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Vol. 68, No. 4 April 2025
Chris Danielsen, Editor
Distributed by email, in inkprint, in Braille, and on USB flash drive, by the
National Federation of the Blind
Mark Riccobono, President
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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND ADVANCES THE LIVES OF ITS MEMBERS AND ALL BLIND PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. WE KNOW THAT BLINDNESS IS NOT THE CHARACTERISTIC THAT DEFINES YOU OR YOUR FUTURE. EVERY DAY WE RAISE THE EXPECTATIONS OF BLIND PEOPLE, BECAUSE LOW EXPECTATIONS CREATE OBSTACLES BETWEEN BLIND PEOPLE AND OUR DREAMS. OUR COLLECTIVE POWER, DETERMINATION, AND DIVERSITY ACHIEVE THE ASPIRATIONS OF ALL BLIND PEOPLE. THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND—IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR OURSELVES.
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Vol. 68, No. 4 April 2025
Convention Bulletin 2025
A Correction and a Legislative Update
by Chris Danielsen
The Lawsuit That Could Kill Section 504
by Chris Danielsen
National Federation of the Blind Comments on Reduction in Force at Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights Urges Administration to Reconsider Action
The Role of the Department of Education in Specialized Teacher Training and Beyond
by Amy Parker
Louis Braille: More Anniversaries Ahead
by Philippa Campsie
The Power of Audio Description
by Corey Grandstaff
From No Blind Life to Rockin’ the Blind Life
by Charles Tate
The Courtesy Rules of Blindness
Blind Enough
by Renée Valdez
Plan for the Future
Raising Expectations for the Blind of the World
by Nicholas Hoekstra
Blindness Beyond Borders
by Abdi Ali-Mumin
How Do We Make Real and Lasting Changes for the Blind: A Discussion That Needs Your Input
by Gary Wunder
The Intersection of Law and Love
An Address Delivered by Marc Maurer
iCanConnect Helps Bridge the Communication Gap for Individuals with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss
by Perkins School for the Blind
NFB Kids Camp: Tons of Fun!
by Harriet Go
Copyright 2025 by the National Federation of the Blind
The 2025 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, this summer. Start planning your trip now.
Tuesday, July 8, through Sunday, July 13
The Marriott New Orleans and the Sheraton New Orleans
As our headquarters hotel, the Marriott will host convention breakouts, general sessions, and the banquet. Right across Canal Street, the Sheraton serves as our overflow hotel and will be home to the Exhibit Hall and Independence Market.
If this will be your first convention or if you need a refresher, check out our First Timer’s Guide at https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/first-timers-guide .
The following are important dates to know as you prepare to attend convention.
Reserve your room by calling 888-236-2427 for the Marriott or 855-516-1090 for the Sheraton New Orleans. Ask for the “National Federation of the Blind 2025 Convention” block. Here are important things to know about the rates and booking the room:
The nightly rate for both the Marriott and the Sheraton is $119 for singles and doubles, while triples and quads can be booked for $129 per night. You should also anticipate the combined sales tax and tourism support rate of 16.2 percent and note there is a hotel occupancy fee of $3.00 per night.
At the time you make a reservation, a deposit of the first night’s stay is required for each room reserved. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your card immediately, just as would be the case with a check. If a reservation is cancelled before Sunday, June 1, 2025, half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise, refunds will not be made.
Registration for convention will open March 1. Registration will be $25 per person plus $80 per banquet ticket. Register early because prices go up if you register onsite in New Orleans. Registration includes the biggest event of the year, access to the event app, and communications on the latest news and events.
Over 200 sessions and meetings happen during convention. If you are a leader in a division, committee, or group that will meet at convention, please don’t wait to organize. Start planning your agenda, goals, and connections now. Stay tuned for details from the Convention Chair, John Berggren.
Remember that as usual we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals. Prizes should be small in size but large in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. We ask that prizes of all kinds have a value of at least $25 and not include alcohol. Drawings will occur throughout the convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet.
Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who help make national convention a big success. Please consider signing up to be a Convention Ambassador to assist in making the national convention a welcoming and empowering experience for all our attendees or for the Independence Market to serve as a demonstrator, storekeeper, pay-station representative, or line marshal during the days the market is open in the Exhibit Hall.
More details on shifts, schedules, and signups will be available soon. Register early to get access to all volunteer opportunities.
by Chris Danielsen
In the article “The 2025 Washington Seminar: New President, New Congress, New Approach,” which appeared in last month’s issue, I mistakenly designated one of our legislative priorities as the Blind Persons Return to Work Act. The title of the legislation is instead the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, and as mentioned at the end of the article, it has been introduced by Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Congressman Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), who are its sponsor and lead co-sponsor, respectively. Its bill number is H.R. 1175. I apologize for any confusion created by my error.
Now for an update. The Access Technology Affordability Act (ATAA) was introduced by Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) on February 24, 2025. Its bill number is H.R. 1529. News of this development came after the March issue was finalized. Here in part is what Jesse Shirek said about both bills in a legislative update issued on February 27:
It is critical that both of these bills gain significant cosponsor support early in the Congressional session (especially the ATAA, which has a chance to be included in an upcoming tax package), and that’s where you come in. We need you to contact your Representatives in the House and ask them to cosponsor both the Blind Americans Return to Work Act and the Access Technology Affordability Act.
When you call or email, you might say the following:
“Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent of [REPRESENTATIVE NAME]. I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge [REPRESENTATIVE NAME] to cosponsor the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, H.R. 1175, and the Access Technology Affordability Act, H.R. 1529. These bills will eliminate barriers for blind people by instituting a two-for-one phaseout of benefits for any income earned above the substantial gainful activity threshold in the SSDI program, and creating a refundable tax credit for the purchase of qualified access technology respectively. This will create a true work incentive for all blind Americans currently on SSDI and a method for blind Americans to be able to afford the access technology they need to obtain and maintain employment. Thanks.”
There are a small number of bipartisan co-sponsors for both bills at this writing, but more are needed. So we should all start making those calls and sending those emails!
by Chris Danielsen
In September of 2024, seventeen states, led by Texas, sued the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) over a regulation that the agency had issued in May. The other sixteen states that brought the suit are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the 2024 election had not yet taken place, and so the named defendant was Xavier Becerra, who was DHHS Secretary under President Joe Biden.
The regulation that the lawsuit challenged was issued under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is an update of previous DHHS regulations, and its goal is to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities in Medicaid and other state-run healthcare programs and facilities—such as nursing homes, hospitals, and child welfare agencies—that receive federal funds. Among other things, the regulation says that individuals with disabilities must receive care in the “most integrated setting” and, pursuant to court cases, acknowledges that this requirement means that states must also avoid putting individuals “at serious risk of institutionalization.” It also acknowledges that, according to a recent court case decided by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, gender dysphoria may be included in the legal definition of disability in certain circumstances.
The final rule is hundreds of pages long, but the first two counts of the lawsuit focus on the inclusion of gender dysphoria in the definition of disability and what the states perceive as the unwarranted expansion of the “most integrated setting” requirement to include the “serious risk of institutionalization.” They say categorizing gender dysphoria as a disability violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as originally written. (The definition of disability contained in the ADA is the same as the definition used when applying the Rehabilitation Act.) The states also claim to worry that the “serious risk” standard will limit their flexibility and saddle them with burdensome costs. In other words, they want flexibility to institutionalize more patients with disabilities because they believe that community care placements will cost too much. These initial counts therefore ask the court to invalidate the regulation, but unfortunately the lawsuit then goes much further.
Count III of the complaint is simply entitled “Section 504 is unconstitutional.” This language could not be any more straightforward. The complaining states are saying that Section 504, a bedrock of our nation’s disability laws for over fifty years, is now—and always has been—unconstitutional and should be struck off our nation’s books. The complaint then goes on for approximately twenty paragraphs spread across three pages to explain the reasoning behind this count. A few pages later, in their demand for relief, the states ask not only for the court to enjoin (or prohibit) DHHS from enforcing the regulation, but to “declare Section 504 unconstitutional” and “issue permanent injunctive relief against [DHHS] enjoining them from enforcing Section 504.”
The threat this poses to blind people and all Americans with disabilities, including students at all education levels, cannot be overstated. If the court were to declare Section 504 unconstitutional and block DHHS from enforcing it, all other federal agencies would be prohibited from enforcing it as well, and states would no longer be bound by its requirements. Section 504 plans, which are like Individualized Education Plans, would be a thing of the past; blind or disabled K-12 students and their families would find their rights curtailed or eliminated. Furthermore, blind individuals (including blind postsecondary students and state and federal workers), as well as the Federation and other advocacy organizations, would no longer be able to bring lawsuits to enforce the law’s antidiscrimination mandate. And because the Rehabilitation Act is linked with the ADA and other civil rights statutes in several ways, the lawsuit could result in even greater damage to protections for the blind and our rights.
The lawsuit is in limbo following the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump. A new president’s administration can review, change, or even revoke regulations made by the prior administration or decline to defend all or part of them in court. Almost immediately after President Trump’s inauguration, he issued an executive order that purports to remove all federal protections for people with gender dysphoria. For the time being, the complaining states say they are willing to hold off on further pursuing the case to see how this policy shift plays out. So the lawsuit, now known as Texas v. Kennedy since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the new DHHS secretary, is technically paused and may or may not be made irrelevant. But the lawsuit has not been dismissed, which would be the best outcome given the serious threat that it poses to section 504. That is why the National Federation of the Blind and other advocates are acting.
On February 13, 2025, we issued an alert that urged our members in the states that brought the suit to contact their attorneys general, the elected officials who serve as the states’ lawyers, and ask them to withdraw from the lawsuit or, in the case of Texas, to voluntarily move to dismiss it. Our affiliates went to work, as did other advocates. By the time President Riccobono, along with our Advocacy and Policy team and General Counsel Eve Hill, conducted a Zoom meeting to update affiliate leaders on the lawsuit and other issues on March 11, our activism was making national news, with stories appearing in the Washington Post and USA Today. Prior to that, local media in Montana and Iowa had also covered the litigation.
To date, the lawsuit has not been dismissed, and no state has withdrawn from it. In response to the public-relations nightmare they created for themselves, however, some of the states have loudly and heatedly denied that they seek to kill Section 504 and have even gone so far as to claim that the Federation and other disability advocates are lying about the lawsuit, or at least exaggerating its potential impact. A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told Helena’s KTVH that “bad faith actors are deliberately misconstruing this lawsuit nine months after it was filed to frighten parents into believing that the Attorneys General put Section 504 in jeopardy. That is categorically false.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird similarly protested: “This lawsuit puts the full force of seventeen states behind ending the woke, Biden-Harris mandate that sexualizes kids. We are protecting Section 504 accommodations for students who need it.” Significantly, however, Texas attorney General Ken Paxton, a firebrand known for controversial statements and litigation tactics, has remained quiet, refusing to comment to reporters or respond to advocates.
Notwithstanding the pontification and attempted placation by some politicians, the language of the complaint has not changed and flatly contradicts all the assurances that are designed to try and get us to pipe down. If Texas and company really do not want to kill Section 504, then they can dismiss their lawsuit or, at the very least, amend their legal complaint to remove Count III. So far, they have done neither. They did purport to “clarify” their intentions in a February 21 joint status report to the court, but this does nothing to alter the underlying complaint. A status report is not a pleading. It is the states, and not the Federation or other disability advocates, who are being disingenuous about the possible effects of the lawsuit as written. The National Federation of the Blind is merely taking the states at their word, which is only fitting since their legal representatives, who being attorneys swore an oath to be honest with our nation’s courts, signed the complaint.
