"In The Drivers Seat"
2005 NFB Convention Bulletin

Programs for Families and Teachers of Blind Children
sponsored by the
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC)
Saturday, July 2 - Friday, July 8, 2005
Galt House Hotel
Louisville, Kentucky

Did you know that one of the technology priorities of the NFB Jernigan Institute is promoting the development of a car that blind people can drive? Fantastic as it may seem, it is entirely possible that today's generation of blind children will one day have the opportunity to operate a vehicle. But blind kids don't have to wait for this to happen to experience being "in the driver's seat." After all, the term is metaphorical, not literal. When we say someone is "in the driver's seat," we mean that this person is in charge; this person has power to choose a course of action and make it happen. Choices, power, control, action, movement, travel; the phrase connotes all these things. In short, "in the driver's seat" means everything that is the opposite of the words historically and universally associated with blindness; words like passive, immobile, limited, and powerless. Fortunately, not everyone believes that those words accurately describe blind people anymore (if they ever did). In fact, thanks in large part to the work of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), a great many people in our country and around the world have come to believe that blind people can lead normal lives. For over sixty-five years, the NFB has been chipping away at these crusty, false, stereotypical notions about blindness and replacing them with words like normal, okay, respectable, and competent. At the 2005 NFB Convention, the NOPBC will help parents, kids, and teachers expand their vocabulary about blindness as we take a journey together to explore just what it means for blind kids to be "in the driver's seat."

Our journey begins on Saturday, July 2, and ends on Friday, July 8. The NOPBC has events scheduled the first five of those days and on the last two days, Thursday and Friday, we continue our journey in learning about blindness as we watch Dr. Marc Maurer and other blind leaders lead discussions about technology, legislation, and other matters of a critical importance to the future of our blind children. As usual, the NOPBC will also announce the big winner of our 50/50 raffle on banquet night (Thursday), and we will participate in the discussions and reports about the year's progress on Friday, the final day of the convention.

So, to help you plan your trip, here's a brief description and schedule -a map, if you will-of the NOPBC-sponsored convention events:

SATURDAY, JULY 2
On Saturday, July 2, the NOPBC kicks off the convention with a full day of activities for the entire family. The day's events (all of which take place in the Galt House Hotel) include:
· 8:00 a.m. - Registration: pick up packets and your new WHOZIT family t-shirts! (See your preregistration packet for more details.)
· 9:00 - Noon - In the Driver's Seat: A morning family-friendly session for parents, teachers, and kids mature enough to sit and listen to presentations for the morning (three hours) with one half-hour break. The event begins, as usual, with a Kids Talk, featuring NFB president, Marc Maurer, and followed by the keynote presentation on "Travel, Technology, and Choices." Next, a panel of students will talk about how the 2004 NFB Science Camp changed their lives in the program item called: "Launching Rockets and Inner Journeys." The next item is a combination break and family activity: putting together a travel bag of age-appropriate toys, games, and puzzles (ages 0-11). Bags and items provided by NOPBC and the Indiana School for the Blind COGS Club. (NOTE: Preregistration is required for participation in this activity). After the break, a panel of parents discuss how to "Beat Boredom: Make any Trip a Learning Experience." Scenic family trips, daily errands, car rides to grandma's house, long waits in the doctors office, and even NFB convention meetings can be very boring indeed to blind and visually impaired kids for whom the visual landscape means little of nothing. This creative panel will help parents and kids learn how to make the most of these opportunities for learning blindness skills, or just having fun. The final panel, made up of blind adults and older blind youth, will talk about how they "took charge" in personal stories about travel experiences for the final presentation entitled: Plane, Train, Cab, Bus, Bike, and 'Foot Leather': Blind People 'In the Driver's Seat.'
· 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - A training workshop for Braille Carnival volunteers. (concurrent with the morning session, above)
· Noon - 2:00 p.m. - Small group lunches hosted by NOPBC leaders in their personal East Tower Suites. (NOTE: Preregistration is required.)
· 1:45 - 5:00 p.m. - Braille Carnival (2:00 - 4:00 p.m.) and Braille Story time (4:00 - 5:00 p.m.) for children ages five and up.
· 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Concurrent workshops for parents and teachers.
Workshop choices include:
1. Traveling Solo: Focus on the School Years. When, where, and how should blind and partially sighted kids start traveling by themselves?
2. Exploration: Focus on the Early Years, Ages 0-8. When is the trip, not the destination, the goal of movement and travel?
3. Braille: The Passport to the World, two sessions; one for novice parents called: Beginning Braille for Parents; and one for parents with advance knowledge about Braille called: Formatting and Producing Braille: What Every Parent and Teacher Should Know.
4. Cruising the Internet and Other Technology Travels. Two sessions of this workshop will be presented by the Indiana School for the Blind COGS Club and will include demonstrations of technology and questions and answers from a blind student panel.
5. Active Learning for the Blind, Multiply Disabled Child.
· 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Special programs for mature youth (blind and sighted), about ages 12 and up. Choices include:
1. Puzzles, Brainteasers, and Fun Things to do with Math
2. Art is for Everyone
3. So, You Think You Would Like to Run a Meeting? -Microphone and speaker etiquette and techniques for aspiring blind speakers and leaders. (Space is limited in some of the sessions, so preregistration recommended.)
· 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Family Scavenger Hunt. Families are teamed up with a blind mentor (canes and sleepshades for sighted family members are optional) for a fun evening of exploring the hotel, picking up some blind travel tips, and making new friends. (Preregistration is recommended to guarantee that we have enough blind mentors for all families wishing to participate.)
· 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Family Hospitality
SUNDAY, JULY 3
· 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Cane Walk for Parents, Kids, and Teachers. This program provides a hands-on introduction to the Guided Discovery method of cane travel, orientation, and mobility. Blind and sighted instructors from the Louisiana Tech/Louisiana Center for the Blind O&M program take parents, kids, and teachers on a "cane walk"-a mini-lesson with NFB canes and sleepshades-in the hotel. NOTE: Participants are required to register for the NFB Convention before or immediately after their Cane Walk.
· 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Teen Get-Acquainted Party, cosponsored by NOPBC and Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM).

