Nebraska NFB State Convention

So today is Monday and I am barely recuperating from a convention put on by the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska. The convention is an annual meeting to discuss points movig forward, educate all people on blindness and to meet blind people for support and networking. It was a great convention and here are some highlights.

The above picture was from banquet.

There is a banquet where everyone dresses up and hears great speeches. Banquet was a big success.. The Keynote speaker was Jim Gashel from the national office. He spoke about change and how it needs to be more than words. We need to change what it means to be blind. He mentioned how we do not always make the best decisions for ourselves and other blind individuals, but as we grow we learn and have the collective power for real change.
At Banquet we played a game using ducks and you lost your ducks as the game went on. I think I am a good photographer at times and this is what I did.

Lets be real, the banquet  also gives us an excuse to get all dressed up, and who doesn't love that?

A huge part of convention is the socializing aspect and hangng out with people that you normaly do not see.

This year Nabs idol was a huge success. It is an event put on by the students to raise money. Antonieta pictured below put on a great performance telling jokes and playing the cuatro. The cuatro is an instrument from Venezeula that is like a guitar but only has four strings.
 

Once Nabs idol was over, a small group of us stayed up past the early hours of the next day playing guitars and singing. I do not play the guitar and my singing skills are not exceptional, but I try to follow along.

Of course the winners of the show were the kids (as usual) who spoke about participating in Project Innovation in Baltimore Maryland. They had an awesome experience.

I taught a class entitled  "Looking Good Without Looking. " Basically we went over how to apply makeup using alternative techniques. We had a lot of fun and it was all hands on!
Keeping with my post, here are some misconceptions that were proven false at this event:

1. The blind need to be led by sighted people: False. This is completely false as we need and want to make our own decisions. The whole event was put on by blind people and you can only hold an office if you are blind.

2. Charity is a great way to help the blind: False. Charity is the little demon that dresses up cute and seeks to help. Because of charity many people see the blind and other people with disabilities as helpless and in need of saving by the dominant culture. We want to set our own path, and the money we do raise is through fundraising and promoting a positive belief in the blind

3. All blind people are musically inclined. False. If you would have attended our after Nabs Idol party you would have heard me singing along and that stereotype would have been broken pretty fast. Blind people are not any more or less musically inclined than any other group of people.

4. People with low vision do  not need braille they can read print. False. We had a presentation from the BELL program which seeks to promote braille. Many kids in the program are not getting braille  in school because they have some vision. This causes difficulty with reading, being behind in school and poor grammer and spelling. Braille is vital for low vision people to be literate!

5. Blind people have super hearing abilities. False. Most blind people cannot hear any better than anyone else, they just learn to pay attention. During the convention we had some sound problems and there were plenty of blind people who could not hear what was gong on.

So there you have it. Blind people coming together changing what it means to be blind and having fun at the same time.

Orientation and Mobility: by Liz Graves

We have a guest blogger today, Liz Graves. Liz is currently an Orientation and Mobility student at Louisiana Tech University. She is very trendy, aware of things and is a great friend of mine. Below is her experience with being blind and an Orientation and Mobility student.

(in this picture Liz is sitting in a large chair with her cane)

By Liz Graves

The long white cane is a symbol of freedom for the blind.  It is a tool that allows the blind to travel independently through the environment without relying on another person to provide direction or guidance.  Unfortunately, the white cane is often mischaracterized as a last resort that only the blindest individuals should use when there is no one to take sighted-guide with and no other alternative.

(Liz participated in a fashion show and is showing off her cane)

The blind cannot be fully independent and capable if they are not confident in their ability to travel independently.  The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is changing this negative misconception about canes through education programs like the Meet the Blind Month and training centers such as the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB).  The Free White Cane Program is helping put more canes in the hands of the blind by offering a new cane every six months to blind children and adults free of charge.

I, like so many others, had negative ideas about the cane throughout my life.  I was born blind, but was told by professionals that I had too much vision to learn Braille and should primarily use my vision to navigate through my environment.  I never carried a cane because I didn’t see the point of drawing attention to myself with a tool that I didn’t use.  After college, however, I heard about LCB, an adult training center that teaches cane travel, Braille, home management skills and industrial arts with the use of sleepshades for those with residual vision.  It made perfect sense to me—use sleepshades to focus on learning non-visual skills.