Here is the bottom line: dropping the lawsuit entirely is the only way to fully protect Section 504. That is why President Riccobono wrote Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton the following letter on March 4, with similar letters going to the other sixteen state attorneys general:
Dear Attorney General Paxton:
The National Federation of the Blind urges you to consider the full importance of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”) and the benefit it has for Texans with disabilities, and to immediately move to dismiss Texas v. Kennedy.
The stated goal of Texas v. Kennedy is to severely limit Section 504 by applying it only to those programs, services, and activities directly funded by and through the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“the Rehab Act”). The parties’ status report dated February 21, 2025, reads in pertinent part: “Plaintiffs clarify that they have never moved—and do not plan to move—the Court to declare or enjoin Section 504. . . as unconstitutional on its face. Plaintiffs have not sought and do not seek to enjoin the disbursement of funds from the Department on the basis that the statute is unconstitutional,” however, we note that at the time of this writing, Plaintiffs have not chosen to amend pages 37 and 42 of their complaint which read: “Count 3: Section 504 is Unconstitutional,” and “Demand for Relief . . . d. Declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, unconstitutional; e. Issue permanent injunctive relief against [the Department of Health and Human Services] enjoining them from enforcing Section 504.”
Section 504 protects people with disabilities from discrimination by federal agencies and recipients of federal funding in public education, work readiness programs, healthcare, elections, the court system, and more. In brief, it is not at all overstating the point to say that if Section 504 is found unconstitutional, we will ensure that a generation of people with disabilities will be less educated, less employable, and less able to participate fully in all aspects of life.
The United States has long recognized a disabled person’s value as a student, employee, and a member of the public. Reducing Section 504 would constitute a sea-change, excluding people with disabilities from education, employment, and civic life. Disabled students, teachers, and parents would lose access to course content and educational accommodations. Teachers, utility workers, farmers, office workers, county administrators, attorneys, judges, and other workers with disabilities would lose access to the government-funded software, websites, and other information vital to maintaining their employment. People with disabilities who seek to be involved in civic life, be it through joining municipal boards, exercising their right to vote, or even just crossing the street, would all be negatively impacted by the suspension of Section 504. Put another way, limiting Section 504 in the manner proposed would guarantee countless people with disabilities would stay home, be unable to work, and be forced to subsist solely on government benefits.
The National Federation of the Blind is the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans, and our goal is complete integration of the blind into society. The Federation has spent a large portion of its 84-year history combating discrimination and low expectations. We believe that all Americans can and should be afforded the opportunity to work, learn, and participate in community life. Accordingly, we believe that disabled Americans have the right to receive the education, training, and opportunity required to lead productive lives. We do not believe that people with disabilities should be forced by the government to leave school, lose work, or stay on public benefits.
We appreciate the need for effective and responsible governance. However, truncating a disabled person’s opportunity to participate fully in society runs contrary to your state’s true interests. We urge you to immediately move to dismiss Texas v. Kennedy and the dismantling of Section 504.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
The parties will report next to the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where Judge James Wesley Hendrix is presiding over the case, about the status of the litigation on April 21. In the meantime, advocates in Texas and the thirty-three other states not involved in the lawsuit should write to Texas Attorney General Paxton and urge him to dismiss the lawsuit. Advocates in the other sixteen states should contact their own state attorney general and urge them to withdraw from the lawsuit. You can learn more about the details of the lawsuit and access a list of state attorneys general with their contact information on the following web page hosted by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund: https://dredf.org/protect-504. The Braille Monitor will continue to follow developments in the litigation and report what we learn.
From the Editor: On Tuesday, March 11, news outlets reported a dramatic reduction in force, which is federal government-speak for mass layoffs or firings, at the United States Department of Education. The news reports and information that the Federation was able to acquire from other sources confirmed that the department’s Office of Civil Rights, which enforces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other laws and regulations protecting blind students, was hit particularly hard. On March 12, we issued the following statement of concern:
The National Federation of the Blind, which advances the lives of its members and all blind people in the United States, issued the following statement regarding the announcement of a dramatic reduction in force at the United States Department of Education, specifically its Office of Civil Rights.
Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The National Federation of the Blind is gravely concerned about the devastating reductions in force affecting the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the closing of many of its field offices, since OCR is responsible for protecting the rights of blind and disabled students at all educational levels. Thousands of blind students and their families are left without any assurance of how their rights will be protected. We stand ready to work with policymakers to improve our education system, but we vigorously oppose actions that undermine the safeguards that have opened doors for generations of blind students. We urge Secretary McMahon and the administration to reconsider dismantling OCR and to collaborate with the blind and others with disabilities to ensure that continuity is maintained for the protections and services on which so many blind students rely.”
by Amy Parker
From the Editor: Dr. Amy Parker is the Coordinator of the Orientation and Mobility (O&M) program at Portland State University. She collaborates with Dr. Holly Lawson to prepare teachers of blind and low-vision students and O&M students for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii. In this article, she describes the critical role that the United States Department of Education (DOE) plays in supporting the training of teachers of blind, low-vision, and deafblind students. Her observations are critically relevant as our government considers dismantling the DOE and shifting its programs and responsibilities to other entities or eliminating them entirely. Here is what Dr. Parker says:
The United States Department of Education has played a significant role in my life personally and professionally. In 2006, I was selected along with twenty-four other fellows to pursue doctorates in special education with a focus on meeting the needs of students who are blind, have low vision or are deafblind. A consortium of universities collaborated, each to host its own doctoral scholars, to prepare us to work in higher education and other leadership roles. This grant was one of many that were awarded because Congress recognized there were severe teacher shortages in regular and special education. The teacher shortage was not only impacting schools, it was compounded by the challenge of not having sufficient faculty members to lead teacher preparation programs, particularly in the field of special education (Smith & Montrosse, 2012). The fellowship that I received, like all personnel preparation grant monies, required a service obligation for graduates to work in public education to serve the needs of American schools and universities. For every year of funding received, two years of service had to be documented by the graduate’s employers to fulfill the agreement of the award.
My family and I moved from Georgia to Texas for my doctoral studies so that I could study with faculty who had deep expertise in how to serve children with low-incidence disabilities. Since graduation, I have worked at universities to design curriculum, often collaboratively with practicing teachers and family members to create educational videos and resources to prepare future teachers as well as to support teachers who are already working in classrooms every day. Now as an associate professor, managing a program at a university, I am writing and receiving personnel preparation grants to support my master’s students financially as they choose to take on the challenge and the calling of teaching students who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind. My students are often already working in the field of special education full time; many are early to mid-career teachers, supporting families while taking on the challenge of graduate school to deepen their expertise and to meet the needs of students whom local educational systems are not well-equipped to serve. My students who receive these grants are from red and blue states—anywhere in the world where American students are learning—including teachers who serve on US military bases.
It is important to understand that the personnel preparation grants that are administered by the US DOE require that 65 percent of the funds go to support our scholars, covering some or all of their tuition and fees. Only 8 percent of the grant goes towards the university’s overhead costs. Other components of the grant go to hiring local supervisors to mentor teachers, again supporting local personnel to prepare teachers to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable students and families. The US DOE, staffed by people who have often been in classrooms and have their doctorates, provides technical support as we teach students, tracking and reporting our outcomes, providing us guidance for using research and best practices to maximize our efforts.
Along with all fifty states and US territories, millions of American children are critically dependent on the US Department of Education for support. This support takes shape in the technical assistance, infrastructure, and grant funding to state entities, including universities, who prepare teachers and related services personnel such as speech and language pathologists, physical therapists, sign language interpreters, and orientation and mobility specialists. These personnel provide direct support to students within states, supporting local schools in serving children with disabilities and the families of those students.
It is a false narrative to say that the effort to dismantle and destroy the US DOE is about giving the responsibility of education back to the states. States are already responsible for educating children within their borders. At the federal level, the Department is a conduit for support, information, and guidance across a vastly diverse and populated country. Many states do not have the capacity or resources to prepare personnel, especially personnel who serve children with rare disabilities.
The US DOE was created by law (Section 102, Public Law 96-88) to implement laws (the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1975, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Educational Sciences Reform Act of 2002) for the good of the American people. There are millions of children and families who will be impacted by the efforts to dissolve the US DOE, and the students do not have the legal right to represent themselves in this ideological attack. The word “equity,” which is now viewed as inflammatory, is one of our most treasured values that has been enshrined in our laws. I urge us to recognize the key role that the US DOE provides to all of our educational systems and to uphold the laws that are implemented by this agency.
Smith, D. D., & Montrosse, B. E. (2012). Special Education Doctoral Programs: A 10-Year Comparison of the Suppliers of Leadership Personnel. Teacher Education and Special Education, 35(2), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406412444455
by Philippa Campsie
From the Editor: Philippa Campsie is a Toronto-based researcher studying the people and events surrounding the invention of Braille in France in the early nineteenth century. In 2016-17, she was given access to the papers of Charles Barbier at the Association Valentin Haüy and in the archives of the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, the latter being the school where Louis Braille studied and later taught. In 2021, she published her findings in Disability Studies Quarterly. That article is available at https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/
7499/5947. She has presented her research at the American Printing House for the Blind and at an online conference for the International Council on English Braille. She has also participated in podcasts created by the BBC and the Disability History Association and is working on a book about Charles Barbier and Louis Braille. She has generously contributed this article to the Braille Monitor as an expression of gratitude for the posting by the Jacobus tenBroek Library of Louis Braille’s 1829 book. Her research contains insights that enhance, and in some cases correct, what we believe we know about Louis Braille and his development of the Braille code. In the National Federation of the Blind, we celebrate Braille at every opportunity, and this article makes us aware of some of the milestones in its history that might otherwise go unnoticed. Here is the article:
The year 2025 is celebrated in France as the anniversary of the invention of Braille. In the United States, 2024 was designated as the anniversary year, allowing for two full years of celebration.
Mind you, these years represent only the beginning of the adventure that is Braille. There are many other milestones that call for celebration.
Louis Braille turned sixteen in January 1825. He had been at the Institution for Blind Youth in Paris for six years and had spent more than three of those years experimenting with a form of raised-point writing developed specifically for the blind by Charles Barbier, adopted by the school in 1821. The groundbreaking concept came with something equally precious—the tools that Louis used to create his own method. Barbier donated dozens of sets of these tools to the students.
Barbier’s method had been adopted mainly because it was easy to learn and allowed the students to take notes—something that had not been possible for them when raised print letters were used at the school. That was a huge advance for the students’ education, but the method took up a lot of space, and it did not include symbols for mathematics or music.
Although it is often said that Barbier’s method was phonetic, it existed from the beginning in an alphabetical form. Letters between Barbier and the director of the school indicate that students used the alphabetical form. Of course they did. They knew the alphabet, and they knew how to spell. Why would they bother to unlearn what they already knew in order to use phonetic spelling? And why would the school, which promoted conventional literacy, have allowed—let alone encouraged—them to do so?
In Louis Braille’s experiments with Barbier’s code, the eureka moment must have been the point at which Louis realized that dots represented a binary form of communication. Like modern computer code, each position could be zero or one, off or on. The lack of a dot in a certain position was as significant as the presence of a dot. This insight is at the heart of the Braille code, every bit as crucial as the six-dot cell. This year’s celebration marks this fundamental achievement.