MONDAY, JULY 4
· 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. - NOPBC Annual Meeting, featuring a keynote address by the 2005 winner of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children.
· 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Parent Power Workshop. Expanding and strengthening state and local parent groups, fund-raising, developing programs, networking, and recruiting members.
· 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Braille Book Flea Market at the Braille Readers Are Leaders Annual Reunion. All Braille lovers are welcome! Co-sponsored by the National Association to Promote the use of Braille (NAPUB) and supported by the local UPS volunteers. Come browse tables and tables of used and new Braille and print-Braille storybooks. UPS volunteers will box and ship books to your home, Free Matter for the Blind, right then and there. Donations are requested and will be used to support the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest and Literacy program.

TUESDAY, JULY 5
· 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. - Children Can Learn to Handle Emergencies. A Special program to teach basic body awareness (how to find and read a pulse) and procedures for handling common medical emergencies (calling 911 and reporting an emergency) for children and youth. This program is conducted by NOPBC parent leader and paramedic, Maria Garcia. The first session is for young children (about 5 - 9). These children must be accompanied by parent or an adult. The second session is for more mature children and youth (about 10 and up). Older youth may attend without parents depending upon maturity level of the youth and if enough adult supervision is available. Preregistration is required.
· 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. - Planning Your Child's IEP and Education Program: Focus on the Transition Years (Middle/High School).
· 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. - Planning Your Child's IEP and Education Program: Focus on the Elementary Years.
· 8:30 - 10:30 p.m. - Planning Your Child's Education Program: Focus on the Early Years, 0-Kindergarten
· 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. - Implementing an Active Learning Program for Blind, Multiply-Disabled Children

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
· Dr. Doolittle Comes to Louisville! On tour afternoon, NOPBC leaders Brad and Jill Weathered and Sandy and Joe Taboada have put together a fun afternoon for families. At a location and time to be announced (we are looking at two places accessible by city bus), blind kids and their families can get a very close-up, hands-on experience with a variety of live animals from the area's 4-H Clubs, the Farm Bureau, and a therapy animals organization (WAGS). The Weatherds are Range Managers by profession (they live in Wyoming) and their blind daughter, Hannah, has raised and shown rabbits, chickens, and other animals in the 4-H Club. The Taboadas are professional Veterinarians, and both teach full-time at the university level. Preregistration is recommended as we expect to have limited space.
· 7:30 p.m. - Family Night at the Movies, presented by NCI Described Media. Title to be announced.

More Information

Preregistration Form (Word Doc)