NEWS
FROM
BLIND
NEBRASKANS
Spring 2008
"NEWS FROM BLIND NEBRASKANS" is published via email and the web by the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska. The NFB of Nebraska is an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind. Since 1940, the NFB has been leading the way toward security, equality, and opportunity for all blind people. We are the organized blind changing what it means to be blind in Nebraska.
NFBN PRESIDENT
Amy Buresh
1033 O Street, Ste. 24B
Lincoln NE 68508
(402) 477-7711
Email Amy Buresh
EDITORS
Cheryl Livingston
1026 S. 35 St.
Lincoln NE 68510
(402) 488-2509
Email Cheryl Livingston
Jeff Altman
2319 Winding Wy.
Lincoln NE 68506
(402) 489-9458
Email Jeff Altman
The board of the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska consists of:
President - Amy Buresh
1st Vice President - Jeff Altman
2nd Vice President - Wes Majerus
Secretary - Jamie Forbis
Treasurer - Cheryl Livingston
Board Member - Shane Buresh
Board Member - Ardyce Earl
Board Member - Mike Hansen
Board Member- Karen Anderson
Board Member - Amy Sweigard
Board Member- Della Johnston
Chapters and Divisions within the Nebraska Affiliate are:
Grand Island Chapter-Contact Nancy Oltman at (402) 463-2018
Lincoln Chapter-Contact Shane Buresh at (402) 465-5468
Omaha Chapter-Contact Darryl Walla at (402) 505-3342
Panhandle Chapter-Contact Jamie Forbis at (308) 534-4677
Blind Parents Division-Contact Jamie Forbis at (308) 534-4677
Student Division-Contact Karen Anderson at (402) 319-7645
Senior Division-Contact Dan Treffer at (308) 452-4342
Table of Contents
NFBN in Action
-Transportation Available to NFB Convention
-Legislative Issues for 2008 Fact Sheet
Federation Life
-Experiences of a First Timer by Mike Hansen
-Barring the Chaos Factor By Barbara Loos
-Shoveling Snow Blind By Robert Leslie Newman
-Meeting Federationism at the Top by James Nyman
Being Blind and Being Fit Are Compatible Characteristics By Robert Leslie Newman
New Frontiers
-Making the Call: A Guide to Cell Phone Accessibility By Wesley Majerus
-Technology Changes And Challenges By Nancy Coffman
-Website Update By Mike Hansen
Down Home
-Recipe of the Month
Points of View
-Discovering the Structure of Structured Discovery By James Nyman
Announcements
-NFB Writers' Division Announcement By Robert Leslie Newman
Editors Note
Return to: State Page | Blind Nebraskan
This section of our newsletter is devoted to the activities of our state affiliate and local chapters. In this section you can expect to find information regarding our legislative efforts, plans for state and national convention, news about local chapter activities and efforts, and important announcements.
Transportation Available to NFB Convention
Hello Fellow Nebraska Federationists:
We are announcing the availability of a bus to National Convention this year. The bus will be leaving on Saturday, June 28th from Omaha, stopping in Lincoln and York. Also, a van will be available for anyone that wishes to travel from the western part of the state to meet the bus in York. Those traveling from the western part of the state will need to plan to stay in a hotel in York for one additional night. The bus will then arrive back in Nebraska on Sunday, July 6th.
The arrangements for the bus are being handled by Fontenelle Tours who is also offering to arrange for rooms at the Hilton Anatole, the location of our convention. The rooms will be at the convention rates. So, if you have not already made your reservations with the hotel, please be aware that Fontenelle is prepared to assist you with this as well.
The round trip price per person is $135.00. There is a required, non-refundable deposit of $25.00 for each passenger, and the deadline is April 15th. We are able to offer you this low price of $135.00 for each person round trip because our affiliate has arranged to cover up to one half of the cost of the bus. However, in order for this to work, we need to have at least 30 people commit to taking the bus. To make certain that people will have time to make other arrangements, the bus will be cancelled after the April 15th deadline if there are not at least 30 people having made their deposits by this date. Please don't worry. If the bus is cancelled, your $25.00 deposit will be refunded in full.
There is also an additional benefit to be considered. The charter bus will be available the entire time we are in Dallas and can be used for excursions, sight seeing, or whatever else may be needed. This service is also included in the cost mentioned above. Some additional items that may be purchased as an option include an evening meal and outing at the Medieval Times. The cost will be approximately $50.00. There is also a travel insurance option which would be $25.00. This has extra medical benefits and will pay for travel home under covered emergency conditions.
The bus will be leaving at 6:30 a.m. departing the College of St. Mary Campus, 72nd and Mercy Road, Omaha, Nebraska. The bus will then be departing from Lincoln at 7:45 a.m. from the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, located at 4600 Valley Road. Then at 9:00 a.m. the bus will depart from York, Nebraska. The hotel in York is yet to be selected. There will be a change of drivers in York, which should not delay our departure for Texas. With a lunch and supper break, as well as a few short stops along the way, the bus should Arrive at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas at 9:30 p.m.
The return trip will begin at approximately 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 5th, following the close of the business session. The actual departure time will be determined during the trip to Dallas. Members will be given the choice of purchasing dinner “to go” at the hotel before departing or leaving a little earlier and stopping after departing Dallas to purchase a fast food dinner along the road. If the bus departs Dallas at approximately 7:00 p.m., the estimated time of arrival in York will be 6:00 a.m. The bus should then reach Lincoln at approximately 7:15 a.m. and Omaha at 8:30 a.m. The bus will be returning to the same locations from which it originally departed on June 28th.
This is a great deal and a major savings as compared with flying, so please get your reservations in right away. Making your reservations is a simple as calling:
Fontenelle Tours
4624 Navajo Street - Suite 15
Council Bluffs, IA 5150-8383
1-877-366-9596
Please remember, all reservations for the bus must be made through Fontenelle Travel. Their representative should be able to assist you with any questions
you may have.
Legislative Issues for 2008
Fact Sheet
The following is the fact sheet distributed to state senators at the NFBN’s annual Legislative Breakfast in January,
ISSUES:
I. Services for Senior Blind
Age-related vision loss is the second leading cause of disability among our country's senior population. With blindness increasing among seniors, the demand for independent living services is overwhelming. Without these critical services, vision loss can destroy an older individual's quality of life and ability to live independently. Yet, only five percent of seniors are served by current programs because they are vastly under-funded
The Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI) provides independent living services to a limited number of older persons who are blind and visually impaired. This program is currently funded by the Federal government at $225,000 and by the State of Nebraska at $100,000. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 14.7% of those 55 years old or over are visually impaired. Therefore, there are, in Nebraska, approximately 62,000 individuals over 55 years old who experience vision impairment. According to the data from the Nebraska Health and Human Services, Office of Finance & Support, Research & Measurement, Aged and Disabled Waiver paid in Nebraska $35,066,719 for those 55 years old and over. If we use the 14.7% figure, the State of Nebraska spent $5,119,741 for people over 55 years old who are visually impaired. Furthermore, for nursing facilities, Medicaid in Nebraska spent $250,755,353, of which $36,610,282 was for those who are 55 and older who are visually impaired. These alarming figures are expected to double as the “baby-boom” generation reaches its senior years beginning in 2030.
The NFBN is working in a partnership with the Commission for the Blind in collecting further documentation in order to request increased funding from the Unicameral for senior blind programs. Most seniors who are blind lack the skills to complete common everyday tasks, such as preparing a meal, use of the computer, shopping for essentials, or writing checks, and for those who have developed diabetes, devices to manage their blood sugar and medication. Individuals who receive these services are able to continue living independently in their own homes and communities rather than having to go into nursing homes, consequently saving the state money and, at the same time, maintaining their dignity and improving their quality of life.
2. Braille Competency
We are working to assure that blind children can read Braille with competency levels equaling their normally sighted counterparts in the public schools utilizing print. Approximately 90% of blind children in Nebraska are not receiving early, adequate Braille instruction. This is especially true for children whose residual vision is over-utilized and, thus, their potential is under-realized. Research studies on Braille literacy led to the inescapable conclusion that "low-vision kids need to be taught Braille…" and that "early Braille education is crucial to literacy, and literacy is crucial to employment."
The correlation between literacy and employment is well known and well documented and that is the same for the blind. While only 10 percent of blind people read Braille, as many as 90 percent of employed blind people are Braille readers. Why? If Braille offers literacy and literacy increases a blind person's chance of becoming employed, why aren't more blind children--the majority of blind children--being taught Braille? Without the opportunity to become literate, blind children will face a lifetime of poverty--real poverty. A blind person receiving Supplemental Security Income from the federal government must survive on $623 a month
Imagine the impact on our economy and the quality of life for the citizens of our state, if the standards of acceptable instruction for general literacy were equal to those currently being applied to blind students. There is a significant gap between policy and practice related to the education of blind children. Few young blind children are receiving Braille instruction that is commensurate with the reading instruction that sighted peers receive. Braille literacy is reading and writing using an extremely effective alternative method that achieves equivalent results for those that utilize it. Given this fact, shouldn't Braille be valued and provided equally?