It took Louis another four years to work out the details and get his ideas into print with the publication of his book, whose English title is Procedure for Writing Words, Music, and Plain-Song Using Dots for the Use of the Blind and Made Available to Them. Thanks to the National Federation of the Blind, the result can be seen online with French transcription and English translation at https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/braille/
thefirstpublicationofthebraillecode.html. That publication was a huge step forward, and we should mark the occasion in 2029.
Unfortunately, the first publication had one drawback—the use of dashes in numbers, punctuation, and musical notation. The dashes were hard to create and hard to decipher.
And here’s where we see another aspect of Louis Braille’s genius. He didn’t give up. Where others might have considered the task of eliminating the dashes too daunting, Braille stayed the course. He spent eight more years creating a dot-only method, the basis of the universal system we have today.
Unfortunately, the 1837 edition of his Procedure is not (yet) available online. Although it is called a “second edition,” it is a wholly different publication and a testament to Braille’s ingenuity in the way he managed to use six dots for everything that needed to be expressed. I hope that the 1837 edition can be posted online well before the 2037 celebrations get under way.
The “second edition” is also noteworthy for features that were not in the 1829 publication. For example, it demonstrates the use of Braille in Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, and English. The book used the Lord’s Prayer in these five languages to show that the method could be multilingual. In this way, Louis himself opened the path to international adoption, years before the rest of the world began to pay attention.
In the 1837 publication, Louis, who was by now twenty-eight years old, also introduced a new approach to abbreviation. The 1829 edition had included a version of speed writing that Braille called “stenographic,” but the 1837 edition offers a slightly different approach. Louis writes, “One should put only the letters strictly necessary for the pronunciation of words.” This sounds like a phonetic form of writing; in fact, Braille’s abbreviations went beyond phonetic spelling to tightly condensed words. For example, he suggests eliminating vowels that follow consonants, turning the French word verité (truth) into vrt.
As for Braille’s 1837 method for music notation, it was so successful that when a new director banned the use of Braille at the Paris school where Louis was now a teacher, Braille music notation still had to be used, because there was no workable alternative. Students were in the strange situation of having to use raised lettering for lyrics along with Braille notation for the music itself.
The official ban lasted four years. In 1844, when the grand new school building was officially opened, Braille was there to see his method demonstrated and reintroduced. Of course, most of the students had been using it in secret all along, because there was no other way for them to write notes. But we can still celebrate the victory of Braille over prejudice in 2044.
A final anniversary will be 2052, two hundred years since the death of Louis Braille. In 1952, his remains were transferred from the graveyard in his hometown of Coupvray and taken to the Panthéon in Paris, to be interred with France’s greatest statesmen, scientists, artists, and writers. He belongs in their company. The year 1852 also saw the first institutional adoption of Braille outside France—in Lausanne, Switzerland. A mere fifteen years after publication of the definitive edition of his work, Braille’s method was beginning to spread internationally.
Those are the main anniversaries within the lifetime of Louis Braille. The adoption of Braille around the world offers many other years to celebrate—in many cases, a different year for each country.
We need to recognize that the invention of Braille was not a one-time event, a single burst of inspiration by a sixteen-year-old that led to a new form of writing once and for all. We like our heroes to be young and their achievements to be spectacular. Louis Braille’s genius, however, was to persist in the face of early problems with his invention and resistance to the use of his code. That is what we should celebrate, this year and in 2029, 2037, 2044, and 2052.
by Corey Grandstaff
From the Editor: Corey Grandstaff is the treasurer of our Washington affiliate and works as the associate director of Transition and Residential Programs at the Washington State School for the Blind. He also has his own business providing independent living skills training to older blind adults. He lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Arabia. Corey’s work, business, and Federation duties might not seem to leave a lot of spare time, but apparently he finds some to enjoy TV and movies. He says the following about how his appreciation of audio description, which is the narration of visual elements of TV programs and movies for blind and low-vision viewers, has evolved since his childhood:
I remember one of the first times I experienced audio description (AD) as a child. I hated it! I am not sure if it had to do with the quality of the AD or if it was that, for the first time, I got to know each detail of the particular movie. It was the film Old Yeller, and it was one of the Descriptive Video Service (DVS) tapes that you could order by mail at the time. I remember crying every time I watched that movie and wishing the AD had not filled me in during each scene because of how sad the movie was. I also remember theaters offering AD when I went to movies with my friends in high school or college and feeling that I was not “normal” when I wore the headphones to hear it.
Fast forward to now, when I am in my mid-thirties, and I rarely watch a movie or television show that is not audio-described. I even find myself going back to television shows or movies that were favorites of mine as a kid, because as I watch them with AD now, I realize how much I miss them. As a child, I was completely comfortable listening to films or TV shows and applying my own interpretation to what I heard. As an adult, I finally feel fully engaged with these movies and shows because of the enhancement that AD brings to experiencing them.
Take just one example: among my favorite movies as a teen were the films of The Godfather Trilogy. In fall of 2024, I went back and watched all three movies with audio description. I have a much deeper appreciation for the trilogy and love the movies even more than I used to as a teen. In addition, for the first time, I knew what the characters were saying when they spoke in Italian, as the audio description also included reading of the English subtitles.
Another example of the power of audio description is the time that I viewed the Rose Parade with live, real-time audio description. I remember sitting down with my family as a child to watch this annual New Year’s Day event live and having a basic idea of what each float was but no clue as to the details of its appearance or how intricate those details or designs were. Watching the Rose Parade for the first time with audio description gave me a much deeper appreciation for the talent and creativity that went into each float. I never realized how providing audio description of a live event could be life-changing.
This leaves me asking: why did it take me so long to embrace the power of audio description? Is it that when I was a child, you had to go to certain theaters or buy special DVS video tapes to access it, whereas now most movie theaters are required to have AD equipment and I can tune my TV to popular streaming services such as Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Netflix and they have AD for much of their programming? Or is it that as an adult I do not feel the stigma that I did as a child because I do not care if others see me as different or weird because I wear headphones at the movie theater? Or is it because the quality of audio description has improved since I was younger?
For me, it is a bit of all three: having the ability to turn on my TV to the streaming services I use to access AD, not caring how people look at me, and knowing the quality of AD has improved over the years. I will say it is disappointing when popular channels, such as Starz, have no programming that is audio-described. When I notice AD is not available, it leaves me uninterested in watching the series or movie or in paying for the service.
So, what are my hopes for the future of audio description? The streaming services I listed above have made great advances in what AD they provide, but it is still frustrating when you go to watch a show and it is not audio-described. An even more frustrating experience is when seasons three through six are audio-described, but seasons one and two are not. And then as I mentioned, there are some networks that offer no audio description. So, my hope for the future is that every show can offer AD, that more live events offer live AD, and that the quality and consistency of audio description continues to improve. The work that we must do in advocating for audio description is far from over. However, at least from my perspective, the value that audio description adds is just one example of how providing access can change the lives of blind people and help us to live the lives we want every day.by Charles Tate
From the Editor: Charles Tate is a leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas. Like many others, he had exposure to the National Federation of the Blind long before he chose to join our movement. Here, he writes about the moment when he knew for sure that our organization was for him and about how his life has changed since then. By the way, the speech he references in his story is the 2003 banquet address “The Rest of Reality,” and you can read it in the August/September 2003 Braille Monitor archived on our website, htttps://nfb.org. Here is Charles’s story:
Hello, my name is Charles. I was born blind. Growing up in a small town in rural Arkansas, I went to public school with no connections to a blind community or other blind people. I didn’t know what it meant to be blind, so I either told people I was legally blind, visually impaired, or just faked it. I got pretty good at faking it over the years.
In 2003, I went to a rehabilitation center for the blind in Kentucky to learn some skills for independent living and computer skills. During this time, the National Federation of the Blind was holding its national convention in Louisville, and the center where I was staying gave us cab vouchers to attend a few days of the event. I had never heard of the NFB before this and had no idea what to expect, but I was blown away by all the confident blind people advocating for and educating about blindness issues. It was an amazing experience, but being seventeen and a busy student, I didn’t join at the time. However, hearing President Maurer’s reading of a speech about waiting stayed in my mind forever.
Years later, not in a very good place, when I turned thirty and started losing more of the vision I had, I became reclusive, staying in my house constantly and feeling depressed. I even drank too much just to get through the day. I decided to give the National Federation of the Blind a try. After sending an email to the president of my state affiliate and receiving a very fast response, I was connected with the At-Large Chapter of Arkansas.
In 2023, my blind-at-heart wife, Rikki, and I registered for the NFB National Convention in Houston. We made some mistakes, like not staying at the convention hotel, but we attended many general sessions. One day, while walking through the hotel, I stopped to let some folks pass by. I saw a family with two children, both with the shortest canes I had ever seen and the biggest smiles on their faces.
There was something about those few moments of watching those kids. My mind started doing flips, my eyes teared up, and my heart started beating fast. I thought I was going to have a panic attack, but looking back, I think it was the realization that I could be as happy and as confident as those two little children. As many mistakes as we made on that trip and with so many decisions we wish we could have made differently, that particular path, going to whatever session or back to the room, was the path I was meant to walk on that day. That moment was my breaking point. I decided I had enough, and it was time to stand up. After that experience, I came home, dusted off my cane, and now I can honestly say I’m proud to be a blind person and a member of the National Federation of the Blind. That family, and especially those two kids, will never know this, but that moment will stick with me forever. Thank you for that; it’s something I hold close to my heart.
Everyone says the same thing about me: since the Federation found me, my outlook on life, confidence, and overall sense of happiness have improved. My fifteen-year-old daughter, Sady, who has optic atrophy like me, is a proud member of the Federation and is eager to learn and contribute in any way she can. Sady will be attending her first national convention this year in New Orleans. I’ve told her this story and can’t wait for her to have her own eye-opening moment like mine. I think it has taken her a bit to get used to a more confident and independent father.
We get out in our community and throughout the state advocating for and educating about blindness. We set up at festivals and fairs, give talks about blindness, and speak on the Courtesy Rules of Blindness to help inform the public and recruit new members. We are excited to talk about the great work of the Federation and anxious to see what the future holds for our state.
Since becoming a member in 2023, I have been elected treasurer of the At-Large Chapter and first vice president of the Arkansas affiliate and selected as a member of the 2024-2025 Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service cohort.
Another thing that has helped me on this journey is the guidance and patience of some of the best people, from the top down. I’ve met many affiliate presidents and most of the wonderful people employed at our national HQ in Baltimore, Maryland. My leadership journey has been one of the most rewarding programs I have ever been in, allowing me to learn from the best. We as members need to remember to appreciate all of our leaders more. The Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service program has been such an amazing experience. Our group of sixteen has such amazing ideas and minds. I have learned so much already and am excited to dive into more.From the Editor: The National Federation of the Blind has distributed and hosted on its website some version of this document for many years. It was last revised in 2019, with the topics reorganized in a way that ties them to the spelling of the word “courtesy.” You can find the document and print it out to give to members of the public at Blind Equality Achievement Month events or in other settings at https://nfb.org/programs-services/meet-blind-month/courtesy-rules-blindness. Here is the full text:
I am a blind person. Please say hello and get to know me! I want people to feel comfortable around me. Here are some simple tips.
Cane—My cane (or guide dog) is my independent travel aid. If you think I might need help, please just ask me.
Ordinary—Blind people are ordinary. It feels awkward if you think I am amazing when I accomplish ordinary tasks like walking or tying my shoes. I also like ordinary things and have ordinary hobbies. It is okay to be amazed if I do something really exceptional.