(Here is Liz with frineda and former LCB students)

The most important thing LCB taught me was confidence; both in my own abilities and in non-visual skills.  The importance of relying on my cane rather than only my vision really sank in at the 2010 NFB Convention in Dallas.  I had attended LCB for a whole two weeks and thought I knew what I was doing.  I was tap tapping about in heels using a not-so-good pencil grip with my cane looking for the door to the outside.  I looked around and saw light on the floor, an indication for what I thought was the door.  I exclaimed to the group “There it is,” and clipped-clopped over.  I then ever so gracefully fell down the three marble ballroom stairs without ever realizing I had missed them with my cane.

                                        (Here is Liz with some friends and her cane! They are all adorable in hula skirts.)                                       

If this had happened to me before LCB I would surely have been mortified and retreated to my room to sulk in solitude.  Surprisingly, I wasn’t terribly embarrassed.  I got back up and laughed, and assured the friendly UPS volunteer I was fine.  I didn’t feel awkward as a blind person or like I needed to crawl under a rock; instead, I realized I wasn’t using my cane well enough and that, more importantly, I should first use the non-visual skills I was learning at LCB to gather information instead of throwing them aside when I thought my vision was accurate.

(Liz with friends and former LCB students Shantel Flores and Gabe Cazares)

I really knew I was hooked on using the long white cane after it was accidentally broken only two days into my week-long post-convention break.  Much to my chagrin, I was forced to take sighted-guide for the rest of the week.  I had tasted freedom and had no intention of going back to relying on others to get me where I wanted to go!

(Liz using her skills and enjoying the day at the Ruston Peach Festival)

As I gained more experience through my training, I learned techniques for crossing all types of streets and intersections; navigating indoors in wide open spaces without getting entirely turned around; how to use cardinal directions and mental mapping to stay on track; how to find businesses using the address system; ways to keep oriented in rural and outdoor areas; and how to get usable information from others so I could make my own decisions.  More importantly than the techniques I learned, I gained confidence through experience and learned how to talk to the public more gracefully.  As any blind person knows, people can sometimes act pretty silly around someone holding a cane or dog guide harness.

I had absolutely no idea how to talk to people about blindness or how to get the information I needed from them before LCB.  Honestly, it boiled down to the fact that I had no confidence as a blind person.  Confidence has a huge role in talking to others.  You need to be confident to put others at ease and to receive the amount of information or assistance you need.  I remember asking LCB students and instructors “how do you know what store you’re walking into.”  The answer, simply, is you ask!  Ask what the store is, what the address is, what they sell, what is on clearance, ask relevant and specific questions to get what you want.  If you as a blind person are confident in your abilities, others will be as well.  Confidence in one’s self as a blind person can only be earned through conquering or at least attempting and learning from truly challenging situations.

(Liz at her LCB graduation with her dad)

After graduating from LCB, I decided to pursue my master’s degree in Orientation and Mobility through Louisiana Tech University so I could help others gain that feeling of truly liberating independence I found through cane travel.  I am currently working on my internship from 8 to 5 at LCB teaching students at all levels of training.  I see aspects of myself in each of them: I see how high-strung and self-conscious I was before, I see how I had never thought of simple non-visual solutions like simply touching things to gather information, and I see the development of a positive philosophy about blindness being validated through successes in cane travel lessons.  They are learning these skills and building their confidence the same way I did, through meeting the high expectations set upon them by positive, competent blind role models.

(Here is Liz with others from the Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness at Louisiana Tech, where she is getting her masters degree. Aren't they all just a cute bunch?)

The confidence gained through traveling under sleepshades with a cane is the most powerful confirmation of one’s abilities as a blind person.  It proves to one’s self and others that the blind are capable of going anywhere and participating in anything they wish.  This confidence and skills, however, must be developed over a period of time traveling under sleepshades with a long white cane and high expectations.  I hope that as a cane travel instructor I will help others build the confidence in themselves to live as a whole blind person rather than a damaged sighted person, the way that LCB did the same for me.