There is a chronic struggle in local school districts throughout Nebraska to get an appropriate frequency and amount of Braille instruction into the individual education plan (IEP), and then to ensure that the instruction is carried out. Many problems and circumstances–a lack of qualified teachers of blind students, a lack of understanding about Braille, and a long list of core and expanded-core curricular skills to be learned–make the effort to receive appropriate Braille literacy instruction a constant balancing act.
Now that the capacity to deliver textbooks on time has been put into place, we are working on ensuring that blind youth can read these textbooks with the fluency, comprehension, and speed of their normally sighted counterparts.
3. Quiet cars
All of the future vehicles’, electric or hybrid, engine designs operate or are likely to operate with virtually no sound being produced by the vehicle. The total number of hybrid vehicles sold per year in this state is growing dramatically, and although the present number of hybrid vehicles constitutes a small overall percentage of vehicles, if this rate of growth persists, the number of hybrid vehicles will soon equal or exceed the number of internal combustion engine vehicles in this state. Because blind pedestrians cannot locate and evaluate traffic using their vision, they must listen to traffic to discern its speed, direction, and other attributes in order to travel safely and independently; and also other people, including pedestrians who are not blind, bicyclists, runners, and small children, benefit from multi-sensory information available from vehicle traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines. When operating on their electric engines, hybrid vehicles sold in this state cannot be heard by blind people and others, rendering such vehicles extremely dangerous when being operated on the street, emerging from driveways, moving through parking lots, and in other situations where pedestrians and vehicles come into close proximity to each other. This problem can be resolved through vehicle designs which take into account the multi-sensory nature of traffic detection and avoidance. Requiring vehicles to emit a minimum level of sound, which is designed to alert all pedestrians, especially blind pedestrians, to the presence of these vehicles, will insure a continued high level of pedestrian safety at a minimum cost. Aside from the potential human tragedies that such measures could help prevent, these standards would do much to limit the increasing cost of insurance, medical care, and the growing burden on our courts.
Our goal is to have national and state legislation to establish a minimum sound level standard for all phases of vehicle operation, which is to be applicable to every new vehicle sold in this state and licensed for use on its public streets and roadways when sold and registered after a specified date.
FEDERATION LIFE
The Federation touches each of our lives, whether we find ourselves in ordinary, or extraordinary, circumstances. In this section of our newsletter, Nebraska Federationists share their experiences and stories.
Experiences of a First Timer
By Mike Hansen
From the Editor: Mike Hansen is one of the up and coming leaders in the NFB of Nebraska. He currently serves as Lincoln chapter First Vice President, as a board member on the state affiliate board, and also as the Webmaster for our Nebraska affiliate website. Here are his impressions of his first visit to our National Center in Baltimore.
In February I had the opportunity to travel to Baltimore and for the first time to the National Center. This is a place that we have all heard about and that we have all raised money to help build, but a place that not many of us have had the opportunity to visit. I went to learn about an opportunity that the NFB was making to state affiliates and divisions to help them put their best foot forward on the internet. As this was to be my first visit to the National Center I made arrangements to arrive early and get a tour of our National Headquarters.
When I arrived on Friday at the National Center, Lorraine Rovig was kind enough to give me and 5 other participants a tour. Like me, the other 5 individuals on the tour were new to the Center as well. Lorraine told us the basic layout of the building, explaining how to find the soda machine and bathrooms, and then it got a bit more interesting. She took us down to the International Braille and Technology Center. I had heard of the IBTC but never imagined that it was the size of a 3rd of a football field. It was absolutely incredible to be able to see technology that most of us only read about.
We also got the opportunity to see the recording studio where so many of the audio publications of the NFB are given a voice. In fact, while we were there we got to experience the actual process as President Maurer finished recording the Presidential Release for the month of February.
We then proceeded into the Jernigan Institute. We toured the ten Broek Library and Members Hall. After everything I had heard and read about the Jernigan Institute being the research center of the future for the blind, I expected to see laboratories and manufacturing facilities. It turns out (and understandably so) that these things go on elsewhere. What I did see, though, was a place where ideas are dreamed and influential people work to turn those dreams into reality. Those dreams might be about the next advancement in talking cell phones or empowering a blind person to be able to make a similar discovery in the future.
Throughout the tour Lorraine told us stories about the National Center, how it came to be, and the vision that Dr. Jernigan had for it. One such story was about the décor. Dr. Jernigan got a great deal on some marble tile for the entryway and used wood paneling throughout the building due to its low maintenance cost. Dr. Jernigan wanted to create a beautiful facility that we could be proud of yet also feel comfortable in when we came to visit. At the same time he wanted to build respect for the hard work we all put into raising money for our organization.
As we entered the Harbor Room, Lorraine explained another desire of Dr. Jernigan. One of the participants of the tour asked why there wasn’t a TV anywhere in the dormitory. Lorraine told us that Dr. Jernigan imagined the National Center as a place where members could come together and network, sharing experiences and making new friends. The Harbor Room in his mind was the ideal place to do that, with its kitchen and large tables for meals, meetings, and camaraderie and a rustic fireplace for relaxing conversation.
Throughout the weekend that I was there I got some additional time to explore the National Center on my own. As I explored, I took time to look at the artwork in the Jernigan institute and two things happened. First, I was inspired by the pictures I saw of members of our organization going out and spreading our message or doing the things that we say all blind people are capable of doing. Whether it is inspiring blind youth at a summer camp or climbing a mountain, the images made you want to get up and show the world that blind people can do whatever we want. The second thing that happened is I realized how lucky we are in Nebraska. More than a handful of the pictures on the wall contained images of people we all know from Nebraska or formerly from Nebraska. Unlike some states, the Federation has a very strong presence here and we have very smart individuals helping us pave the way for our movement here in the state.
After visiting the National Center for the first time, I am walking away with a new energy to come back to Nebraska and do what I can towards the goals of our organization. The National Center is a place that we can all be proud of and I encourage everyone to make an effort to visit it if you ever get the chance.
Barring the Chaos Factor
By Barbara Loos
From the Editor: The following article is from Barbara Loos, a longtime leader in the National Federation of the Blind. This article shows that the life experiences of blind people are varied and challenging and that blindness is not the focus of all that we do. Here is Barbara’s article:
Some time before we were married, my husband, Brad, took me on a date I will never forget. One result of the events of that occasion is that I now have a deeper understanding of an expression he often uses when answering a question about, let's say, when he'll be home. His reply often includes the phrase "barring the chaos factor". I used to wonder what might happen were that factor not barred. Here's a true story of a time it wasn't.
For me, the day started typically enough. I had been invited to be a resource person for an event at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, one of my city's local hospitals. The occasion was an educational opportunity for facility staff in which information stations were set up along a hall just outside the cafeteria. Personnel were invited to pick up materials and speak with those of us who had agreed to be spokespeople for various entities. Their goal was both to become more aware of and to interact about potential patients with either real or perceived special needs. I was representing the Nebraska affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, (NFB) our country's oldest and largest organization of the blind, whose message is both that it is respectable to be blind and that blind people can, with proper training and opportunity, do the average job in the average place of business and do so as well as their sighted peers. One of the perks of this event was to have access to lunch in the cafeteria afterward. Since I was on a tight schedule, I arranged to have a sack lunch to take with me to my next appointment, a demonstration of Braille art and participation in some interactive opportunities with children at the “Wacky Wednesday” summer program at our Children’s Museum. Brad, who was to be a fellow participant in this event, joined me there with the Braille printer and other materials we were to use. This, too, was an activity in which we represented the NFB. Our plan was to take the bus to my place afterward for supper and a relaxing evening together. That, of course, was "barring the chaos factor".
While we were sitting on my couch contemplating supper, Brad commented that his forehead, where he had recently had surgery, felt odd. (I digress here to say that Brad was almost fatally injured when a gun mount blew up on him while he was in the United States Navy. While overcoming many complications, two lasting consequences of the explosion are total blindness and the presence of a plate in his forehead to replace the portion of his skull that was shattered. After twenty plus years, an infection had caused the need to replace the plate. Since, although living tissue can recover from infection, prosthetics cannot, this had been a thirteen-month experience, during which Brad had worn a modified flexible helmet to protect his brain between the surgery to remove the infected plate and the one to put in the new one. At the time the events being recounted here occurred, it had been almost a month since the second surgery.)
When I touched Brad's forehead, it felt puffy, like there was air under his skin. We joked about it a bit, but then he decided to take the advice of his doctor, who had told him that, if he noticed anything unusual, he should have it looked at. Since it was, by then, too late to make bus connections (they stop running from downtown at 6:15), we called a cab and went to the emergency room at Bryan LGH East Hospital.
After the usual preliminaries and an x-ray, a doctor bustled in, announcing breathlessly that Brad had air in his cranial cavity, some of which might be behind his brain, a very dangerous problem. She thought he should be rushed immediately to the Veteran's Hospital in Omaha. (The Lincoln facility is now strictly an outpatient clinic.) Enter "the chaos factor!"
Between the time we had left my place and the point at which the doctor was convinced that Brad needed to go to Omaha, severe thunderstorm warnings had been issued, and it had begun to rain. The doctor had been insistent that Brad not go alone, so we had decided that I would accompany him. We made a few calls to let people know we would be going. Since it was after 10:00 pm by then, I decided to call my students the following morning. (I teach blind adults, most of whom are senior citizens, the use of computers with speech output rather than the monitor screen.)