Understand—I may not recognize your voice if I don’t know you well. Please say, “Hi, it is Sue.”
Remember—I may have some sight, but use nonvisual techniques and tools like a cane because it works best for me. Sometimes people think I am “faking” because I see a little, but I am just picking techniques that are most efficient and safe in light of my vision.
Talk—Please talk to me rather than a companion, and there is no need to speak up so just use your normal speaking voice and talk with me like you would with other people.
Experience—I probably have years of experience using nonvisual techniques to live my life. Feel free to ask me how I do something, or how best you can assist me, if help is needed.
See—It’s ok to still use words such as see and look. I will talk with you like everyone else, although I may not be able to make direct eye contact.
Yield—In all 50 states, the law requires drivers to yield the right of way when they see my extended white cane or guide dog. Only the blind may legally carry white canes. I listen to traffic patterns to know when to cross streets and to keep a straight line when moving around.
Thanks for reading about me. I look forward to getting to know you! For more information about the Courtesy Rules of Blindness, gifts, bequests, programs for the blind, or other matters concerning blindness or the blind, contact the local chapter in your area or contact [email protected] or 410-659-9314.by Renée Valdez
From the Editor: It has become obvious to me over the years through conversations with my Federation family that acceptance of blindness is probably more often a journey than a destination. It can be the most challenging for the majority of blind people who still have some eyesight, but even those of us who are totally blind often experience moments when we wish that our situation was different or that other people could better understand our reality. On the other hand, we also have moments when we are tired of explaining that reality to others and wish simply to be left alone. In this short article, Renée Valdez, who is a member of the current Kenneth Jernigan Leadership in Service cohort, reflects on her own conflicting feelings on her level of eyesight, how others perceive it, and her thoughts about how to react or not react to the questions she perceives others to be asking. Here is what she has to say:
I find it entertaining that, when I walk on a crowded sidewalk in Old Town Alexandria [Virginia] or the busy Tyson’s Corner Mall, my white cane causes people to jump in all directions, giving me plenty of room to pass! It’s like Moses and the Red Sea! Sometimes, someone will say, “Excuse me.” Sometimes they will pass me, oblivious to my tapping. And sometimes, especially when there aren’t many people to hide between or behind, they might press themselves up against a wall and stay very still and quiet, so I won’t know they are there! True story! They don’t know I have enough vision to see them standing there.
In my experience as a blind person, about twelve years, I have found that blindness can be a funny thing. Sighted society is under the impression that a person is either blind or not. Either one can see or not see. If only life were that simple. The truth is what blind people actually “see” is as personal and unique as the individual. And to make it even more interesting, for some blind people, what they can see changes given certain personal or environmental factors, like stress, lack of sleep, sunlight or shade, shadows, or glare.
This can be very frustrating for a novice blind person! People who have been living with blindness for most or all of their lives appear not to sweat this small stuff. Getting from point A to B for a seasoned blind person is as routine as that same task for a sighted person. The only difference is that the blind person might have a guide dog or a white cane leading the way. It was easier for me in the beginning, when I first lost my eyesight and could see nothing at all. At that time, I was completely devastated by my new challenge of blindness. I was fortunate to be under the care and research study of the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. The doctors and other medical staff worked so diligently to get my eyesight back.
I remember the first time I could see that there were two fingers right in front of my face. They belonged to Daryll, the technician working with me at the Eye Institute, who was doing the routine exam to determine if my vision had changed. Prior to this, I couldn’t see a bulldozer in front of me, but that day, I was able to see Daryll’s big fingers! After such a long time of not being able to see anything, suddenly the veil that had obscured my vision had begun to develop small openings, windows to the outside world. We all (Daryll, my NIH doctors, and I) thought it would be a miracle if I ever regained any sight at all.
In the months that followed, my eyesight fluctuated from total obscurity to slits of what would become “enough eyesight to get me in trouble,” but usually somewhere in between. A new normal.
Now that my eyesight is such that I can see some things in certain situations, it becomes interesting. It is all about that long white cane. When I don’t use my white cane out in public, I take small and tentative steps, and sometimes, if I approach stairs, or a curb, or anything in the dim light of dusk or the bright light of day, I stop, feel around with my hands and feet, and then take the step. It slows me down, it is unsafe, and it makes me look ancient! So, I use my white cane most of the time when I venture out in public. Picture this: I’m walking through Barnes & Noble Bookstore headed straight back to the Starbucks, my white cane swishing side to side in front of me. I order my delicious Quad Grande Americano, pay, and navigate to my seat, where I will be for the next several hours. I fold up my cane, take out my laptop, put on my high-magnification reading glasses, and start checking my email. WHAT? I can tell that the couple sitting across from me, who are now staring at me, are wondering “How is this blind woman, whom we just witnessed walk in with the white cane, able to see the computer?” And when I take out my journal and start writing, it almost seems too much for them to fathom. This is counterintuitive! White cane equals blind person. Sighted brain says, “Ok. I compute.” Blind person equals writing in a journal with a pen. Sighted brain says, “Abort! Abort! Do not comprehend!”
It pushes against a sighted reality to see a “blind” person typing on a keyboard, writing in a journal, or taking pictures of the landscape, all hobbies I totally love. This is because society has a rigid idea of what it means to be blind.
Now, here is the kicker. I feel a certain way about this scenario I have just described. I’m not completely sure how to define this feeling. Guilt? Am I blind enough to be considered blind? To you, that might seem a fairly innocuous question. To me, it is laden with shame and anger and denial.
As I am sitting at my table in Barnes & Noble, sipping on my Grande Americano, writing in my journal about that very moment in time, I look up at the couple staring at me, and I smile. What else is there to do? Must I explain to them that I really am blind, but I have enough eyesight to be able to write in my journal, with the help of high-magnification reading glasses, something I absolutely love to do and am grateful to be able to do again because of the doctors at the NIH? Must I explain to them the nuances of what I can and cannot see given the amount of light or the quality of light or the level of stress in my life or a relapse of my illness, all of which can cause fluctuations in what I am able to see in any given moment?
Instead, I smile and continue to write, and check my email, and take pictures of the landscape. It suddenly occurs to me that I can be gracious and understanding when others cannot comprehend the conundrum of my eyesight; at one time in my own life, I was that person. I am grateful that I have enough eyesight to see the handsome face of the man I love, my fur baby MJ, and the smiles of the family and friends I so cherish, and for me, that is enough.“What if I was never blind? In April 2013 I received a diagnosis of Stargardt Disease. I often felt adrift, uncertain of how to chart a course towards a fulfilling life. At that time, I was employed at McDonald’s and had temporarily paused my undergraduate studies. If I hadn’t received that diagnosis, my life might have followed a completely different trajectory. I would have continued working at McDonald’s, feeling stuck and uncertain about my future, but without the guidance and support that I found through the National Federation of the Blind, I might have struggled to navigate the challenges of vision loss. Instead, that diagnosis became a turning point for me by forcing me to confront my circumstances and seek out resources and communities that could help me thrive despite my blindness. The NFB helped me realize that my vision loss didn’t have to define me or limit my aspirations. By believing in my abilities, by entrusting me with leadership positions, and through intensive mentorship, the Federation changed my life. My community helped me excel beyond where I would be if I were sighted. Mentorship is what has brought me to this point in life thus far. Without my mentors I am not sure where I would be right now. I just hope I can pay it forward someday.” - Dustin
Blind children and adults are making powerful strides to live the lives we want every day across the United States, but we need to continue helping blind people like Dustin. For more than eighty years, the National Federation of the Blind has worked to transform the dreams of hundreds of thousands of blind people into reality. With support from individuals like you, we can continue to provide powerful programs and critical resources now and for decades to come. We hope you will plan to be a part of our enduring movement by including the National Federation of the Blind in your charitable giving and in your estate planning. It is easier than you think.
With your help, the NFB will continue to:
Below are just a few of the many tax-deductible ways you can show your support of the National Federation of the Blind.
By visiting the menu, choosing Donate, and selecting the National Federation of the Blind, you commit to giving to the National Federation of the Blind with each ride.
We accept donated vehicles, including cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, or recreational vehicles. Just call 855-659-9314 toll-free, and a representative can make arrangements to pick up your donation. We can also answer any questions you have.
General donations help support the ongoing programs of the NFB and the work to help blind people live the lives they want. You can call 410-659-9314, extension 2430, to give by phone. Give online with a credit card or through the mail with check or money order. Visit our online contribution page at: https://nfb.org/donate.
Through the Pre-Authorized Contribution (PAC) program, supporters sustain the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind by making recurring monthly donations by direct withdrawal of funds from a checking account or a charge to a credit card. To enroll, call 877-NFB-2PAC, or fill out our PAC Donation Form https://www.nfb.org/pac.
The National Federation of the Blind legacy society, our Dream Makers Circle, honors and recognizes the generosity and imagination of members and special friends who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option. You can join the Dream Makers Circle in a myriad of ways.
You can specify that a percentage or a fixed sum of your assets or property goes to the National Federation of the Blind in your will, trust, pension, IRA, life insurance policy, brokerage account, or other accounts.
You can name the National Federation of the Blind as the beneficiary on a Payable on Death (POD) account through your bank. You can turn any checking or savings account into a POD account. This is one of the simplest ways to leave a legacy. The account is totally in your control during your lifetime and you can change the beneficiary or percentage at any time with ease.
If you do decide to create or revise your will, consider the National Federation of the Blind as a partial beneficiary.
Visit our Planned Giving webpage (https://www.nfb.org/get-involved/ways-give/planned-giving) or call 410-659-9314, extension 2422, for more information.
by Nicholas Hoekstra
From the Editor: Nicholas (Nick) Hoekstra lives with his wife and two-year-old daughter in Lawrence, Kansas, where he is finishing a PhD in special education. The focus of his research is on how artificial intelligence can support individuals with disabilities. Among his other interests, he is an avid martial artist and tries to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in sports whenever possible. He won a National Federation of the Blind Scholarship in 2004. Here is what he says about his work with blind and disabled people around the world:
“We didn’t ask you to visit the school to teach English. There is nothing you could teach the students in a single day. We just wanted the students to meet you.”
In 2008, while working as an assistant language teacher in Japan, I was asked to spend a day volunteering at the local mogakko, or school for the blind. I agreed immediately and then spent the next several evenings frantically preparing English lessons that incorporated tactile materials, music, and movement. As a blind individual myself, I felt acute pressure to prepare English lessons that would engage the students, despite the fact I had no formal training as a teacher of the blind.
When the day for me to visit the mogakko arrived, the head teacher led me from classroom to classroom, visiting students that ranged in ages from elementary school to high school. I spent the following six hours answering questions—“Do you have a girlfriend?” “What is your favorite Japanese food?”—and using my limited Japanese, combined with the students’ limited English, to talk about my experiences living in Japan and their own hopes for the future. The lessons I had so carefully prepared were forgotten.
When I apologized to the head teacher for not having taught any English, she waved my concerns away. “These students are taught that they have very few options for their lives. They can become massage therapists or musicians. We wanted the students to see that you are a blind adult who is traveling the world and living an independent life. You are an example of a blind person who has made his own choices, and I wanted the students to know that they can do the same.”
That interaction—among many others during my nearly four years living in Japan—changed the course of my life. Having grown up in the United States, I took for granted the education I received. I was always taught that I could do whatever I put my mind to; that my disability was not the characteristic that defined me. This is not often the case for the estimated 240 million children with disabilities around the world, many of whom still do not have the chance to attend school in the first place. I decided, from that point forward, that I would dedicate my career to the improvement of education for individuals with disabilities globally, in whatever small way I could.
