Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

Future Reflections Winter 1989, Vol. 8 No. 1
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BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICK MAKER
1989 NATIONAL PARENT CONFERENCE
AND ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
PARENTS OF BLIND CHILDREN DIVISION
OF THE NA TIONAL FEDERATION OF THE
BLIND
The National Parent Conference and the annual
meeting of the POBC of the NFB will be held as
usual, in conjunction with the National Federation
of the Blind annual convention. This year it
will be held in the Mile-High City of Denver,
Colorado, at the Radisson Hotel. Convention activities
will run from Monday, July 3 through Sunday,
July 9,1989.
We have an exciting theme and agenda planned
for the parent conference, which will be held on
Monday, July 3. The conference will be cosponsored
by Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB)
and is especially designed to appeal to blind
youth and blind job- seekers as well as to parents
of blind children of all ages. Among other things,
we will discuss how parents even of infants can
begin now to set the stage for their blind child's
future success in employment; we will look at
how blind youth and adults can use volunteer experiences
as steppingstones to a paying job; and
blind adults will talk about the challenges of
being the first blind person to attempt a particular
career. And then, of course, there is the
wonderful experience of meeting other parents
and blind adults from all over the country. Our
conferences get bigger and better every year, and
this one will undoubtedly be the best yet! Don't
miss it!
The conference begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Radisson
Hotel and will end at 4:00 p.m. There will be
no registration fee for the Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker Conference. However, we expect whose who stay over for all or part of the
following week's convention events to register
for the National Federation of the Blind Convention.
The fee is $5, and registration will open the
morning of Tuesday, July 4th.
We will, as we have for the past several years, also
have special activities for children ages five to
twelve the same day as the Parent Conference
(Monday, July 3). The Colorado Center for the
Blind, a private rehabilitation orientation center
for the adult blind operated by the National
Federation of the Blind of Colorado, is organizing
and sponsoring this workshop for the
children. After checking in at a special table at
the parent conference, the children will be
transported to the Colorado Center for the Blind
facility, which is located near a park, for a day full
of fun and learning. The children will have a chance to cook; learn more about Braille, cane
travel, and other skills of blindness; make some
crafts; have a picnic and play in the park; and
enjoy many other activities.
Parents are asked to pay a $5.00 fee per child for
the 1989 NFB Children's Workshop (this includes
lunch). You may pre-register using the
form at the end of this article. Because we have
limited space and we want to keep a good adult
child ratio, children who do not pre-register will
be taken on a first-come, first-served basis until
we reach our maximum limit.
Child-care will also be available during the
Parent Conference, the regular convention sessions,
and the evening of the banquet. A set fee
is not charged for the service, but we do ask that
parents make donations to cover the costs (we
hire qualified child-care workers to supervise the
children and volunteer aides.)
On Wednesday, July 5, our annual Parents of
Blind Children Division meeting will be held
from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. At that meeting, we will
have a chance to hear from all of our state
divisions and regional chapters. We will discuss
and share information about our projects and
successes as well as the challenges we continue
to face as parents of blind children.
We will also get an opportunity to hear from the
winner of the Educator of the Year Award.
On the following day, Thursday, July 5, the
Parents Division will hold an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) workshop from 7:00
to 9:00 p.m. This year the IEP workshop will concentrate
on educational evaluations. Educational
evaluations are extremely important. They are
used by the professionals to determine a
student's placement and educational needs for
the IEP. It is terribly important, therefore, for
parents to know what a good educational evaluation
should contain, how to obtain an independent
evaluation if they disagree with the
school district's evaluation, how to use the educational
evaluation to build an IEP, and how the
educational evaluation can be used in a due
process hearing. Doris Willoughby, a well
known educator of blind children from Iowa and
the author of some excellent publications for
parents and educators of blind children, will be
coordinating this year's IEP workshop.
As usual, we have terrific room rates for those
who register for the National Federation of the
Blind convention. For example, double and twin
rooms are $28, and there is no extra charge for
children under 18 in the room with their parents.
A $30 per room deposit is required, and all reservations
MUST be made through the National
Federation of the Blind. To get more information,
or to request your convention room reservation
form, write to: Convention Reservations,
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson
Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. You may
also call (301) 659- 9314, but-and this cannot be
emphasized too strongly- no reservations will be
accepted and finalized until all required information
and the deposit are received in the National
Office.
Other activities of the convention include the
huge exhibit hall, which is open all day Tuesday,
July 4th; Wednesday, July 5th; and most other
times when convention sessions are not going on
(before sessions and during lunch periods). Many
informative division and committee meetings
such as the Student Division, the National Association
to Promote the Use of Braille, the
Committee on Library Services--also take place
throughout Tuesday and Wednesday. The actual
convention session begins Thursday, July 6, and
runs all day Thursday, Friday morning (Friday
afternoon is left free for tours, sightseeing, etc.),
and all day Saturday and Sunday. The convention
agenda is first available Tuesday and can be picked
up when you register (the fee is $5 per person).
You can be sure that current issues involving
the education of blind children, civil rights,
legislation, library services, rehabilitation services,
and new technology for the blind will be on
the agenda.
The highlight of the convention will be the banquet
on the evening of Saturday, July 8. We find
out which students win which scholarships and
cheer as other awards are also presented. But the
most moving and uplifting experience will be the
annual banquet speech delivered by Mr. Marc
Maurer, President of the National Federation of
the Blind. Banquet tickets usually cost about $25
and can be purchased at registration.
The National Federation of the Blind convention
week of July 3rd through July 9th will be the
single most important, exciting, and informative
week regarding the blind (young and old) of the
1989 year! Don't miss it!