While we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the subject of supper came up. They decided that Brad should be fed intravenously, but brought me fare similar to that I had eaten earlier from St. Elizabeth's. That seemed a long time back, and a bit strange. It's the only time I have ever had food from two hospitals in one day. Although I was sorry Brad couldn't have real food too, I ate gratefully.
When the ambulance driver came in, he said it was raining to beat the band and the lightning had begun to knock out electricity. When he realized that we had come to the emergency room hastily, he asked if there was anything we needed to do before leaving town. I mentioned that I hadn't closed the windows of my house and hadn't brought the machine containing, among other things, the phone numbers for my next day's students. My main concern, though, was getting Brad the help he needed. The driver said that his assistant was tracking Brad's vitals and it wouldn't be a problem to run by my house. Since by then it was after 11:00, my hope was that no one in the neighborhood would notice an ambulance pulling up to my place. No one ever asked me about it. I jumped out , ran into the house, shut windows, spread towels over the already wet (and newly laid) carpet, grabbed my raincoat and machine, and rushed back out to the ambulance, which whisked us away. Although I got soaked in the process, it was good to know things weren't going to get ruined while I was gone.
As we approached one busy intersection on the way out of town, the driver announced that street lights were going out all around. Fortunately, given the late hour and the torrential rain, traffic was sparse. The driver periodically spoke of brilliant lightning. Once in a while, I either heard or felt thunder, but it was surprisingly dulled by the ambulance sounds.
I noticed that Brad and the assistant had struck up a conversation. Although I couldn't tell what they were saying, they sounded calm. As we got out on the highway (it's about 60 miles from Lincoln to Omaha), I began to feel like the doctor at Bryan might have caused us all to be taking a bigger risk than the situation warranted. "Better safe than sorry" could be applied multiple ways. Brad, as usual, appeared to be taking things in stride. Since I figured that their conversing meant Brad was both awake and lucid, I directed my attention toward the driver's intermittent comments about his job, the weather, road conditions, etc.
I was relieved when we arrived at the Omaha hospital, where Brad was efficiently admitted and assigned a bed in the intensive care ward. Some time between 2:00 and 2:30 A.M., the first of several doctors we were to see came in. Taking a quick look at Brad, he said matter-of-factly, "Oh, this is a common situation after head surgery. We'll have your regular doctor look at it in the morning, but having some air get in during an operation happens a lot. It will probably dissipate over the next few days or weeks."
After he left, the nurses on duty, one female and one male, suggested that I take the guest room just off of the ward for what was left of the night. The woman was going off duty, but she said she would show me around before she left. She found some pink pajamas she said might be a bit big, but I could try them. She mentioned that there was a washroom there and a call light, should I need it.
After she left, I put on the pajamas. That they were too big was an understatement, but I was grateful for them nonetheless. Since they had also provided a toothbrush and toothpaste, I decided to do my usual bedtime routine. There was a sink in the corner, but a toilet was nowhere to be found. After tracing and retracing my steps around the room, I decided I must have misunderstood the nurse. I would have just waited until morning, but both curiosity and discomfort ultimately ruled that out. So, gathering the extra folds of the pajamas in one hand to keep them from falling off and using my cane with the other, I quietly opened the door and walked out into the hall. As I went around the corner, my cane tapped against something metallic. The male nurse, possibly having heard that, noticed my presence and asked if I needed something. I said that I was looking for the bathroom since I had been told there was one in the area. Walking past me into the room, he said he thought the woman who had just left had shown it to me, but he would be glad to. He directed me to the corner where the sink was. Putting my hand on it, he showed me how to move it aside, revealing a toilet underneath. I have to admit that that would never have occurred to me.
Although it had been a very long day, I didn't sleep much that night. I could hear sounds from the ward that were disturbing. It was good, though, to have some privacy. I had expected to spend the night in a waiting room wearing my suit and nylons.
Around 7:15, I got dressed and called my computer students for that day to let them know I wouldn't be there. I didn't give much explanation. It would have sounded too bizarre.
When I went in to see how Brad was doing, they said he was awake and preparing to see the doctors. They didn't want him to eat until he had seen the first one. When someone nearby needed to use the bathroom, a nurse brought a bottle and, making a comment about privacy, pulled a curtain around him. I got up to leave the ward. Although our society seems to lack concern for auditory privacy while seeing to protection against visual intrusion, I do my best to respect both. At first someone thought I might be confused, but once I explained what I was doing and why, she let me go.
By the time the first doctor arrived and gave Brad the go-ahead for breakfast, both of us were hungry. Since I wanted to be there when the next doctors arrived, and since we didn't have much cash with us, we shared the meal they brought for him. Eventually, several more doctors came and went. All agreed that the situation was normal for the kind of surgery he had had, so they could release him that afternoon.
We were both glad to board the 4:00 van and head homeward. Even the hassle of waiting for the city bus when we got to Lincoln seemed less bothersome than usual.
As we walked up the driveway to my house, the sun shone warmly, making the raincoat slung over my arm seem out of place. We marveled that it had been slightly less than 24 hours since the chaos factor had been unbarred.
Within a week or so, the air in Brad’s forehead did dissipate. About a year later, he and I were engaged, and four months after that, we were married. Brad still uses the expression "barring the chaos factor" when responding to certain questions. I no longer wonder why. In fact, I use it myself sometimes.
Shoveling Snow Blind
By Robert Leslie Newman
The following article is reprinted from the January, 2008 issue of the Braille Monitor, the monthly magazine of the National Federation of the Blind.
From the Editor: I don’t know anyone who really enjoys shoveling snow, but I have always done it, at least I did until the kids and I pooled our resources to give my husband a snow blower. I can report that it is perfectly possible to shovel snow while carrying a baby in a backpack, but it is easier to do so without the extra weight. It is also possible to clear walks by rolling large balls of snow with small children for a snowman. I never gave the subject of snow removal much thought until I got the following little article from Robert Lesley Newman at the end of last year’s snow season. I then checked around and discovered, as he did, that plenty of blind folks have sidestepped this rite of winter and home maintenance. No one who has been relatively inactive should race to the garage for a shovel when the snow begins to fly. Shoveling is physically demanding work, and we certainly don’t want anyone to have a heart attack or strain a back proving that he or she can clear the snow from the front walk. But if you are in good physical condition and have never tried to shovel snow, here is some advice about how to do it from an expert:
************
Snow shovel in hand I stepped out my front door. "Brr." It was late afternoon, and the latest winter storm of ten to thirteen inches accumulation was winding down. I had stayed home from work like most of the rest of the city. Digging out after a paralyzing blizzard starts at your front door, and I wanted to get my walks and driveway cleared before the night's falling temperatures hardened the new snow.
Wow, knee-deep!" The snow always drifted up my front steps. "This is going to be work." I breathed in the frosty air, enjoying the clean taste. "Oh well, it all starts with the first scoop." If the truth be known, I looked forward to the challenge; I was in good physical shape and enjoyed this type of chore, and clearing this snow would chalk up a mark in the responsible-homeowner column.
My first scoop was straight ahead on the top step. Lifting the blade, I began throwing left, over the waist-high bushes. Three more scoops took me down to concrete. Stepping into the cleared space and pivoting left as the blade rasped against the cement, I thought, "Might be able to get this strip in one go." I jammed the blade forward to the grass line, lifted, and pitched. I felt loose snow cascading down onto my feet. "Nope, too much." I began scooping at the right side of my trench. Two red cheeks later the entire width of the walk was clear, and I had to remove my neck scarf to keep from overheating. I repeated this drill along the short walk that ran across the front of the porch to where it met the driveway.
While I scooped and tossed, I was thinking, "Interesting, shoveling snow as a blind guy is one of those activities that usually call forth either amazement or negatives in people's heads." At a recent meeting of blind consumers I took a poll. Out of the five blind homeowners, I was the only one who regularly shoveled. Two were elderly women; one of them had shoveled when she was younger. Two were younger than me; one of the guys had no clue how it could be done, and the fifth guy had shoveled some but had orientation issues about getting lost.
If you are healthy, shoveling blind is just another alternative technique. The shovel is not only a tool for moving stuff, it's also a travel tool. Then there are your feet: just as the shovel tells you tactilely and auditorially about the surface you are clearing, your feet do the same; clear cement is different from cement that is snow-covered, which is different than grass-covered ground. Knowing when the blade is full comes from the weight and amount of resistance that you can feel through the handle. You clear an area by scooping in an overlapping pattern, just as you cover the surface when using a vacuum sweeper or wiping the kitchen table or mopping the floor.
The driveway was next. It is about ten feet wide and fifty feet from curb to garage. So, after a short rest and throwing a few snowballs, I started shoveling across the front of the garage. Here the snow was deeper, above my waist. Facing the length of the drive toward the street, I listened around, taking a read on the auditory landscape, getting oriented. To the left were the distant sounds of a busy street. Across the street and down two houses someone started a snow blower.