Over the past ten years, I have had some amazing opportunities to work with people from around the world on projects that advance the right of education for people with disabilities. In 2016, for example, I became the capacity-building focal point for the Accessible Books Consortium. This project of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) helps implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled. The treaty, in a nutshell, is a commitment by countries to allow for exceptions in their copyright laws that permit the production of books in accessible formats and the sharing of these accessible books with other countries that have ratified the treaty. If a library in the UK has already produced an accessible copy of, for example, Harry Potter, they could share this book with a library in the United States. The real impact of the treaty, though, is on small organizations of the blind that have limited resources. Under the Marrakesh Treaty, an association of the blind in Ecuador can request an audiobook from Argentina and thus save the small Ecuadorian association valuable time and money.
In my role as capacity-building focal point, I worked with organizations of the blind from around the world to finance projects that allowed them to receive training on how to produce books in digitally accessible formats. Typically, the projects also came with financing so that these organizations could use their recent training to produce a number of local textbooks for elementary or high school courses. During this time, I met with dynamic leaders of the blind from Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, and Nepal, among so many others. These were men and women who fought tirelessly for a better future, holding their organizations together with what funding they could find from local and international donors. In every case, I was astounded at the resiliency of these organizations that survived, often with very limited resources, to promote the rights of the blind. It made me appreciate how we, as blind individuals, are united in a singular fight for our right to education, work, and respect, no matter where we live. It also made me so proud to be a member of this global community.
While producing books in accessible formats is one important aspect of educational inclusion, I had always wanted to work more closely with teachers and schools on the education of students with disabilities. I found my calling working with projects financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For the past several years, I have collaborated on the implementation of projects throughout Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, ensuring that the work of USAID has been inclusive of students with disabilities. Every project is different. In some cases, I have supported individuals with disabilities as they attend college for the first time. In other instances, I have trained local partner organizations on accessibility standards, classroom accommodations, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In Liberia, my team supported a teacher-training institute in establishing its first Braille department, where future teachers began learning to read and write Braille, while in El Salvador I provided training to teacher trainers on the inclusion of students with disabilities in low-resource classrooms.
People often do not understand exactly what it is I do when I say I work in international development, and in recent months I have been referred to as “evil,” “criminal,” or a “waste of money.” This rhetoric—for rhetoric is what it is—is disheartening and dangerous. Even more, though, it devalues the lives of the people from around the world who we have worked to support. By saying that the work of USAID—or other aid organizations—is a waste of resources, we are also saying that the lives of those men, women, and children we have cared for are no longer valuable, simply because they were not born in our communities. This includes thousands of students with disabilities globally who are even now losing educational opportunities. Even more concerning is that, when we stop recognizing the value of people with disabilities in other countries, it’s a very short time before we’ll stop recognizing the value of people with disabilities at home.
I have wanted to share my experiences in an article for the Monitor for years, but it never felt like the right moment... until now. If there is one thing I’ve witnessed while working on projects in over twenty-five countries, it is that we, as individuals with disabilities, can only succeed when we work together. When we work together, we change the world. Unfortunately, the United States is increasingly backing out of any international collaboration. In the end, the people who will suffer most are our brothers and sisters with disabilities, because we are always the people who suffer most when decision-makers refuse to see beyond our borders or their own misconceptions.
In 2016, President Mark Riccobono shared the following sentiment in an opening address to the World Blind Union: “We invite our brothers and sisters from around the world to our home to share with us the ideas, insights, innovations, and dreams that come from your unique perspectives. We also share with you our progress along with our desire to continue to test the limits and raise expectations for the blind anywhere in the world.” I write this article not because I want recognition for any of the work I have done, but because I want to help others in our community understand what it is when we talk about USAID, international development, or foreign aid. There is a lot of false information being shared, and it creates a smoke-screen that hides the true work that we do. The majority of individuals who work in international development share President Riccobono’s wish to learn from the unique perspectives of a global community and, if possible, work together to improve the lives of everyone.
I encourage each of you to remember that we are a global community, and—even while we fight to improve the conditions of people with disabilities in the United States—we must never stop lending a hand to our international family.by Abdi Ali-Mumin
From the Editor: Abdi Ali-Mumin is an orientation and mobility (O&M) instructor who holds the National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) from the National Blindness Professional Certification Board (NBPCB). He lives in Colorado, where he has his own business teaching cane travel. Here is what he says about the challenges and rewards of teaching blind people across the globe:
I was born and raised in sunny San Diego, California, to Somali immigrant parents who fled the brutal civil war in 1991. Both my parents were shot during the war and arrived in the United States without speaking a word of English. Despite these hardships, they did everything they could to give us a good life. My childhood was like any other American kid’s—I played sports, got into trouble with my brothers, and loved nothing more than spending time outside.
When I was a teenager, my family moved to Denver, Colorado, a city I would later realize had one of the best training centers for blind people. Later in life, I was diagnosed with glaucoma, which contributed to my blindness.
For four years, I resisted using a cane. I either relied on family members or just took my chances. When I fell due to my lack of depth perception, I’d laugh it off, pretend I was doing push-ups, or act like I meant to run into that stop sign. But at twenty-two, I finally had enough. That’s when I walked through the doors of the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB).
CCB wasn’t just a training program—it was a wake-up call. Before I arrived, I had convinced myself that blindness meant limitations. I believed I would never have a career, a wife, or a family. I thought my mother would never be able to look at me with pride. But from my first day at CCB, all of that changed.
I wasn’t coddled. I wasn’t given excuses. If I wasn’t at the door by 8:00 a.m., there were consequences. It didn’t matter if I missed the bus or overslept. Being blind wasn’t an excuse for low expectations.
At first, the demands seemed impossible. I didn’t even know how to turn on an oven, yet I was told I’d be cooking for six people within a month. But I did it. I learned Braille thanks to my incredibly patient instructors. I learned to navigate technology without randomly tapping my phone for forty-five minutes, hoping I’d eventually hit the right icon. But most importantly, the day I received my first NFB long white cane, everything changed. I felt hope. I felt unstoppable.
That moment shaped my future. Today, I am an orientation and mobility instructor, a career I’ve had since 2020. And I love my students. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing their triumphant smiles when they finally locate that elusive coffee shop or confidently navigate a grocery store alone.
But my journey didn’t stop in the United States. My passion has taken me across the world, where I’ve witnessed firsthand how different cultures view blindness. We are incredibly fortunate to have the National Federation of the Blind because, in many parts of the world, the stigma of blindness is overwhelming. I’ve been to places where people believe blindness is a curse from their ancestors or a punishment from God. In some countries, blind people are shunned, harmed, or even killed. And yet, in every place I’ve traveled—from Kenya to Uganda to South Africa—I’ve found one common thread: the hunger for hope.
Teaching O&M in developing countries is a unique challenge. In the United States, I can explain concepts like textured sidewalks, curbs, and crosswalk signals with confidence because they exist. But in places like Kenya, Uganda, or South Africa, these foundational elements are often missing.
One of the biggest barriers is language. Many students I’ve worked with have never heard of the terms I use to describe tactile feedback, echolocation, or intersection analysis. Translating these concepts into their native languages while demonstrating them physically takes patience and creativity.
Then there’s the infrastructure—or rather, the lack of it. Many roads are unpaved, and sidewalks are either nonexistent or riddled with obstacles. Teaching a student how to distinguish between smooth pavement and rough asphalt is difficult when everything is just dirt, gravel, or broken concrete. Crosswalks? Rare. Traffic laws? Optional. The fear my students experience when crossing a street is completely justified—many drivers don’t stop, and there are no audible signals to rely on. Every intersection becomes an exercise in controlled risk.
In the US, the NFB long white cane is the gold standard. Its lightweight fiberglass construction and metal tip provide superior tactile feedback, allowing users to detect subtle changes in terrain—smooth cement, rugged asphalt, uneven bricks. With this cane, I can feel the difference between a curb and a ramp, or a sidewalk and a driveway.
But in more rural or underdeveloped areas, the NFB cane takes a beating. Fiberglass simply isn’t durable enough to survive the harsh conditions of unpaved roads, jagged rocks, and daily exposure to rough handling. Many blind individuals in these areas use Ambutech canes, which are heavier and sturdier, sacrificing some of the detailed tactile feedback in exchange for longevity.
In Nairobi, Kenya, I experienced a major culture shock. As soon as I landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, I was met with well-meaning but misguided “helpers” who couldn’t believe a blind person could travel alone. The streets were chaotic—honking cars, motorcycles weaving through traffic, and no real traffic rules. Teaching O&M in such an environment required adapting techniques to help students navigate pure unpredictability.
Uganda had its own unique challenges. Many of my students there had never received any formal O&M training. They relied on memory, trial and error, or assistance from family members. One student, using a tree branch as a cane, told me, “This is all I’ve ever known.” When he received a real cane, he held it like a sacred object, naming it as if it were a pet.
South Africa was a different experience altogether. The beaches of Cape Town were breathtaking—golden sand stretching for miles, with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Sitting by the water, eating freshly caught fish grilled to perfection, was an absolute pleasure. But beyond the beauty, I witnessed an eagerness to learn. The students, teachers, and parents I met at a local school for the blind were eager to embrace independence, proving that blindness does not limit potential—it is society’s perception that does.
The fight for independence does not stop at our borders. The National Federation of the Blind philosophy—that blind people can live the lives they want—needs to be shared everywhere. More people need to take up the opportunity to volunteer, to spread this message across the world, because independence is not a privilege—it is a right.
If you have the chance to travel and teach, do it. If you can donate a cane, do it. If you can simply talk to someone in another country about the power of independence, do it. Blind people across the globe are waiting for someone to believe in them the way the National Federation of the Blind believed in me. So let’s show the world what we already know: Blindness is not what holds us back—low expectations do.
by Gary Wunder
For a long time, we in the National Federation of the Blind have been thinking about change—the changes we have made, the changes we want to make in the future, and, more recently, how we preserve those changes and determine whether they are real or only perceived. The changes we focus on affect blind people and typically require shifts in societal behavior. Our hope is that these changes will evolve beyond mere actions and that they will influence people’s thoughts, emotions, and core beliefs.
Let’s start with some fundamental questions about change. How does it begin? I believe it starts when one or more people recognize something in their lives that they want to be different. A dialogue follows in which they work together to clearly define the problem and explore strategies and solutions. Is the problem rooted in people’s actions, institutional barriers, or both? If so, who are the key players? Will solving the problem require exposing the behavior of a few, prompting public condemnation of those individuals or institutions? Or is the issue shaped by widely held attitudes that must be changed on a broader scale?
Once we identify the problem, how do we present it to those whose help we need? This may include those directly affected and those who—whether they realize it or not—are part of the problem. After communicating the issue, do we need different approaches for explaining potential solutions? There may be multiple ways to address the problem, so before meaningful action can begin, we must decide which path to pursue. Then, we must consider strategy:
Consider, for example, the issues that led to the creation of the model White Cane Law. Blind people were frequently denied access to public accommodations—sometimes because of our canes but more often because of our guide dogs. What could be done? If we were to secure our right to move freely, legislation seemed necessary. But should it be a federal or state law?