(Liz is pictured here with a student teaching them how to go down steps)

Thanks Liz!

NFB Convention Maddness!

I just returned from the National Federation of the Blind convention in Dallas. I feel extremely exhausted, yet reinvigorated with energy from all that I learned and the people I ran into. Making a summary of my adventure here are the things I learned.

1. You never know who you are going to meet and what difference you may make in their lives. Liz Graves and I had the pleasure of meeting an 8 year old who had never used a cane before. We got her a cane, showed her how to use it, and she took some lessons in cane travel with sleep shades. She was really excited to be amongst other people who share her same characteristic.

2. Going off of the above observation, our schools are failing blind, and especially our visually impaired children. For some reason schools all over the nation are still focused on how much a child can or cannot see, and are not teaching them braille and cane travel. This is not an isolated incident, but a reoccurring theme. If a child has to strain his or her eyes to see what’s on a page and cannot see the board, they should be reading braille. If a child cannot go down stairs without constantly looking down, then they should be using a cane.

3. People still question equality on many levels. Don't get me wrong, we are still far from understanding equality in other areas, but this is one issue that people still try to reason. Currently in the United States it is totally legal to pay people with disabilities LESS than the minimum wage. This is justified by saying that people with severe disabilities could not be employable otherwise. People are getting paid cents on the dollar. This is by no means a wage to live on. Yet people still try to justify why this practice in in place. We are currently working to get that portion of the law removed, but until then many people are not getting a fair wage. Anil Lewis put it best by saying it is "unfair, discriminatory and immoral"

(Anil Lewis speaking at convention, very engaging, let me just say I got to interpret his speech into Spanish and I had a blast doing it)

4. All my friends know that I am a huge fan of Ray Kurzweil. Yes I am a bit obsessed. But come on, this guy is a genius. He spoke about how our brain how millions of connections, and if we want to change a thought, it is not just one connection, but many. He said it much better by the way.

(For those of you who do not know Ray Kurzweil invented scanners, text to speech software and other technology that will blow your mind! Not to mention he has invented things that at present cannot be made, but will be with future technology. Ok I will stop now.)

5. It is always great to see old friends and meet new ones! As much as I am busy, I always make time to hang out and socialize. Even if this means staying up past the early morning hours. I am always surprised by how much fun I have and how people have such different experiences. I laugh till my stomach hurts, dance till my feet hurt, sing till my voice is gone and share stories till I know people at least a bit more.

6. The last thing I learned is that I totally need to take more pictures! I used to take so many, now I just have too much fun. Who wants to follow me around and be my personal photographer?

Until next time off I go to get some sleep and buy some food! Already missing my NFB family, until next year!

Crafting in the Dark

So I absolutely love to craft! I am officially a stumbleupon.com addict! There are so many cute things you can make with things you already have at home like per say toilet paper rolls. I know, sounds strange, but hoarding can come in useful sometimes.

(I absolutely love this anthropology inspired mirror and will make it someday)


I recently led a seminar for an older blind conference put on by the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. I taught people how to craft non-visually. Many people constantly ask me: how do you know where you are, how do you eat, how do you dance, how do you live a normal life being blind? Mostly I try to give an educated matter of factly response unless they are being totally rude, and then I just leave. One thing people are curious about is crafting. Sighted people just assume a blind person does not craft. So here are some of my suggestions to make crafting easier and to give blind people ideas on craftig who may never have tried if ...


1. Label everything! If you are a braille user (hopefully) braille works wonders. You can use dymo tape to label your different craft paper. You can buy dymo tape at any target or craft store. You get get a paint set and label the lids in braille with the colors. If you use large print, you can use it in the same way.


2. Use manila folders to store and label your paper including scrapbook and for other uses. You can label the folders in braille, high contrast or raised letters. Whatever works for you.

(the above picture is an example of braille on a bottle)


3. For those people interested in paining, there is an awesome product out there called the blackboard. You can place any sheet of paper on top of it and it makes a tactile line on the paper. It does not need to be backwards or anything like that. It can be purchased at sensationalblackboard.com

4. When cutting a very straight line, fold the paper in the sesired shape. In that way you will be able to  cut straighter.