Starting at the right grass line, I dug in at the level of my belt buckle, pitched right, continued to cut down into the drift, widening my excavation in order to clear out the snow that slid into my deepening hole. When shoveling the average snowfall, if you viewed the snowy drive as a long ribbon, I would work back and forth across its end. I’d start at the right side, scoop straight ahead, pitch right, take a half step left, scoop, check to the right with my foot for snow that had come off the blade and clear that, then half-step to the left and repeat my actions. At the midpoint of the ribbon width, I would begin pitching left. But today’s job had no pretty choreography. It was just dig and throw, dig and throw. So I kept at it until I detected the slant at the end of the drive as it slopes down to the street. "At last, here’s the turn." I had reached the sidewalk running across the front of my property. After opening my jacket because I was really working up some internal heat, I cleared that walk too.
"All right! I’m finished." Walking back over all that I had cleared, checking for little landslides, I heard footsteps coming from the place the snow blower guy had been working.
"Hi, I'm Daniel, your new neighbor. Hey…" His voice moved from side to side as he looked around. "Good job." Then he added something I had to digest before answering. "If you want, I'd be willing to blow out your drive and walks for the rest of the winter. Interested?"
Daniel, his wife Karen, and my wife Bonnie and I did have coffee and talked. Daniel admitted that his initial offer had come from an element of his upbringing. He had been taught to help the old and the handicapped. He recalled that his first view of me as a neighbor and a blind guy had been back in December, when he spotted me, long white cane in hand, walking around on the roof of my house, merrily putting up Christmas decorations. He had wanted to rush over then, but Karen had stopped him.
The upshot of our finally meeting was our mutual apologies for not having taken the time to say more than "Hi" to one another as we went our separate ways in the neighborhood; Omaha is a friendly city, but sometimes big city ways can prevent us from being as friendly as we would like. And no, I did not take him up on his offer, though we agreed I could keep the option in mind. He also said that he would be open to allowing me to help him on some upcoming project of his own.
Meeting Federationism at the Top
By James Nyman
From the Editor: James Nyman is a longtime member of the National Federation of the Blind and served as director of the Nebraska Services for the Visually Impaired (now the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired) from 1974 until his retirement in 1998. Here is what he says about his introduction to the Federation:
On January 20, 1955, I quit smoking. Unlikely as it seems, and unknown to me at the time, this was my first small step toward becoming a Federationist. I'll explain.
A friend named Danny Q. Calvert from a local church in Vancouver, Canada, told me once that he had a standing wager with anyone who would quit smoking for a year that he would give them $100 and guarantee that they would never smoke again. Next time I saw Danny, I mentioned this wager and he told me that, if I kept it up, he would honor his wager. Near Christmas that year, when I saw him again, he asked me if I was still off cigarettes and, when I said, I was, he presented me with a check for $100. I deposited the funds with a friend and, when I graduated from the University of British Columbia in April, 1956, I used the money to take a trip to Berkeley, California, where I planned to pursue graduate work.
The morning after I arrived in Berkeley, I was sitting in the lobby of the hotel when the receptionist bustled up to me and gushed, "I have a friend of yours here!" "Not bad," I thought, "I've been in California for less than a day and already I have a friend!" The "friend" turned out to be a local blind man named Henry Bindt. We introduced ourselves to each other and talked a little about our background. He mentioned he had a sister named Julie who was a home teacher. He went on to tell me about a blind man at the University of California who had an organization of blind people and had fostered the idea that the blind were capable of doing pretty much whatever they chose and that they had the same rights as anyone else. This notion, Henry told me, was foolish and radical and only stirred up hopes that could not be fulfilled. This misguided man was chairman of the Department of Speech at the University and was named tenBroek. After Henry and I parted, I went up to my room and called the University Speech Department, expecting the usual sort of hierarchy of receptionists to shunt me from one level to another. Instead, she simply said, "Just a moment" and, next thing I knew, the friendly voice of Jacobus tenBroek came on the line. I had no sooner explained that I was a blind fellow from Vancouver who planned to come to Berkeley for graduate school than he said, "Well, get yourself over here and we'll talk." In less than half an hour, I was sitting in his office having a very friendly and helpful conversation. I think he mentioned the National Federation of the Blind, but before I left, he said to contact him when I came in the fall and he would put me in touch with the blind students at the University.
Shortly after I arrived in September, tenBroek did as he had said he would and introduced me to some of the blind students. About a month later, a number of the students took me to a meeting of an organization called "The Alameda County Association of the Adult Blind" in Oakland. The president of the organization was Kenneth Jernigan This organization, of course, was the local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. I joined at that first meeting, but the pressure of graduate work didn't leave me the time and energy I would have needed to become as active as I might have. Nevertheless, association with the blind students and periodic meeting with tenBroek kept Federationism fresh in my mind. It is unfortunate that, during the first few years of this association, divisions erupted within the Federation and feelings similar to those expressed to me in my meeting with Henry Bindt became more common. Friendships were disrupted and one could hardly be friendly with a particular individual without incurring the hostility of others.
My association with Jacobus tenBroek in the twelve years I knew him before his death in 1968 was more one of friendship than as a member of the organization that he led and inspired. We kept in touch by correspondence over the years after I left Berkeley in 1963, but only once did he urge me to become more active in the Federation. There was no NFB chapter in Davis, California, or Tucson, Arizona, when I moved there, but after moving to Chicago, I participated in 1968 in the formation of a new Illinois affiliate and was elected second vice-president. Three years later, when I lived in San Antonio, Texas, I participated in the formation of a chapter and was elected secretary and later became a board member of the Texas affiliate. In Illinois and Texas I served as official legislative representative of the state affiliate. In 1974, I was given the opportunity to put Federationism into practice in rehabilitation as director of the sate services for the blind of Nebraska.
Dr. tenBroek and his wife attended my wedding in Palo Alto in 1965, but the last time I saw him was in September, 1967, when he and Hazel tenBroek hosted an evening gathering at his home in Berkeley. My wife Nobuko and I, along with two other couples, each with a blind spouse, were their guests. He died six months later.
In retrospect, I must say that it is not surprising that the first Federationist I met was the founder and president of the National Federation of the Blind. It was the openness of the man, his accessibility to all things human, that characterized the man as much as his leadership and philosophical understanding of blindness. Most of my contact with him centered on my progress as a graduate student and later as an academic. I must confess that my wager with Danny Q. Calvert on quitting cigarettes only lasted for two years, but I can never thank him enough for providing the wherewithal that enabled me to travel to Berkeley and meet the man who has so decisively impacted my life. I suppose I should also thank Henry Bindt for provoking me to contact the man whose life embodied the philosophy he bequeathed to all of us.
Being Blind and Being Fit Are Compatible Characteristics
by Robert Leslie Newman
This article is reprinted from the October, 2007 issue of the Braille Monitor, the monthly magazine of the National Federation of the Blind.
From the Editor: I used to laugh as heartily as the next person at the oft-quoted comment that every time I feel the impulse to exercise, I lie down until the fit passes. But the more I read about the absolute necessity of daily exercise to good health and reasonable quality of life, the more unfunny I find this attitude. Moreover, I used to be able to take off unwanted pounds by simply consuming fewer calories. But no more! Metabolism slow-down has set in, and if I want to lose weight, I now have to couple eating less with increased exercise.
It isn’t easy for most blind people to run out and join a gym or jump in the car to get to fitness classes. Buying a video in order to take up yoga or find out if Pilates is the answer requires endless explanation and interpretation at the very least. So what is a blind person to do? Some of us have solved the problem and are committed to our exercise programs. Robert Leslie Newman, a rehabilitation counselor, president of the NFB Writers Division, and an active member of the NFB of Nebraska, is one of these. He offers his thoughts about the importance of exercise and a detailed description of his personal program in the following article. This is what he says:
How did my lifelong habit of exercise get started anyway? I think the charitable would say it began because I wanted to improve my self-esteem; the less charitable would say it was vanity and the teenage impulse toward manly competition. To tell the truth, many of my friends and I believed that big muscles—looking like a weight lifter--were the way to look cool. I am fifty-eight years old and totally blind. I do not look like a weight lifter, but I am physically fit, and I like to talk about it. Exercise and a reasonable diet have been an important and ongoing part of my life since I began working out in my teens.
I am basically still the same weight and measurements as I was when I graduated from high school.
I have a threefold purpose for writing this article. First, I believe we need to address the serious health issue of too much weight and too little muscle tone in the nation and in our community because we can bring about a positive change. To that end, this is my story, my personal exercise regimen, and a description of its positive influence upon my life. Second, it is my contribution in bringing focus to an already recognized problem in the blindness community: too many blind people are overweight and out of shape. And, third, I believe that looking and feeling good does affect our personal adjustment to blindness and does positively influence others’ reactions to us. So yes, changing what it means to be blind in part does come from the way we look and feel.
Being blind and being fit truly are compatible characteristics, but fitness is even less common in the blind community today than it is in the general population. I believe the underlying cause is society’s misinformation and misunderstanding about blindness. Most societies have a negative view of blindness, one that manifests itself in lowered expectations and therefore makes fewer demands and provides fewer opportunities for the person who is born blind or becomes blind later in life.