The assumption is often that a federal law is preferable because it applies nationwide. However, there are times when a state-by-state approach is more practical. This was the case with the model White Cane Law. Jacobus tenBroek drafted a proposal and encouraged state affiliates to advocate for its passage in their home states. Over time, as various legislatures debated and refined the proposal, a common framework emerged: the law would guarantee blind people the right to access public spaces with a cane, a dog, or even the assistance of a sighted guide. It would protect our right to rent housing, ensuring landlords could not use flimsy excuses—such as a lack of first-floor availability—to deny us. It would affirm our right to ride buses, stay in hotels, and shop wherever we pleased.
In Missouri, where I live, it took us eight attempts to pass the model White Cane Bill. Frustrated by the difficulty of enacting a law that I was sure should not have been controversial, I once vented my frustrations to a couple of legislative friends. They interrupted me with a lesson in civics:
“No matter how good your cause, young sir, the truth is that we can’t give you anything without taking something away from someone else. It may be entirely justified for you to have the rights you seek, but rights don’t just appear out of thin air. When we give you the right to rent a hotel room, we deny the hotel owner the right to refuse you. The same is true for all the accommodations you see as natural and just. Now, I think we will pass your bill, but don’t assume that rights can simply be handed out freely. Every law is a trade-off, and that must always be part of our consideration.”
Eventually, Missouri passed the White Cane Law in 1977. However, laws are not self-enforcing. The only reason this law has remained meaningful is that blind people are willing to stand up for our rights and ensure they are upheld.
This brings us to a deeper question: does passing a law actually change the attitudes of those who once discriminated against us? In some cases, yes. The mere existence of the law may prompt people to reconsider their actions when they encounter a blind person. But I believe there is a significant difference between changing behavior—what people say and do—and changing what they truly believe.
I see this article as the first in a series exploring how societal change happens. We may examine different laws and how they came to be, but beyond the historical enlightenment lies the tougher question: when have we only modified behavior, and when have we transformed the underlying attitudes that made the law necessary in the first place?
A logical extension of this discussion is this: How do people form their beliefs, and why are they often so reluctant to change them? To what extent is this resistance rooted in the “hardware” of our brains, and how much of it comes from the discomfort of questioning what we think we know?
This may be the subject of the next article in this series. Alternatively, the next article may examine another piece of legislation, defining the problem, the strategy, the outcome we expected, and the reality we have found. But this conversation will only have meaning if you participate. Your letters and articles will shape the discussion. The goal is not to create a monologue but to foster an ongoing dialogue—one that challenges all of us to think critically about how real and lasting change occurs. If you find this conversation relevant, immerse yourself in it. Write to me at [email protected] or call at 573-268-4245. To borrow a phrase from the late President Johnson, “Come, let us reason together.”An Address Delivered by Marc Maurer
at the Banquet of the Annual Convention of the National Federation of the Blind
Dallas, Texas
July 5, 2012
From the Editor: Gary Wunder’s article about how we make change put me in mind of this banquet speech by our Immediate Past President Dr. Marc Maurer. It expounds on the theme that the promulgation and enforcement of laws are necessary but not sufficient to make the kind of change we want to see in society. Here is what he said:
We in the National Federation of the Blind have known for well over half a century that the task before us is to alter the status quo both for the blind and for the society in which we live. We can achieve equality only if we believe in our fundamental worth, and if we take steps to ensure that the society of which we are a part shares this belief.
If a group of disenfranchised individuals wishes to be accepted as part of the broader culture, at least in some respects, it must come to be admired, and certain representatives of that group must themselves behave in such a way that they also can be the subject of admiration. Théophile Gautier, the French writer, has said, “To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind.” Thus, admiration denotes love. However, an added element of this admiration is a tension, an uneasiness, an apprehension that the person or organization being admired may present a challenge, a demand for altered patterns of thought or behavior, a threat to the status quo.
In 1532 Niccolò Machiavelli said, “It is desirable to be both loved and feared, but it is difficult to achieve both, and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.” He was speaking of the political processes required for governing a kingdom, and a substantial element of his argument was intended to avoid revolution. Such sentiments may be true to maintain the status quo, but pursuing a true equality—altering the fabric of society to accept disenfranchised groups—demands a different set of principles. Rather than relying on fear, this attempt at a recognition of human capacity and value requires the exact opposite—a reversal of the Machiavellian creed—a reliance not on fear but on love.
The United States became a nation by declaration of the Continental Congress, which stated that the establishment of our country was based upon “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” This would seem to be a very powerful combination, but it did not prohibit slavery, and the Constitution (which was written eleven years later) was itself insufficient, at the time of its adoption, to do so. Much of the argument about human equality which arose from the debate over slavery in the United States was founded upon natural law. No consistent uniform agreement exists about the meaning of natural law, but three bases for it recur. These are a comprehension of justice given meaning by experience and the nature of human beings, the development of custom over time, and the inspiration of God. The English philosopher John Locke wrote that “Man being born . . . with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature . . . hath by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men, but to judge of and punish the breaches of that law . . . .” Thus, according to Locke, human beings are not merely governed and controlled by law, but we participate in the creation and implementation of it. A variant of the Locke assertion was incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. These documents, which are bedrocks of American law, derive their authority from “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” or from the people who, according to Locke, derive their authority from the law of nature.
What are the natural characteristics of human understanding and behavior that underlie and support natural law? What in the essence of God creates obligation? What is the substance that makes people believe in fairness, justice, or equality? Among the characteristics that naturally occur in humanity are many that we know from personal experience—fear, greed, apathy, cowardice. However, the ones we admire have other names—courage, generosity, faith, love. No one of us can summon at will each of the characteristics in this second group, but all of us have known them at times, and most of us admire those who seek them.
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI wrote an encyclical entitled “Deus Caritas Est”—God is love. The common characteristic between the laws of nature and of nature’s God is arguably the experience of love. Although the law possesses many characteristics worth criticizing, its fundamental source of power may be its reliance upon and its wish to express the experience of love. That law and love have anything whatever to do with each other is not often expressed. However the interesting parts of law deal with the nature of justice and the wish to ensure equality for all. This idea has a persistent appeal which cannot easily be justified by arguments in other realms. How the appeal is interpreted changes with time and circumstance, but the fundamental nature of the appeal remains strong. It must find its source in the human heart.
Many will offer the opinion that society is governed by aggression or a competitive spirit and not by generosity. In 1859, Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, which has been interpreted to mean that the fit survive while others die—that the principle governing social interaction or growth is competition for scarce resources—a person can win only if that person is bigger, faster, meaner, or more intelligent than all others in the competition. However, in 1776, Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations. His book recommended that recognition be given to the value of the nation based upon the productive capacity of its people and the ability they possessed to cooperate with one another in creating products that are the basis for wealth. Modern game theory has supported the argument that cooperative endeavor to reach a goal is more productive than selfishness.
From the time of the beginning of the National Federation of the Blind, we have been seeking equality of opportunity. Many have believed that we, who are a minority, must gain equality by obtaining it from somebody else—by demanding that we be given this right by sighted people who are in possession of our equality and have been denying it to us. However, if justice incorporates the notion of love, we cannot get it solely by insisting that it be ours—though this may be a necessary element. Nobody gets love by demanding it. It comes to those who behave in such a way that they can interact with others in a loving spirit. It comes to those who are willing to give it to others. This means that we are not separated from the equality we seek. We are not controlled by others. We participate in the mechanism of gaining our own freedom. We are worthy of admiration, and we, along with others, have come to recognize this truth. We welcome our colleagues and friends who have joined us in celebrating the accomplishments of the blind. For those less perceptive, we have a message and a challenge. We have the ability to inspire respect and sometimes emotions beyond respect. We will participate in the creation of our own freedom, and we will not let anybody forget who we are.
How easy is it to admire blind people? Some blind folk make it more difficult than it would be without them. An article dated April 29, 2008, which appeared in the National Law Journal tells the story of a blind lawyer charged with fraud for paying himself and his friends more than $6 million from a health insurance company while the company was becoming bankrupt. The story says in part:
A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that Barry Scheur, a managed care executive who is an attorney and is blind, is competent to stand trial in the government’s case that alleges fraud and conspiracy in the management of a now-defunct health insurer.
Scheur, a Yale Law School graduate and former partner at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, along with two other former executives are charged with unlawfully paying themselves $6.1 million and misleading the Louisiana Department of Insurance into believing that the insurer . . . was operating in the black.
Scheur’s attorney, James A. Brown . . . had argued that Scheur was unable to read and comprehend the financial statements that are the heart of the government’s case. “He has been totally blind since birth,” Brown said. “He is not in a position to assimilate these financial documents.”
This is what the National Law Journal reported, and although the press sometimes exaggerates, I have reason to believe that this story is accurate. Before the case went to trial, a lawyer for Barry Scheur called to ask that the National Federation of the Blind intervene to persuade the judge that his client, because of his blindness, did not have enough on the ball to understand the documents. Can you believe it? Some lawyer wanted me on behalf of you to say that blind people (even those trained at the Yale Law School) are incompetent to understand documents. What insufferable gall! Any executive working under my direction who expresses the sentiment that the executive cannot comprehend documents essential to the business will have an exceedingly short tenure. Blindness and intelligence are not coextensive. I have met some dumb blind people, but blindness didn’t make them that way. The Barry Scheur argument is an unvarnished flimflam. The outrage is intensified by the sheer idiocy of the attempt. Those who lie should at least try to make the stories they tell plausible. Barry Scheur has been convicted. Perhaps his experience of the law does not remind him of love. If it does, it will be the sort known as “tough love.”
It may be worth reporting that at a dinner I was hosting some years ago, Jim Gashel (then, our director of governmental affairs and now, our corporate secretary) invited Barry Scheur to step outside to settle an argument they were having. Although I prevented the brawl, I think Jim Gashel would have acquitted himself well if he had been permitted to address himself to the argument with his fists.
A phenomenon reappearing in the United States from time to time is currently denominated “Dining in the Dark.” Those who conduct these events bring sighted people together to enjoy a meal served in a darkened room. Sometimes blind people are invited to participate. In some formulations of the event, the blind people serve as escorts and waiters. In some events the blind people join the sighted at table to talk with sighted diners about the experience of being blind and to serve as role models. Often a considerable quantity of wine is served with much commentary about avoiding accidents such as spilling the wine, spreading the food across the table, and becoming overfamiliar in the dark with other diners. Sometimes dinner is served in a lighted space, but the diners are blindfolded. This permits sighted people to peek and waiters to serve who are not required to learn anything about managing without light.
The notion of blindfolding sighted people so that they can learn about blindness is not new, and it is frequently a harmless novelty, although comments about alterations in the senses or sensibilities of blind people are repeated. Some folks tell us that we enjoy our dinners more than sighted people do because the lack of the visual sense enhances our taste buds. Occasionally, Dining in the Dark is actually intended to expose diners to the experience of blindness. However, frequently the name is associated with fundraising conducted for the purpose of persuading sighted people that they should contribute money to research programs involving the search for cures for ailments that cause blindness. When the objective is to encourage sighted people to know about blindness, and when the instruction is competent, the experience can be positive. When exploitation of the fear of blindness becomes the primary motivation, harm is the result.
The Tampa Bay Times reported on March 10, 2010, that a foundation dealing with blindness conducted Dining in the Dark to raise $100,000. Did the sighted participants learn that blind people are normal, that the experience of being blind need not be scary, and that the blind have value? Not exactly. The Tampa Bay Times said, “For those assembled, a half hour in the dark was a humbling, and bumbling, reminder of the magnitude of the gift of sight.” One of the participants who spoke to the assembled gathering is the mother of two children who have been diagnosed with an eye condition which will probably cause blindness in the future. Her message was the tragedy of blindness and the urgency of raising money for research to prevent it. She would agree wholeheartedly with the adjectives humbling and bumbling used by the Tampa Bay Times. She does not want her children to spend a lifetime with no choice except bumbling humility.