5. My favorite product of all time Mod Podge! This works like regular glue but better. You can use it on basically any craft surface including paper, wood and cloth. It also serves a double purpose as a sealant over images. It also dries faster, and stronger which helps me as a clutz make way better looking projects.

6. Find great websites that are accesible to you. For people who use large print pintrest can be great, but not for JAWS users. Screen users can use...


Stubleupon.com: This web site is fully accessible with Jaws. You need to register. You can choose from a variety of topics including crafts. It will take you to web sites that have crafts with images and step by step instructions.


instructables.com: This web site is fully accessible with JAWS and enlargement software. This web site provides instruction on many different and varied types of crafts. They include, wood crafts, paper crafts, food and more. This is a great web site for beginners looking for detailed directions.


7. The National Federation of the Blind has a group called Krafters division. They have a webpage WWW.krafterskorner.org They have all sorts of ideas for crafters and will be having a meeting in Dallas at the NFB Natioan Convention.


I will be showing people how to make vintage gift bags at their session, so you should come by!


Here are some of the projects I have actually make to give you an idea....


This is an iPhone Charging case. I will never have to leave my phone on the floor as it charges again. All it took was Mod Podge, decorative paper (it called for fabric, but oh well), and a bottle or cardboard box, I used a cardboard small perfume box.

I like to think it turned out quite well! The case sits on the charging square plugged into the wall.


This next one is one of my favorites. It is a snowflake made out of paper. It seems really complex but is actully quite easy. And if you are not a straight cutter, I am one of those, this project will still turn out beautifully!

This next project was pretty awewome. Its a lamp shade made out of plastic cups. I actually made this with my friend Liz Graves.


 

We found it on stumbleupon which I am addicted to and all it took was plastic cups, staples and a bit of patience.


So get crafting, there are so many great ideas out there I can't wait to try!

Traveling Nightmares! They just don't have to be!

So next week I will be traveling to Dallas to the NFB National Convention. I will be there for a week and I am so excited!!

For many people however, packing and getting ready for a trip can be frustrating; from deciding on what to wear, to forgetting an outfit or vital product at home. Trips should be a fun time to relax or when traveling for work, to learn something new.

Over the years I have become a sort of packing expert. I feel like Mary Poppins. I can carry clothes, shoes, accesories, hair supplies and other items, and pack them all in one small suitcase. Don't get me wrong, it is heavy as heck, but with having to pay to check in a bag, I would much rathr not pay a dime! (yes I am frugal). But I have a rolley bag, so most of the time, it is a breeze!

So here are some tips to make traveling more of a breeze.
1. Make a list of everything you think you may need. I divide my list into catogories such as outfits, makeup, toiletreses etc. Start this list days ahead of the time you are going to start your flight or road trip. As the days go by, you will think of new things to add to your list (this always tends to happen to me while I sleep).
2. I normally pack the day before, because I want to make sure I don't leave anything behind.
3. Now I take my list and put my things in piles, putting all of the things from a category together. I make sure everything from my list is available, and if so, I may do a load of laundry to get everything I need.
4. Now comes the fun part: Packing! I start off by taking the larger items of clothing. I fold them and then Roll them up like a burrito. The tighter you fold the clothes, the better. And don't worry about wrinkles, the better you fold, the less wrinkles you will get. Rolling them is the key to the whole proccess!

(this is the basic idea)

5. As I put an item into my luggage, I mark it off my list.
6. I start making a base with clothes at the bottom of my suitcase. I make sure there is no space, and if there is, I fill it with a smaller piece of clothing.
7. I do this to all of my clothing. Except maybe really nice dress pants, or a suit top. I wait till most of the clothes is rolled up and place them on top of the other layers. They will keep them in place.
8. You want to place your shoes like a puzzle throughout your suitcase. You may even want to place small items in your shoes for better packing.
9. If you have a suitcase with zippers that is cloth. Wait till you think it is full, close the zippers and tilt the whole thing to one side. open the zipper on the side, and you will still be able to fit in more clothes. Do this to both sides of the luggage and You will get more things in.
Thats it!