In ignorance and protectiveness parents of blind children are likely to limit their active pursuits and keep them indoors, not allowing them to master playground equipment, not enrolling them in organized sports, and not expecting them to do normal household chores. This problem is exacerbated by the general tendency of public schools to have lower expectations of blind students and hence low program accessibility in physical education classes and intramural or extramural sports for blind students. By the time young blind people are making most of their own choices, their lives are already programmed to be sedentary. Not surprisingly they choose to engage in nonphysical active pursuits like watching television, listening to music, working on the computer, and reading. This fear of and lack of practice in moving, together with society’s encouragement of inactive pursuits, can affect newly blind adults as well. This impulse toward sluggishness is compounded for blind people by the undemanding philosophy underlying the services of the average blindness rehabilitation agency.
I have no doubt that my parents, teachers, and friends helped develop my interest in fitness. My mother never let me sit around the house, my father encouraged my interest in sports, and my teachers expected me to participate in activities with my peers, both when I was sighted and after I became blind.
In the summer of 1964, when I was fifteen, I became totally blind as a result of a car accident. My local school did not believe that they could deal with a blind student, so I was enrolled in the state school for the blind in Nebraska. I was a fairly typical teen in that I was not particularly athletic. I attended gym class and followed through with whatever the physical education teacher asked of us. I did participate in wrestling and track. I was lucky that my parents were not the overprotective type; they knew nothing about blindness, but they knew about kids. They expected a normal kid to play actively, which meant not being sedentary. They thought it was reasonable for me to do sports and go out with friends. Moreover, the educators at the residential school for the blind expected blind kids to experience the normal range of curriculum, so they designed classes to accommodate the unique characteristics of the blind learner.
Taking care of one’s health through activity and diet is appropriate for everyone at any age, but if you resemble the inactive blind person I’ve been talking about, how do you get started? Let’s start with what you eat.
Significant Influences and Supports
What should you do first to get active? After decades of exercising and observing other people's fitness programs, I know that what works for one person does not necessarily work for the next. Yet in general we are more similar than different, and almost everyone can find a balance between diet and exercise that will work. Exceptions to this rule exist but are very rare. However, before you try seriously pushing yourself, recognize your starting point and begin slowly.
When I look at myself in my mirror (my ten fingers), I know that what I see is not just the result of exercise, but of diet as well. So before we talk about exercise, we have to consider the consumption and burning of calories because the balance between the two is what a person has to achieve. Body shape and fitness are the result of balancing what goes in your mouth and the amount of physical activity necessary to burn off what you have eaten so that you only add to the parts of your body that you need to and do not add weight where it is not wanted.
I have never been on a diet. Yet in another sense I am always on a diet. I call it a reasonable diet, one that keeps me in the input-output balance that I have found over the years works for me. In short, I like to eat; I eat anything I want, but in moderation. Mostly I stay away from classic desserts like cake and pie with all the sugar and flour, carbohydrates that turn into fat for storage in the body. I eat them rarely. My normal after-dinner treat is a piece of fruit or, if I really need a sugar boost, one piece of candy.
I also stay away from eating between meals. I try to eat my largest meal at midday since after supper there are fewer hours in which to burn off calories before bed. The beauty of this system is that, when you choose to pig out at a party or picnic, you can do it, knowing that the next day you will go back to your normal habit of being reasonable with your diet. Finally, remember that being in shape and fit is more than just having a trim figure. Fitness results from the process of getting in shape, and it means having more toned-up musculature and stronger circulatory and respiratory systems.
Now for the exercise part of my fitness program. First is aerobics, the running I do for my heart and circulatory system. Second is weight lifting for maintaining muscle mass and a defined look in my physique and also the exercises I do for fat burning or sculpting. Here is the Robert Leslie Newman exercise regimen. This is what my personal weekly routine looks like:
Aerobic exercise or running--upon rising and after orange juice and coffee Monday through Friday, I run for twenty minutes, which I figure is at least two miles. I run in my basement on a trampoline that is about three feet in diameter. This is a $25 item that can be found in either sporting goods stores or fitness catalogues. I like this spring-action device, not only because it takes a lot of the joint stress out of running, but because I can conveniently run on it all year round, no matter the weather. It takes the same commitment as running outdoors in that you must run at a pace that elevates your heart rate and sustain the elevation for a reasonable amount of time. While running, I listen to a local radio station. This provides an audible landmark so I don’t get disoriented, and it gives me my first fix of world and local news and weather forecasts for the day.
Lifting weights--this is an evening activity, one that allows me to spend time with my wife. I do it in the family room. Bonnie and I watch some of the TV programs we like. She is a second-grade teacher, and, while I exercise, she busies herself with school-related work.Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings I work on my upper body. I do not use really heavy weights. When I was younger and going for bulk, I used much heavier poundage. Now I go for muscle tone and definition. I begin by warming up by stretching and an exercise that works better for me than push-ups or sit-ups. It is what I call roll-outs. Visualize an eight-inch wheel with a one-foot rod through the center as an axle, with handgrips on either end of the rod. I get down on my knees with the wheel grasped between my two hands. I place the rim of the wheel on the floor in front of me, and, with my weight bridging from my knees to the wheel, I roll out straight and then roll back up to my knees. Then I repeat it one hundred times. This works all the muscles from the knees on up and develops core strength. Only the lower legs touch the floor at any time. I had to work my way up to the full roll-out and this significant number of reps.
For the lifting part of this workout, I start with a barbell, a four-foot steel bar with cast-iron collars, which weighs twenty-five pounds. Then I add two five-pound weights and two one-and-a-quarter-pound weights. The total weight is thirty-seven and a half pounds. When you begin, you want to use enough weight so that the first set feels too light for you. The second set feels more challenging, and the third set is hard. In fact, at first you may not be able to finish the last set. When doing all three sets loses its challenge, you are ready to add more weight. You can decide when you are ready to stabilize the weight. Once you hold steady, you will stop building muscle mass and just increase muscle tone and definition.
I begin with what are called military presses, which build up the shoulder muscles. I kneel on the floor, starting with the bar just below my chin, at shoulder height, each hand gripping the bar in front of its shoulder. I then press the bar straight up as high as I can and then lower it back to shoulder level. I do five sets of thirty repetitions, with a minute of recovery after each set. The first fifteen reps are done with the bar in front of my chin and the second fifteen are done behind my head. I always rest for one minute between sets when working out.
Next I do triceps extensions to build up the muscles on the back side of the upper arms. I lie flat on my back with my hands close together at the center of the bar and extended straight above my head on the floor. I begin by keeping my arms straight; I raise them to the vertical. I then bend my arms at the elbow, bringing the bar down to touch my nose, then I straighten my arms again so that the bar is being pressed toward the ceiling. The bar does not return to the floor above my head until the end of the set. Be careful when lowering the bar; it is easy to strike your nose if you are moving too fast. I do four sets of thirty repetitions.
Next I do curls, which build up the biceps, the muscles on the front side of the upper arm. I stand with my arms straight down in front of me, hands shoulder-width apart, palms up. The bar is horizontal in my hands and touching the tops of my thighs. Bending my elbows, I raise the bar to my chest and then lower again. I do four sets of twenty repetitions.
The next exercise is done with five-pound hand weights. I call it butterflies; it builds the shoulders. With one in each hand, arms straight down at my sides, I raise them simultaneously out to the sides and over my head until the weights touch; then I lower them until they again touch behind me at the small of my back. I do four sets of twenty-five.
Next I do what I call armpit raises (which build shoulders and arms). I use eight-pound weights. Starting with my arms straight down at my sides, I lift both arms in unison, bending my elbows and bringing the weights straight up into my armpits. I then raise my shoulders as high as I can and then lower them and the weights back to the original position. I do four sets of forty reps.
I then do another exercise like curls (building both the biceps and triceps, the front and back sides of the upper arms). With an eight-pounder in each hand and arms straight down at my sides, I simultaneously bend one arm, raising that weight to touch the shoulder, and lift the other arm to the back and up as far as I can reach. I do four sets of sixty reps.
The final exercise I call swings (building the shoulders). I lie on the floor flat on my back, arms straight down at my sides. With an eight-pounder in each hand, keeping my arms straight at all times, I lift both weights from the floor and swing my arms up and over to touch them to the floor above my head. Then I swing them back down to the floor in the starting position. I do four sets of thirty reps.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights I work my lower body: thighs, calves, and ankles. I have worked up to using the barbell on my shoulders with eighty-seven and a half pounds, just over half my total body weight. I do five sets of thirty squats and five sets of thirty toe-raises. Holding the barbell over my shoulders, I squat down as far as I can and then stand up again. For toe-raises I stand holding the barbell in the same position with the balls of my feet on a two-inch pad. I then raise myself as far as I can onto my toes then lower my heels to the floor before rising up to stand on the balls of my feet again. I do thirty squats and thirty toe-raises as a set before putting down the barbell for my minute of recovery.
You will notice that my schedule has me alternating upper-body and lower-body work-outs. This is necessary. In a good workout you tear down muscle fiber, and when it recovers, it is just that much stronger. But the process takes two days, thus the alternation of upper and lower-body exercise.
The final type of exercise is one I make time to do every day. I perform it while seated in a chair. I do it when and wherever I can. It is simply many, many crunches of the buttocks, stomach, and side muscles. This entire in-seat routine can be done anywhere: at home, at work, in the car. Never again will I just sit through a boring meeting, fighting off sleep. I tense up those muscles one group at a time, again and again, until it hurts, working to burn off fat. Practice doing these reps without undue motion and without making faces.