Although the occurrence of blindness can be a tragedy, it need not be. However, nobody in the room offered this point of view, spoke of the productivity of blind people, or recounted the dramatically positive experiences many of us have had. This mother came to the event, participated in it, and departed believing that the future for her children contains nothing but tragic pain.
One of our members, Nijat Worley, who is at this banquet tonight, and who decided to be a part of the Dining in the Dark experience in Los Angeles, was told that he was prohibited from bringing his cane into the dining facility where the event was taking place. Apparently, he (a blind person) might look too normal or too competent to fit the distorted image that the fundraisers had in mind. They did not want our member to share the spotlight with them. They did not want a blind person to be admired. They wanted all the admiration for themselves and their so-called expertise in the subject of blindness. I did not ask Nijat Worley whether he intended to teach these people about the law. Those who deny blind people the opportunity to participate fully in a public event using their travel aids are violating nondiscrimination principles of the law. Dining in the Dark may want us to believe that our primary value consists in frightening people into digging into their wallets, but we know better. The value we possess is sufficient to inspire admiration. For those who do not recognize this truth, we have a message and a challenge. Our rights and our lives have as much value as theirs, and we will never let them forget who we are.
On March 6, 2012, Forbes magazine printed an editorial claiming that hiring disabled workers would place an unconscionable burden upon employers. Of course, Forbes did not review the history of employment of such workers. When the National Federation of the Blind was formed in 1940, almost no blind people were at work. Currently the estimate is that perhaps as many as 30 percent of the blind who are seeking employment are working. However, this same statistic was often quoted in the early 1970s. Have the employment opportunities for the blind not improved in the last forty years?
In the 1950s, through action in Congress and the courts, the National Federation of the Blind caused federal employment to become available to the blind. In the 1950s and 1960s Federation principles were first applied to rehabilitation programs, which dramatically improved placement rates for blind job seekers in competitive employment. In 1973 the Rehabilitation Act contained nondiscrimination provisions dealing with certain types of employment for the first time, and in 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act expanded coverage of the law to the employment of disabled workers. If the law has any power to modify human behavior, these nondiscrimination provisions should have changed employment prospects for the blind. However, the 70 percent unemployment rate remains the estimate today.
In an attempt to create a positive environment for the employment of disabled workers, the United States Department of Labor has recently issued a proposed rule to require that 7 percent of the workforce for those who are serving as contractors for the federal government must be selected from among the disabled, and 2 percent of the workforce must be selected from workers with severe disabilities. The editorial writer at Forbes magazine is outraged. He begins with the proposition that any requirement to hire disabled workers might simply be an added cost of doing business. The message of the editorialist is that disabled employees cannot be expected to be productive. Consequently, being required to hire them is just one more cost of being a federal contractor. However, the real outrage expressed in the article—the unbelievable imposition on business contained in the Labor Department proposed rule—is that the Labor Department is not willing to accept having “the handicapped” serve in make-work jobs for the purpose of satisfying the regulatory scheme. The Department of Labor expects these “handicapped” workers to be employed at all wage levels “to make sure the handicapped are evenly apportioned throughout an organization.”
I can just imagine the thought processes involved with this editorial writer and his friends as they contemplate the implications of the regulation. As I imagine the conversation it would probably go something like this:
“How awful! Employers are going to have to have some of them in the front office. If they would just stay in the low-paid dead-end jobs that make up the cost of doing business with the federal government, where they belong, the handicapped might be tolerable, but they want to come right into the front office suite. They’ll probably bring their white canes, their blind dogs, their wheelchairs, their crutches! They’ll look funny; they’ll mess up the décor. How awful!”
Although Forbes magazine believes that hiring disabled people is bad for business, what is the basis for this assertion? Perhaps they should try it before they reject the proposition out of hand. They say they don’t like hiring the handicapped, but how can they tell? They have never tried it to find out.
The irony is that major employers have used the work of blind people (and those with other disabilities) without hiring the people whose work has benefited them. For example, in the early 1970s, a sheltered workshop in Evansville, Indiana, had a contract to produce material for the Whirlpool Corporation. Tens of thousands of items were made effectively and competently for Whirlpool by blind people. However, Whirlpool did not pay them. Instead it employed the workshop to make the products. The sighted managers of the workshop, being given executive-scale salaries, paid some of the employees less than the federal minimum wage. Whirlpool got the work cheap, and the blind helped make the workshop bosses rich.
However, that was forty years ago. Does the exploitation continue today? As members of the National Federation of the Blind know, we have been trying to get Congress to pass legislation prohibiting payment of subminimum wages. Managers of sheltered workshops have been telling us that conditions are better today than they were in the past. Are they telling the truth? Although a number of blind people working in workshops receive wages substantially above the minimum guaranteed by federal law, this law does not apply to sheltered employment. When we asked the Department of Labor to give us detailed information about the payments being made to disabled workers, we received documents telling us that in 2011—less than one year ago—a person described as an “employee” in a workshop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was receiving wage payments of seven cents an hour.
What is the effect of these nondiscrimination laws about which Forbes magazine makes such great complaint? Are disabled Americans becoming employed in positions of authority in which they can make policy decisions? How many people with disabilities are now serving as judges? How much effort has been made to encourage individuals with disabilities to be a part of the legal profession? When the National Conference of Bar Examiners encounters a blind candidate seeking to take the bar exam, what kind of welcome do they offer? When the Law School Admission Council learns that blind people want to apply for law school, to use their Web site, or to take the law school admission test, what do the officials do to make these things happen?
The number of disabled people serving in the judiciary is tiny; the behavior of the National Conference of Bar Examiners regarding applications from blind law school graduates is obstructionist; and the Law School Admission Council has effectively taken the position that no blind person need apply. However, they can’t lock us out forever. Because of our work, the Law School Admission Council has changed many of its practices; and in the confrontations with the National Conference of Bar Examiners, we have won overwhelmingly. The arguments are not yet complete, but we never give up. Sometimes we lose a skirmish; occasionally we lose a battle; but we never lose the war—because it is never over until we win.
The lawyers are supposed to enforce the law, including nondiscrimination law. However, many of them (and many of the judges before whom they appear) know nothing whatever about disability, the capacity of disabled people, or disability discrimination. When the cases involving blind people seeking employment are brought before the courts, is it any wonder that well over 90 percent of them are lost? What other reasons are there that nondiscrimination law is often ineffective for the blind? Try the attitudes in Forbes magazine. They do not want us in the front office, but we have a measure of control over the question of what we are and what we will become. Part of the time we help to create the law, and when we have created it, we help to ensure that it is enforced.
Disenfranchised groups that wish to become a part of the broader community must come to be admired, but admiration requires respect. Danger must be an element of becoming the subject of admiration, and we are creating it. We know our value, and we will never let them forget who we are.
Although some places do not welcome the blind, and although some people do not value the methods we use for gaining information, some do. A story dated January 16, 2012, from the Los Angeles Times says, in part: “In South Africa, restaurant chain Wimpy is welcoming blind customers—by serving them burgers with words in Braille spelled out on their buns with sesame seeds.” Wimpy’s is using Braille for advertising purposes to promote its corporate image, to let people know that Braille menus are available in its stores, and to attract potential customers. Several blind organizations have been encouraged to let their members know about Wimpy’s Braille program, and it is estimated that eight hundred thousand blind people have learned about the Braille messages. Although Wimpy’s is advertising itself, it is also advertising us—saying that we are welcome, proclaiming its incorporation of Braille into its programs, and encouraging us and others to know that blind people will be a part of the ordinary commerce provided by Wimpy’s.
Another place where blind people are welcomed is at the Raley Field baseball stadium in Sacramento, California, home of the River Cats, a farm team for the Oakland A’s. Tiffany Manosh, one of our leaders from Sacramento, California, who is also with us at this banquet tonight, says:
On September 10, 2011, . . . the River Cats, [who had] won the Southern Division, were in the playoffs. ... It was an event I will never forget. ... A member of the [River City] chapter had arranged for me to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch of the game. ... As I walked out to the mound with a member from the River Cats organization, she asked me how she could assist me. I asked her to just walk with me to the mound and then line me up so I was straight in line with the catcher. The P.A. announcer announced to the sold-out crowd on hand that tonight’s Ceremonial First Pitch was from the National Federation of the Blind and then announced my name. With my cane in my left hand and the ball in my right, I threw the ball to the catcher. It made it all the way to the catcher but hit the ground as it reached the catcher. After I threw the ball, the catcher then walked out to the mound and handed me the ball I threw to him. What an amazing evening, and to top it off the River Cats won the game.
Being admired by the announcer and by the members of her chapter, Tiffany Manosh participated in a sport she loves—on her own behalf and on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind. She was not told to wait for another day or another year; she was not told that she was not good enough to share the experience; instead, she was invited onto the pitcher’s mound to celebrate her team and her joy in its accomplishments, and she has the baseball to prove it.
Love is a word with many variations in meaning. One of them involves romance. A study reported in USA Today for January 17, 2010, declares that researchers have discovered that blind men prefer thin-waisted women. These researchers admit that sighted men also like thin-waisted women, but blind men don’t think they have to be as thin-waisted as sighted men do. The research began with the proposition that a preference for thin-waisted women is generated from the experience of sighted men looking at women. Because blind men could not appreciate this visual examination, it was supposed that they did not share this preference. The research shows that blind men like women who have waists that are thin, but not quite as thin as those preferred by sighted men.
Now, I ask you, is this preference based upon the method of evaluation? The sighted men had to look, but the blind men got to touch. In pondering the enormously significant findings of this study, I find myself reflecting that those who believe that the best way to appreciate characteristics of women is by long-range visual examination lack a certain measure of experience. More ways of knowing exist than the visual. The value gained in other ways may be no less important than learning by sight.
Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, who founded the National Federation of the Blind in 1940, was a lawyer and a constitutional scholar as well as a college professor and a social activist leader. His writings helped to change the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, and his book Prejudice, War and the Constitution, won the Woodrow Wilson Award in 1955 for the best book on government and democracy published in that year. Dr. tenBroek, who was totally blind, began his studies at the University of California in 1930. During the years that followed he earned five college degrees and was granted other honorary diplomas.
Henry Wedler (often known as Hoby) is currently a PhD candidate at the University of California, Davis, in organic chemistry. He, a blind man and a leader in the National Federation of the Blind, was recently honored for his leadership at a ceremony in the White House. He was named a Champion of Change “for leading education and employment efforts in science, technology, engineering and math for Americans with disabilities.”
The scholarship of blind people is, of course, not limited to these two examples, but they span a period of more than three-quarters of a century, and they are indicative of the intellectual capacity possessed by the blind. However, 45 percent of blind high school students graduate—55 percent do not. Why is the number so small? Only 10 percent of blind students in grade school and high school are reading Braille—90 percent are not. Why is the number so small? Are blind students in high school encouraged to excel? Does the Department of Education encourage school systems to teach Braille? When administrators in the school systems refuse to teach Braille, is this done because they don’t trust the reading medium, they don’t trust teachers of the blind, they don’t trust blind students, or they have hidden motives that create a disparate discriminatory impact upon the blind?