Soem helpful hints to remember:
*Try to pack outfits that you can reuse, such as a pair of jeans that you can use more than once, or a tank shirt that you can use as a going out shirt.

(This shirt can be used with shorts, or dressed up)

*I just bought a travel steamer and I am in love! I will be able to fold all of my clothes into my suitcase and steam it when I get to my destination as if I had taken my clothes to the dry cleaner. You can buy them for $20-$70 at Target.
*Try your outfits on before you pack them, then you will really know if you love them or not.
*Go through every single day that you are going to be on your trip and lay your oufits out by day, that way you won't have to worry later about what outfits to wear on what day.
*Try to decide how you will be doing your hair and what accessories you will be using so you can pack accordingly!
*When flying and checking in a bag, mark your suitccase with something that is distinguishable for you> It will bbe easy to spot and get you out of there faster!

Best of luck, safe travels, and see some of you in Dallas!

Why am I so political?

Why am I so political?
Why am I so political you ask?
Why do I even bother?
Where did my love for the other
arise?
In 1492 two cosmos collided and out
of the ashes, a people were born. But not without hurt and not without pain,
and still to this day we all feel the pain.
If only I could believe the stories
in books, “a happy encounter, a forecievalbe truth, the meeting of people, we
are the living proof.” They tried to convince me it was for the best, the
collateral damage they said was needed at best.
My indigenous ancestors were colonized in
mind, body and soul. They were robbed of their identity as kings, queens, astronomers,
healers, and now had no control.
They were told that their knowledge
was no longer needed nor wanted and that the pope had to confirm that they had
a soul.
They were taught that the thousands
of years of knowledge that they held in their minds and in their hearts were
invalid in this new world order. That knowledge had already been discovered by
someone in Europe, and to prove it their temples were burned or replaced with a
church.
They were told that if they prayed to
a cross they would live forever, and if they chose not to, they would burn at
the stake.
Some chose to resist and some chose
to submit and in the end we are still fighting this battle within.
The ones who submitted took the cross
in the daytime, yet prayed to their Gods that the sunlight would not come.
They dreaded the days, working and
toiling in the sun. Looking for riches for the Spaniards and seeing their
children run. Running away, being massacred by the millions. Homicide and
genocide is what it was, yet no one mentions those words and calls it the black
legend. I can assure you it was no legend, it was not a tale. The hurt is still
seen in the eyes of the people. Exploited to no end and still barely surviving
for the colonizers to say, “It was for your own good, we saved you you know, before
us you were savages and you knew no true God.”
Yet the colonizers were ignorant to
the many facts prior to their arrival. They didn’t care nor want to know, they
were in denial.
The people had schools, universities,
were proficient astronomers, thus the pyramids were constructed to exact
measurements of the cosmos. They had already been using the zero, they had
majestic cities, they knew of plants that healed and birds that sang. They knew
of the power of stories, and the balance between humans and nature.
They were told that their color was
proof of their sin, but if they repented, in heaven they would live. There were
some like Hautey who while being burned at the stake, he took a deep breath and
confidently he said, If heaven is the place where the Spaniards will live, I
will not go to heaven, his will did not give. So his memory lives on. He might
be a martyr, as were thousands of others, who continue to be victims of this
new world order.
Women were taught how to have sex and
where to have it. They were taught to be ashamed of their bodies and that if
they were raped by the white man it must have been their fault. So they stayed
silent, passive, they held in the hurt and the pain. But it had to be
transferred someplace, and the place was the body and mind of their daughters. The
daughters that are my grandmothers, aunts and mothers.
They were robbed on their land, of
their gods, of their mind. They were kept in captivity and they now belonged to
the parcel of land. The land that their ancestors had kept for so long. The
Pacha Mama that was now being raped and wronged.
And so to this day you may ask, why
the bother? It was so long ago, why continue the pain?
My answer is simple it is not over.
The hurt continues and the colonization is still felt.
My generation has the memory and the
hurt of the ages. We know of the past and we toil in the present.
My other ancestors were taken as
slaves, dragged along the ocean and made to submit to work, sex, orders and the
white man. They were brought to this new land, made to work for nothing. Told
again that their color was why God had intended them to suffer.
And my other ancestors came from all
over. And I am not ashamed of all that I am. Like Octavio Paz put it, we are
the cosmic race, and we will move forward.
It would be so easy to detach myself from who
I am and where I came from and be, well, not so political, but that would be
cultural and ethical suicide. That would mean forgetting all the pain that runs
through my veins. That would mean accepting the claims the white man has made.
Injusticias
Atrocidades
And it is still not the end.