Contract and release the buttocks muscles on one side over and over, until the muscles burn. Hold the contraction as long as possible the final time before moving on to the next set. To exercise the side muscles, imagine lifting one hip to try to touch the shoulder on that side. To exercise the abdominals, contract the muscles necessary to lift your knees to your chest and then release them. The chief value of these five exercises is in the multiple contractions and releases, which build strength and control. The side benefit is that they remind you what it feels like to have these muscles tucked up tight, which is the way they should be whenever you are standing or sitting straight. Good posture requires that all the core muscle groups be strong and do the job they are supposed to.
I assure you that I do not spend all evening watching TV and exercising. The upper-body routine takes a little over an hour, and the lower-body routine takes about a half hour. I have found time to do some version of this routine for decades now, and I always will. If I lose a night because of a social engagement or a meeting, I don’t worry about it. I am faithful enough that a lost workout doesn’t matter much.
How does being in shape fit into the concept of changing what it means to be blind? In brief it's this: The person who gets in shape and maintains fitness looks better and feels better, which gives one a boost to the morale and the self-confidence. With all the presumptions of incompetence and helplessness that every blind person experiences every day, who among us couldn’t benefit from this sense of achievement and a boost in morale? More generally, blindness places us at a social disadvantage, at least in the eyes of many other people. Yet being fit, moving well and looking strong and controlled, is a social advantage, whereas being flabby and paunchy is a definite detractor. I am not talking about chiseled features or prettiness, but rather looking trim and fit for your body type. More and more studies report that people who look good get hired more often than those who have let themselves go. So what are you waiting for? You have nothing to lose but unwanted inches.
NEW FRONTIERS
This section of our newsletter is devoted to the ever changing world of technology. These marvels of our modern world have the potential to significantly improve our lives, but for those of us that are blind, there is also the potential that these new technologies, designed without consideration for accessibility, could leave us behind. It is our good fortune, here in Nebraska, to have members of the National Federation of the Blind, with the skills and knowledge to keep us ahead of the curve. Here is the place where our homegrown experts in the field of technology share their knowledge and experience, so you can keep your footing on the cutting edge.
Making the Call
A Guide to Cell Phone Accessibility
By Wesley Majerus
From the Editor: Wes Majerus is another of our up and coming leaders in the NFB of Nebraska. Wes serves as 2nd Vice President of the state affiliate and Secretary of the Lincoln Chapter. He works for the State of Nebraska with accessibility issues. Here is what he has to say about cell phone technology.
Anyone who knows me has probably figured out that I am keenly interested in technology, how it works, and how it can benefit people who use it. I work in the technical field and like to test items for accessibility by blind users. This being said, blind people will often approach me on the street, call, or email me to ask what kind of cell phone they should buy in order to gain the most accessibility. I love chatting with people about this topic but, in addition, I felt that a written article might be beneficial for people who are in the market for a new phone.
Anyone who loves technology knows it moves at a frenetic pace. This is especially true of cellular telephones. It seems that just as often as you pick up your TV remote to surf to a new channel, you see one of the big cell phone companies trying to convince you to buy a new type of phone or to join some new ultra-cool plan. And they all have the most reliable network, right? Or so they say. This article will not try to compare the providers of cell phone service, although they may be mentioned. Its goal is to introduce you, the reader, to the different types of cell phones and the different flavors of accessibility that exist for them.
Before diving into the topic of accessibility, it might be helpful to discuss the different types of cell phones that are available. Looking at basic cell phones, it is possible to buy a candy bar style phone, which is one solid piece with all of the dialing keys and other controls exposed. Flip phones usually contain an outer display and then flip open to reveal a larger display, navigation keys, and dialing keys. Most lower-end phones operate on software written by the manufacturer and will only perform functions that have been programmed into them. Others can run small downloadable applications that allow one to play a game, get alerts on their favorite sports team, or perform some other utility.
As you begin to look at higher end phones, the features become more like those found on a computer. Smartphones are one step above regular phones. They operate on the Windows Mobile for Smartphones operating system. Often they will look like normal candy bar or clamshell-style flip phones. Some will be a bit larger and will contain a full QWERTY keyboard. PDA based phones are the most advanced types of phones. They will often contain a touch screen and may also contain a full QWERTY keyboard. They are often the most expensive phones you can purchase. A word should also be said about types of cell phone networks. In the United States, there are two types of networks; CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). The only thing the average consumer needs to know about these types of networks is that a phone that is made for CDMA won’t work on a GSM network and vice versa. Speaking from a Nebraska-centric standpoint, there are more CDMA-based networks here, including Alltel, Cricket Wireless, Sprint PCS, US Cellular, and Verizon Wireless. Limited service is provided on the GSM standard by AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile (there are no T-Mobile stores in Nebraska), and a new relatively small rural carrier called Viaero Wireless.
Let’s begin the accessibility discussion with the lower-end phones. Since these phones run on a basic operating system made by the manufacturer, there is not much that can be done by the end user to make them accessible. However, some manufacturers have incorporated some accessibility features into these types of phones. One of the leaders is LG Electronics. On the Sprint PCS network, one can take advantage of the LG LX550 Fusic. Verizon Wireless offers the LG VX 8350, the LG VX 5400, the LG ENV (pronounced “envy”), and the LG Voyager. Note that the LG Voyager is a very new and high-end phone. Its selling point to anyone who is not blind is the fact that the entire front face of the phone is a touch screen. It has a feature wherein the phone will vibrate when it detects a tap on the screen, but I found it not too appealing. This phone and the ENV are a bit interesting in that they flip open the short way instead of the long way. Think of a squared off hoagie bun and you’ll understand what these phones look like. You talk into them closed, but open them to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. Both the ENV and Voyager will allow limited access to text messaging through their voice output. Alltel and US Cellular, two other CDMA carriers, offer low-end LG phones similar to those offered by Verizon. However, their model numbers will be different due to the different branding for each carrier.
Let us now turn to phones that are a bit more high tech. These phones have operating systems and can accept more advanced applications. The first of these types are phones that run on the Cymbian operating system. These phones work on the GSM network and either come locked (only able to be used with the carrier you bought it from) or unlocked (able to be used by any GSM carrier). One of the beauties of GSM is that all of your subscriber data is stored on a small chip that you can take with you from phone to phone. One popular Cymbian phone is the Nokia N82. This phone can be turned into a KNFB Reader Mobile by purchasing a reader software and hardware package from an authorized dealer, which can be found at www.knfbreader.com. This and other Cymbian phones can be made accessible through refreshable Braille or speech by installing one of two screen readers onto them. Talks is produced by a company called Nuance Technologies and can be found at www.nuance.com/talks. Mobile Speak, produced by Code Factory, is another screen reader for Cymbian phones. It can be found at www.codefactory.es. In both cases, these screen readers are sold by a network of dealers. Each company has information about supported phones and information about your closest dealer on its website. The web sites also provide a trial of the screen reader for evaluation purposes.
The last two types of phones both use versions of Microsoft Windows. Windows Mobile Smartphones are more similar to the lower end phones, and have many of the features that they do. Smartphones run Windows Mobile for Smartphones version 5 or 6, depending on the smartphone you purchase. They generally have a QWERTY keyboard for texting, sending of email, and browsing the web. Because they use Windows Mobile, you can sync them with your computer to obtain your email and calendar appointments from Microsoft Outlook. With a data plan, you can check your email via the phone or browse the web wherever you have coverage. Two screen readers exist for Smartphones. The first is produced by Code Factory and is called Mobile Speak Smartphone. It is available at www.codefactory.es. The website allows you to download a trial version of the screen reader and provides a list of screen reader dealers and supported phones. Smart Hal is available from Dolphin Computer Access at www.yourdolphin.com. Both retail for $295 and are compatible with Windows Mobile Smartphone versions 5.0 and 6.0.
The last type of phone is the Pocket PC phone. Like smartphones, these can be synched with your PC to obtain data from Microsoft Outlook. Some are operated with a touch screen and others have keyboards and touch screens. They contain more powerful processors and more memory than smartphones and run on a slightly different version of Windows Mobile 5 or 6. They are made accessible with Mobile Speak Pocket and Pocket Hal. Mobile Speak is available from www.codefactory.es and Pocket Hal is available from www.yourdolphin.com. As with the previous phone types, these websites will give you lists of dealers and supported phones.
One of the biggest problems with cell phone accessibility is that it can be very difficult to know which phones are accessible. Walking into a cell phone retailer and asking for an accessible cell phone is usually an exercise in futility. In addition to this article, the websites for cell phone screen readers provide lists of supported phones sorted by carrier. The trickiest phones to find are those of the low-end variety. As a rule of thumb, LG Electronics is the largest producer of low-end accessible phones. Something that may help in finding one of these phones is to do the following: On an LG phone, look for the rocker switch on the side that is the volume control. Most accessible LG phones have a small button below this switch. Flip the phone open and press the button. If the phone says “Say a Command" and beeps, you likely have an accessible phone.
This article has given you a brief introduction to cell phone accessibility. Though the phones I have mentioned may not be available when you read this, I hope that this article gives you an idea of what is currently possible in cell phone accessibility.