Henry Miller (Hank) is a blind student in Oceanport, New Jersey. His mother, Holly Miller, has become a member of the National Federation of the Blind, and she has learned that the potential for her son is greater than she had previously believed. Although Henry Miller has a small amount of residual vision, and although he can use this vision for a brief period to read print, his ability to read in this way is severely limited. His mother asked that he be taught Braille.
Amendments, which became law in 1997, to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act declare that a blind student has a right to learn Braille. The implementing regulations for this statute contain the same declaration. However, often the teachers and the administrators want to avoid this requirement, and they have been given a measure of comfort by the Department of Education.
The education plan for each student is expected to be developed exclusively for that student. This requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has meant that the team of experts in the school district assesses the needs of the student and determines what the student will get. The decision made for students who want Braille is often that they do not get it because the assessment of the team is that the student doesn’t need it. Although the team is supposed to make its assessment for the best interests of the student, it frequently makes its decision for the perceived best interest of the school system, which does not want to go to the trouble to teach Braille.
Henry Miller’s mom came to me some time ago to ask that the National Federation of the Blind help in the effort to get Braille instruction for her son. She had originally asked for Braille instruction when her boy was in the second grade, at the time when learning to read is among the most important lessons that can be had in school. When Holly Miller asked for this help, it was clear that her frustration level was intense, and I wondered why. Because the Millers were living in New Jersey, this request seemed to me to be one that would require fairly nominal effort. I had been told that the education for blind students in New Jersey was excellent, and I was aware that the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired could be called upon to provide assistance in evaluating the needs of blind students. The director of this commission for the blind is himself a blind person, and he had previously declared himself to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind. Undoubtedly, I thought, there has been some administrative snarl that must be addressed to get education in Braille for this blind boy.
But the Commission for the Blind had decided to join with the school district to refuse to teach Braille to a blind student. The decision was made in characteristically bureaucratic language. An evaluator of Henry Miller, not from the school district but from the Commission for the Blind, said, “Braille and print are equally valuable as media for reading and writing. However, a best practice approach encourages reading and writing methods that are least restrictive for the student.” The consequence of this so-called evaluation is: no Braille—because Braille is too restrictive. Henry Miller must hold a print book within two inches of his eyes to read it; he cannot read for more than five minutes; he can read print only if it is large and distinct; and his reading demands enormous amounts of energy so that requiring him to do it in print causes extreme weariness. Yet, the Commission for the Blind in New Jersey said that he may not have Braille because it is too restrictive. The evaluator said he must read print. The evaluator from the Commission for the Blind demanded of him that he do the impossible. What kind of a person would make such a demand?
The decision of the Commission for the Blind was made to protect the right of the student to the statutorily-guaranteed free and appropriate public education. In order to provide Henry Miller an appropriate public education, they said that he, a blind student, may not have Braille.
Consequently, the arguments continued. We hired a lawyer for Holly Miller, a bright aggressive woman in Dan Goldstein’s firm named Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum. We demanded Braille. After three years of argument, negotiation, demands, refusals, and bureaucratic red tape, the trial before the administrative law judge finally occurred. The proceedings lasted nine days, and the decision of the judge is more than sixty pages long. The decision of the judge says that Henry Miller gets Braille—not just a little bit but enough to try to reverse the disadvantages of being denied this training for more than three years.
Will Henry Miller be able to earn a college diploma, and will he receive an advanced degree? Will the Commission for the Blind tell him that education at the university level is for somebody else but not for him? Will he have the tools to expand the reach of his mind to the fullest extent of his capacity? The answers to these questions are clear. He will get his education because we have decided that he will, and nobody can keep us from helping him to get it. No doubt, the Commission for the Blind in New Jersey does not admire Henry Miller and his mother, but we do, and we are prepared to stand with them.
Law implies force; love signifies giving. How do these intersect? A law not inspired by love is a hollow thing, and what we are seeking is substance, not a hollow shell. What we want is to become a valued part of our society, recognized for the worth that we possess. In order to achieve this objective, we must have faith in ourselves, but we must also carry within us the faith that others also can have faith in us. This requires a substantial measure of trust.
The nature of trust and the nature of love are similar in that they cannot be had unless they are shared. A human being cannot be trusted unless that human being is willing to trust others, which demands acceptance of vulnerability. If a person or an organization is incapable of being hurt by trusting too much, that person and that organization will be tempted to trust too little and will never know the joy and peace that come from love. Consequently, we must be prepared to risk our judgments, our feelings, our hope for the future. When we do, opportunity opens before us, and we come to know the freedom that can and will be ours. We must build and enforce the law that we need, but we must do it not just with faith in ourselves but also with faith that others will join us.
Our history is filled with incidents that belittle our talent, circumscribe our opportunity, or denigrate our judgment. Some say we can’t understand documents, some tell us that our behavior in social situations is humbling and bumbling, some argue that employment is beyond our physical and intellectual capacity, some assert that we are not good enough to receive the same wages that other people get, and some urge us to believe that our appreciation of physical beauty is altered because of our lack of sight. Some people even tell us that our methods of learning are too restrictive and, therefore, inferior.
Although our past is filled with the pain of restriction and denial, our future will be constructed according to an expanded and inclusive standard that we will determine. It can and it will offer equal access to information presented in forms that we can comprehend. It can and it will incorporate employment opportunities commensurate with our innate abilities and training. It can and it will make education available that will take advantage of the fullest range of our talent. Our future can do these things, and it will do these things because we have the energy, the commitment, the determination, and the love essential to make it happen. Others have made decisions for us in the past, but increasingly we are making them for ourselves. We must believe in ourselves, but we must also believe in others who will come to believe in us. We have the faith to do this, and we have those characteristics that can engender admiration in others. We must behave in such a way that we are worthy of admiration, but we can, and we will.
I have met the members of the National Federation of the Blind, and I have observed what we are. The traits that characterize our movement are boldness, curiosity, an indomitable spirit, and an unfailing capacity for generosity. Our judgment is not always correct, but most of the time it is. Our trust is not always returned, but in the long run and in the ways that matter it is. The demands upon us in intellectual capacity, imaginative spirit, and faith in ourselves and others are enormous. But we will meet them. Because of our determination, nothing on earth can keep us from gaining the objectives we have set. Sometimes we stand on the pitcher’s mound, and sometimes we get our Braille. Everything else that we need is within the capacity that makes us what we are. The future is bright with promise; join with your fellow Federationists, and we will bring the future to be our own!
by Perkins School for the Blind
From the Editor: Perkins School for the Blind is the National Outreach Coordinator for iCanConnect. They have provided the Braille Monitor with this brief article describing the program. Here is what they share:
We've all heard the sayings, “Nothing in life is free” and “There’s always a catch!” but sometimes, exceptions prove the rule. The National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, also known as iCanConnect, is one such exception, offering a truly invaluable service to people with significant combined vision and hearing loss.
iCanConnect is a national program that provides free distance communication equipment—think smartphones, tablets, computers, screen readers, Braille devices, and more—along with comprehensive training and support to individuals who are deafblind and meet federal eligibility guidelines. The program’s goal is to foster independence and connection by equipping participants, like Burgon Jensen, with the tools they need to communicate effectively with the world around them.
Jensen, a teacher, artist, and small business owner from Draper, Utah, lives with her guide dog, Lucia. She’s deaf and was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive condition that led to her eventual blindness. When Jensen attended the Helen Keller National Center in New York, she started to feel isolated. It wasn’t easy to operate her old smartphone and it was challenging overall for her to use it to communicate with her loved ones back home. It had a small keyboard, so she would use the dictation function a lot, which often led to miscommunication. It was almost impossible for Jensen to do simple tasks like check her email or text messages. This left her feeling disconnected from her family, friends, and the world.
After an acquaintance referred Jensen to iCanConnect, she applied and was accepted into the program. An iCanConnect representative then met with her to discuss her distance communications needs and goals. Through the program, Jensen received an iPhone, a Focus 14 portable Braille display, and a MacBook Pro, as well as training on how to use the new equipment.
Reflecting on her life today, Jensen says iCanConnect has been “life-changing,” and the equipment and training she received through the program have made a huge difference in how she communicates.
“I email and text with my family and friends, I participate in social media, and I use video chat to teach remote ASL lessons twice a week,” says Jensen. The equipment she received through iCanConnect also helps her to be able to run her small online business. “I can easily respond and communicate with all of my customers, which is really important to me.”
iCanConnect participants include individuals of all ages, from those with progressive conditions like CHARGE and Usher syndromes, to seniors experiencing age-related vision and hearing decline.
The iCanConnect application process begins with verifying eligibility. Applicants must have significant combined vision and hearing loss and meet federal income guidelines. Detailed eligibility requirements are available on the iCanConnect website at https://www.icanconnect.org. After confirming eligibility, individuals should locate their state’s iCanConnect representative and submit an application.
Once accepted into the program, participants are assessed by an iCanConnect trainer to determine the most appropriate distance communication equipment for their needs. Participants also receive a customized training plan tailored to their specific distance communication goals. The equipment is then ordered, installed, and the participant’s iCanConnect trainer provides in-home or in-residence training and support.
The impact of iCanConnect on participants’ lives is profound. iCanConnect has empowered them to do things like use social media, send and receive emails and text messages, and connect with family and friends via platforms like Zoom and FaceTime. Grandparents, adolescents, and people of all ages and backgrounds are staying connected thanks to this innovative program.
Are you ready to learn more? Visit iCanConnect.org or call 1-800-825-4595 to find your state program and application details, explore available equipment options, and discover how iCanConnect is helping individuals with vision and hearing loss overcome distance communication barriers, foster independence, and reduce feelings of social isolation. You can follow iCanConnect on Facebook (facebook.com/icanconnect.org), X (@iCanConnect1), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@iCanConnectCampaign.)
by Harriet Go
Are you a child between the ages of six weeks and twelve years old? Are you coming to the National Federation of the Blind National Convention in New Orleans in July 2025? Do you want to escape sitting in long meetings with your caregivers?
If you answered yes to all three of these questions, then you are in luck! During national convention week, children six weeks through twelve years of age are invited to join in the fun and festivities of NFB Kids Camp! NFB Kids Camp offers more than just childcare; it is an opportunity for our blind and sighted children to meet and develop lifelong friendships. Our week-long schedule is filled with games, crafts, stories, and special activities designed to entertain, educate, and delight. The children are divided into groups according to age: infants and toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners, and elementary-school children. Each room is equipped with a variety of age-appropriate toys, games, and books. If you are interested in signing up for this year’s program, please have your caregiver complete and return the registration form online. Go to https://nfb.org/nfb-camp-registration-formform. Pre-registration with payment on or before June 15, 2025, is required for staffing purposes. Space is limited, so get your registration in early!
NFB Kids Camp will be open on July 8, 2025, and from July 10, 2025 through July 13, 2025, including the night of the banquet. NFB Kids Camp will be closed on July 9, 2025. Please see the registration form for exact times.
NFB Kids Camp is organized and supervised by Harriet Go. A certified teacher in elementary education and special education in Pennsylvania, Harriet has over twenty years of professional teaching experience in the School District of Philadelphia. She is also a longtime leader in the Federation.
If you are interested in helping out with this year’s NFB Kids Camp, please contact Harriet Go at [email protected] to learn how you can help. We are always looking for people who have taught in an NFB BELL® Academy as well as other volunteers. Experience working with children is always a plus, but not necessarily required.
I pledge to participate actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.
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