
"This sounds like a wonderful opportunity," he said.
Blind and visually impaired people who participate in sports tend to be more competitive and higher achievers, Lucas said.
"The unemployment rate for the blind nationwide is something like 70 percent, but we surveyed our members and found that it's more like 30 percent for those involved with sports," he said.
For the Perkins fencers, fencing is just plain fun and proves that "I'm not limited by the way I am," said Perkins student Sam Robson, 17, of Westport, Conn., who also wrestles, swims and runs track. He said he's lived his life facing skepticism about his abilities.
"Don't tell me I can't walk across the street by myself," he said. "I can do that. Don't tell me I can't fence. I can do that. I think it's a big statement that can show people we are not afraid."
Minh Farrow, 21, the only woman on the Perkins team, said she was inspired to try fencing by her younger brother. "I just do it because it's fun," she said.
There are no special rules and no greater risk of injury for the blind students, Morales said. They wear the same protective jackets and headgear as sighted fencers. They start with their weapons touching, then fence on command from the officials, just like a fencing bout for the sighted. There are no verbal cues from coaches, and they use the same electronic scoring devices that buzz and light up when a fencer touches the tip of their weapon to their opponent's torso or head.
To keep the blind fencers oriented, Morales uses a rectangular carpet much like the "strip" sighted fencers use.
Kadlik, blind since birth, uses his other senses to judge the movements and distance to his opponent. He listens for their movements, feeling the vibrations of their footsteps through the carpet.
"You can feel the guy step, you know which way he's stepping, and as long as you follow his blade, you are in good shape," he said.
Even administrators at the school are getting into it. Perkins President Steven Rothstein has a friendly lunch wager with his counterpart, Michael Festa, at the Carroll Center.
"We take our competition very seriously here at Perkins."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5iyfcbcYB7YYfoM44o0qClGLtxMYwD9ENPLK00