Websites of Interest
AFB AccessWorld - provides occasional reviews of accessible cell phones
Alltel Wireless - features some low-end LG accessible phones plus the Motorola Q, which will run Mobile Speak Smartphone
AT&T Wireless - works with smartphones, PDA’s, and Cymbian-based phones that are compatible with GSM
Code Factory - producer of Mobile Speak, Mobile Speak Smartphone, and Mobile Speak Pocket
Dolphin Computer Access - producer of Smart Hal and Pocket Hal screen readers
Nuance Technologies - producer of Talks screen reader
Sprint-Nextel - features the Motorola Q9C, Motorola Q, and lower-end LG LX550 Fusic and Samsung A640
T-Mobile - works with smartphones, PDA’s, and Cymbian-based phones compatible with GSM
US Cellular - features low-end LG phones as well as the Motorola Q
Verizon Wireless - features the LG 5400, 8350, ENV, and Voyager, as well as the Motorola Q and Motorola Q9M
Viaero Wireless - works with smartphones, PDA’s, and Cymbian-based phones compatible with GSM
Technology Changes And Challenges
By Nancy Coffman
From the Editor: Nancy Coffman is a Program Specialist for Technology at the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired and is a longtime member of the NFB. Here are some of her thoughts as she browsed the technology in the exhibit hall at the 2007 NFB convention in Atlanta.
An NFB convention always nets me a day or two of exercise just roaming the exhibit hall and learning about all of the new technology that has come about in the last year. This year sent me on several rounds through the exhibit hall to look at new gadgets and check on the status of the technology so many of us are already taking advantage of.
Much has happened worth considering.
One of the things that has gotten more difficult and more important to blind people is deciding what we want out of the technology we carry, maintain, and use. All three of these elements seem important to me. Carrying is important because we need to decide how much we are going to haul around. Some of the one-piece solutions weigh more than a 2 piece solution such as a PDA and a Bluetooth Braille display. Some of the Braille displays have limited note-taker capabilities, but are those capabilities enough to do what we need done? What happens to contents if batteries die? Can you synchronize the data with your computer so it doesn't get lost? What kind of storage is available on the device?
One interesting phenomenon I see is that specialized laptops created with small or no screens, especially for blind people, come with minimal memory, minimal drive space, and low processing speed even though the manufacturers claim that the computers will work with your screen reader of choice and desktop applications. Such computers usually need a good amount of memory. Speed also doesn't hurt.
The Kurzweil-NFB Reader has inspired a selection of technologies allowing both optical character recognition and low-vision viewing. ZoomEx has a very small camera that can easily fit into a backpack and be placed on a stand. It can magnify onto the computer screen and recognize the text it sees. The unfortunate part is that it costs as much as the K-NFB Reader and requires a computer to go with it. Gourilla Technologies also has a scan, look, and read option. The Kurzweil-NFB Reader, the ZoomEx, and the Gourilla option all have stands to assist the blind user in lining up an 8.5 by 11 inch page and good recognition. Upgrades to the K-NFB Reader have made it capable of reading light print on a dark background. It can also recognize currency, something some of the flat-bed scanning programs cannot currently do because of new bills.
Note-taking options abound. The Easy-Link 12- cell display is still available. Mobile Speak and Pocket Hal all are available to people wanting to use Windows Mobile PDA's and cell phones. Talks and Mobile Speak are available for Cymbian phones. Braille displays can be used with these devices as well and can be found in sizes from 12 to 40 cells. 80 cell displays are still available for those dealing with large spreadsheets and terminal emulation software. Keep in mind that although these displays have lost considerable weight (their average is better than mine and they have managed to keep it off), they are still hefty to throw on your back or shoulder. Length is an even bigger concern, so these displays are not usually a good choice for anyone wanting portability. The 40 cell displays and those who are even smaller must have dieting down to an art. Some of them are very small without need for wires. Bluetooth is common among Braille displays. Battery life can be several hours long, usually eliminating the need for carrying the power supply.
The Library of Congress demonstrated the new digital talking book players and cartridges. Although the new system seems pretty easy to use, the players are still fairly large. Another option for getting Library of Congress audio books will be available on a pilot web site for owners of the Victor Reader Stream to download. Currently, the Victor Reader Stream is the only device that will allow use of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped audio books.
Now that I have aroused your curiosity about the Victor Reader Stream, I'll describe it. The National Federation of the Blind and Human Ware have collaborated on a Daisy book reader that is about the size of a deck of cards. It is called the Victor Reader Stream. It allows reading of several formats including MP3, Audible.com, DAISY books from the Library of Congress's pilot project, Bookshare.org and Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic. Text files can also be read with synthesized speech. These players operate very much the same as other Victor readers. Nebraskans can check the at4all.com site to try one of these readers. Now that Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic has gone digital, this new reader is especially important for college students and others who need educational materials on the go. Victor Reader Stream does require a computer to put materials onto its Secure Digital card. Those preferring to use CD's can still get previous versions of the Victor Reader.
Braille Notes and Pac Mates now can both install a key for accessing books from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. There are formats these devices cannot use that the Victor Reader Stream will read. As you consider how best to meet your reading needs, do your research well so you get the features you need.
As Microsoft has developed new programs, the assistive technology companies have done a remarkable job at keeping up. Freedom Scientific, GW Micro, AI Squared, Kurzweil, Duxbury Systems and Dolphin all work with Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 97. These companies provide helpful resources for learning how to use their programs with a variety of off-the-shelf products. The Access Technology Institute and several other organizations also have training courses for a variety of tasks and products.
I cannot let an opportunity to tout some low tech goodies go by. National Braille Press works diligently to keep current technology information available to us in Braille. Audio formats are also available from them. Personally, I find myself writing this article on a Braille Note. I strongly prefer Braille over audio formats. When I am writing, I have a better sense of how what I have written will flow for my readers. When it comes to reading, I learn and comprehend what I read in Braille to a much greater degree than what I listen to.
WOW! How could anyone possibly sort out which technology could possibly meet your needs? There are several things to consider. What is your preferred medium for learning and processing information? If you gravitate toward large print, how long will that work for you? If you have a progressive or degenerative condition, consider mastering non-visual techniques. Keep in mind what you plan to use the technology for. If you have an employment goal, talk to people in your chosen profession about what they use on the job. Network with users of the technology you are considering to learn about its suitability for your purposes.
My parting comment: Adopt a playful spirit! It will take you a long way toward mastering the technology you choose. Technology can be frustrating to learn and even make us wonder about our sanity when we think we have it down. A new piece of equipment that meets your needs and works well can also be fun. That is why it commonly gets referred to as “toys”.
Website Update
By Mike Hansen
The following article is from the NFBN Webmaster, Mike Hansen. He shares with us some exciting things happening with our website so that we can continue to work to change what it means to be blind. Here is Mike’s article.
Last fall after convention President Buresh asked me to look into finding another way of doing online registration for our State Convention. This, along with requests for other functionality on our website including a desire to find a way to share documents between our members, started me on a quest. Due to the Omaha Chapters enthusiasm with using our website to get their message out , I put together a committee to start to look into what we want to do. Right off the bat one of the committee members, Atti Svendson, came up with the idea of using a type of software package on our website called a content management system and specifically one called Drupal. After listening to Atti’s ideas and adding to them some personal knowledge of my own, we decided to continue to investigate the idea of a C.M.S.
At about this time the NFB announced that they were going to make the C.M.S. that they use on the National NFB website (a product called xCatalyst) available for use by state affiliates and divisions. It has always been an opinion of mine that the NFB’s web presence should present a consistent image throughout the entire organization. That being said, I thought that this was the start of an effort towards this goal.
With this offer on the table, it was a no brainer that we needed to figure out more about what the national office had to offer before we went off reinventing the wheel. So I made a trip to Baltimore along with webmasters from 23 other affiliates and divisions from around the country. We learned about the C.M.S. product that NFB is using and about how it could be used by us to raise the bar in helping affiliates and divisions to create more accessible and visually appealing websites. In the end I made the recommendation to President Buresh that, although I thought that NFB was doing a great thing, it was still too limiting for our specific needs. I asked for permission to continue to work on our original idea.
As I continued to look into Drupal. I discovered that its real power is that there are so many add-ons that people have written for it. In particular there is a very well developed add-on called civiCRM that has been written specifically for non-profit organizations to keep track of membership, accept contributions, and handle event management. This, along with Drupal having an attitude of trying to maintain accessibility in their software product, was something I thought that we had to explore more.
Since the beginning of February, for a minimal expense we have increased the amount of drive space we have available for our website from 10 megabytes to 2 gigabytes. This is going to go a long way in enabling us to publish pictures of our events and audio of our conventions. We have at no charge (thanks to our gracious web hosting provider Internet Nebraska) enabled advanced web features like PHP, SOAP and MySQL. We have been able to install and start to test Drupal and civiCRM to determine further if they will indeed meet our needs.
Other things that we are working towards is a new address for our website “www.ne.nfb.org” and possibly new email addresses for officers, committees, and other uses that arise (e.g., president@ne.nfb.org).
The next few months should be very exciting as we continue to move forward with exploring this new technology and making it work to help us further our cause.
DOWN HOME
In this section of our newsletter, our fellow Nebraska Federationists share recipes and home spun tips for the good life.