Teacher Leader Seminar Misconceptions

Teacher Leader Seminar 2012

(image 1: Leesa Wallace using the blackboard and showing off her work)


(image 2 a session held about Structured discovery learning with children)

(image 3: Deja Powell teaching a dance routine to teachers in blindfold. Yes blind students can learn to dance!)

This past weekend I participated in the NFB's Teacher Leader Seminar. It was a great energetic weekend that brought together Teachers of blind children from all over the country. There was so much knowledge that was shared. Below are some of the misconceptions that were cleared up and brought to our attention. They are...

1. "A misconception is that students with lower cognitive ability cannot learn contractions" Casey Robertson. Contractions are kind of like shortened words in text. They are used in braille so ensure faster reading. Many teachers do not teach children with other abilities. They think that braille will be too difficult and that is absolutely not true. In one of the seminars Casey showed us firsthand what she has done to work with these exceptional children. She is making a huge difference in her state of Mississippi and in the field.

2. A student that has to read print at 75 point font of anything near that should do it. FALSE. If a child has to read print so close and strains his or her sight and back, then they should be reading braille. There is no reason why a child should have to work that hard to read. Unfortunately, many teachers of the blind do just that and blow up materials for their students. If a child is receiving services then braille is the law, it has to be proven that they do not need it before it can be denied.

3. "A misconception is that blind children cannot get good graphics" Ann Cunningham. Many teachers and parents struggle to provide graphics to blind children. However, Ann Cunningham proved that graphics can be accessible and provided us with a great useful tool. The tool she provided was called a blackboard. Any image can be placed over its surface and then traced with a pen. The blackboard raises the print so that it becomes tactile. This tool can be used for charts, graphs and anything else. They can be purchased at sensationalblackboards.com

4. Blind children's canes get in the way in the classroom and be harmful to other students so should be left in a corner. FALSE. A student needs to have his or her cane at all times. If a child learns the appropriate way to put a cane away and place it on the floor it will not cause problems. If a blind child uses his or her cane to hit others and causes problems, they need to be disciplined just like any sighted child would. If a sighted child using a pencil to harm someone the pencil is not taken away. This is what should happen with a blind child, they should be disciplined but their cane should remain with them at all times.

5. Braille is really hard to learn. FALSE. This statement was touched upon many times at the seminar. When teacher of the blind believe that braille is hard, guess what ... it will be! The teacher's attitudes about braille will be reinforced onto the student. We as teachers need to know that braille is not hard to learn for students. In fact, they pick it up quite easily. If they have braille instruction every day they will be proficient, and it is our job to help them get there.

6. Low vision students don't need braille if they can read large print. FALSE. This was also touched upon many times at the seminar. Many teachers of the blind do not teach braille to low vision students. This may seem appropriate at the time, but what happens when a student needs to read harder materials and needs to be on grade level. Low vision students are many times denied the level of literacy that other students are for the simple fact that braille is not offered to them. If a blind child is at normal intelligence, then they should be reading at grade level. However, if they are at above average intelligence, they need to be reading at a higher level. Many times this does not happen because blind students are not expected to compete at an equal basis with their sighted peers.

Overall the Teacher Leader Seminar was a huge success I learned so much from all of the sessions and from the other teachers who were there to participate. I think many misconceptions about blind children and braille were broken, and these teachers will be able to take what they learned and hold high expectations for their students. Because BRAILLE IS BEUTIFUL!
Keep up the good work!

--Miss Conceptions