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
This recipe comes from Nancy Oltman and is a prize winning recipe for the Land
O’ Lakes Sweet Treat contest. As all of us who know Nancy are aware, Nancy is a marvelous cook who enjoys preparing dishes from soup to desserts for her family and friends as well as entering her scrumptious recipes in award-winning contests. Nancy currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
PEANUT BUTTER SURPRISE COOKIES
1-1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cup peanut butter
1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 up brown sugar
4 large eggs
3-3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
10 Ounce package Milk Duds
Extra granulated sugar for rolling dough
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time to incorporate into creamed mixture. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cover dough and refrigerate for one hour. Wrap about one tablespoonful of dough around one Milk Dud and then roll in the extra granulated sugar. Place each on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until done. Place on rack and cool thoroughly. Note: This cookie is great without the Milk Duds too. About half the dough can be pressed onto a pizza pan, baked, cooled and used as the crust for a sweet pizza treat. Just spread chocolate pudding over crust and sprinkle with what you like including M & M, peanuts, miniature marshmallows, toffee chips, etc.
This section of our newsletter is devoted to presenting articles and letters that express the opinions of our individual members. These articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the leadership, general membership, or the editorial staff of this newsletter.
Discovering the Structure of Structured Discovery
by James Nyman
The February issue of the Braille Monitor consisted mainly of presentations from the conference on rehabilitation training centers at the Jernigan Institute in early December, 2007. Three of those presentations made reference to "structured discovery learning" as the guiding philosophy and methodology at training centers operated by the National Federation of the Blind and a few other centers. Those were by Dr. Fred Schroeder, former Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services and former travel instructor at Nebraska Services for the Visually Impaired (SVI); Edward Bell, director of professional development at Louisiana Tech in Ruston; and Allen Harris, director of the Iowa Department for the Blind. It is not apparent from any of the presentations that any of the three had a clear understanding of the historical origins or conceptual meaning of "structured discovery learning."
Schroeder opens his remarks on "Independence and expectations" with the following statement: "I suppose we should begin at the beginning. Where did the structured discovery model of orientation center training come from? As Dr. Maurer has indicated, it began in California in the early 1950's, but was brought to maturity in the 1960's under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan during his tenure as director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind." He goes on to ask what made the Iowa training different and says it was "expectations".
There can be no doubt that Kenneth Jernigan brought the philosophy and spirit of Federationism into the full rehabilitation process during his twenty years as director of the Iowa Commission. From the mid 1970's onward, three blind individuals, Jim Walker, Fred Schroeder, and Christine Boone, imbued with the philosophy of Federationism were hired as travel instructors by Services for the Visually Impaired in Nebraska--now the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI). Each made significant contributions in refining and applying Federationism to this vital branch of rehabilitation training. Of these three, Fred Schroeder had the unique perspective of an academic education in the traditional field of orientation and mobility. Fortunately, his Federationism was able to override the biases of the traditional field and he brought both expectations and teaching strategies to his instruction of independent cane travel to his students.
Ironically, the traditional certifying body failed to recognize these qualities and chose not to grant certification to him. This refusal was based on their official view that it was necessary to possess a high degree of visual acuity in order to monitor the technical progress of blind trainees and insure their safety. The initial response to the claims of the traditional profession was to develop and demonstrate nonvisual techniques for providing instruction, monitoring progress, and assuring the safety of travel students. While these techniques involved both hands-on and auditory methods, the main elements of Federationism soon asserted themselves in the recognition that the most effective monitoring was exercised by the students themselves. This early transfer of monitoring duties to the student not only confirmed our belief that self-monitoring was feasible for blind persons, but it meant vesting control of the learning process in the blind trainee. It was only a very short step from this realization to the understanding that responsibility for safety also rested with the student. In a word, the locus of control was shifted from the knowledge base and visual acuity of the certified O&M instructor to the learning capabilities of the blind travel student. Jim Walker, Fred Schroeder, and Christine Boone achieved this paradigm shift, giving full expression to the tenets of Federationism in this critical skill area.
In 1984, Allan G. Dodds, associate director of the Blind Mobility Research Unit of Nottingham University in England, accepted an assignment from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)to examine the question of hiring blind individuals as travel instructors. His interest had been aroused when he read an article in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness by Carl Olson, public education officer with SVI. He contacted the Nebraska agency and arranged to visit the program in Lincoln. After discussions with staff and a presentation at a training session, Dodds donned sleepshades and received a travel lesson from Christine Boone. Dodds was an experienced researcher with a certification in orientation and mobility and a Ph. D. in psychology. He carefully analyzed the methods employed by Christine and later published his findings in 1985 in two articles in the New Beacon, publication of RNIB, and submitted a report to that organization. In the course of discussions, Dodds expressed his respect for the methods he had observed and stated that it closely resembled what he called, "structured discovery learning." Because our instructional methods and philosophy had been christened by Dodds in the language of prevailing learning theory in psychology, we examined some of the literature in the field. It was soon discovered that the approach we had adopted and refined had been experimentally tested and shown to have distinct advantages in learning. While "guided instruction" might be more effective in training for the accomplishment of specific tasks, a teaching model based on "discovery" methods had proved more efficient in transferring the acquired abilities to novel situations and more long lasting retention of learned abilities over time. What has been called "intrinsic feedback", that is, information about the environment generated and processed by the blind student, is the key to "structured discovery learning". It is clearly contrasted with "extrinsic feedback", that is, information that is communicated to the student from the observations of the instructor.
In summary, structured discovery learning is a method for acquiring a set of cognitive problem-solving and perceptual skills by means of actively participating in the learning process on the part of the student. It occurs in consciously structured problem situations to which the student must discover a satisfactory solution. The cognitive techniques employed in the solving process must be reinforced and generalized with the assistance of the instructor. To the extent that the reinforcement occurs, transfer of the skills to novel situations is improved and the duration of retention is extended. Auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic feedback generated and received intrinsically by the student is the source of learning rather than extrinsic feedback from an instructor who controls the learning process.
The concepts, inspired by Federationism and refined in the conceptual and experimental findings of learning theory, have been published in a series of articles by Carl Olson and Richard Mettler, SVI staff members, and Allan Dodds. The full length book, "Cognitive Learning Theory and Cane Travel Instruction", by Richard Mettler, embodies the core of "structured discovery learning". It has been adopted and used at Louisiana Tech in their training program for travel instructors.
No one can doubt the important contribution of Kenneth Jernigan to the development of rehabilitation while he directed the Iowa Commission until 1978 and as president of the National Federation of the Blind. No one, I hope, will doubt the significance of the contributions of blind travel instructors like Jim Walker, Fred Schroeder, Christine Boone, and Jeff Altman in further refining and developing the spirit of Federationism in the guiding theory of "structured discovery learning". No one should doubt the impact of publications by SVI staff like Olson, Mettler, and Altman in making this approach a dominant force in training for blind persons.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
In this section of our newsletter, we offer Chapters, Divisions, and individuals the opportunity to make announcements that are of interest to the membership of the NFBN. If your Chapter, Division, or if you personally have an announcement to offer, please send it to us as early as possible, and we will do our best to include it as an addition to the current issue.
NFB Writers’ Division Announcement
By Robert Leslie Newman
I am the new president of he National Federation of the Blind Writers' Division and I want to inform this affiliate’s membership of a writing contest which is going on right now and of an upcoming workshop during national convention.
First, the NFB Writers’ Division’s annual writing contest of fiction short stories and poetry is open and will accept submissions until June first. Short stories can be up to 3,000 words and can be of any genre. Poetry can be up to 36 lines. Submissions can be e-mailed to newmanrl@cox.net or snail-mailed (typed, double spaced), to Robert Leslie Newman, 504 S 57th St. Omaha, NE, 68106. All work must be original and previously unpublished. The first prize for each contest is $100, second prize is $50, and third prize is $25. With your submissions, include a cover letter with title(s) of your submissions, your name, address, phone # and Email. There is an entry fee of $5 per story and $5 for up to 3 poems. Check or money orders are accepted made payable to NFB Writers' Division and sent to the above address. Winners will be announced on July 2nd at our division meeting during the NFB National convention in Dallas, Texas. Finally, winning entries will be published in our quarterly magazine, Slate and Style. Good luck and happy writing.
Second, during national convention the Writers' Division is hosting two events. The first is a workshop on Seminar Day, June 29th, from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. (watch the convention schedule for room number). The workshop is entitled “Everything You Should Know About Publishing Today and the Near Future." This is open to all interested parties and there will be a charge of $5.00 payable at the door. The second event will be on Division Day, Tuesday July 1st, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (watch the convention schedule for room number). It will be our division’s annual meeting. It is open to visitors and if you are a blind person who wishes to write, please come join us.
Articles and letters for publication in this newsletter should be submitted in Micro- soft Word format prior to the deadline for the next issue, and all such materials are subject to selection and editing by the editorial staff and the state affiliate president. Selection and editing decisions are final, although every effort will be made to insure the integrity of the author’s intentions, including discussing major changes to text with the author. We ask that contributors check their work for spelling, grammar, and formatting, to help streamline the editing process. Please direct all questions to the editorial staff, Jeff Altman, First Vice President and Co-managing Editor, and Cheryl Livingston, State Treasurer and Co-managing Editor.
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