Future Reflections Winter/Spring 2000, Vol. 19 No. 1
The National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
(NOPBC) activities at the 2000 NFB convention will be a wonderful mix of the
tried and true, and the new and creative. As usual, parents can expect timely, sensitive,
in-depth, and informative presentations on the blindness issues that most
concern them. There will be numerous opportunities, both formal and informal,
to meet other parents of blind kids, and to form friendships and networking
links. Some of the most outstanding teachers of the visually impaired and
orientation and mobility instructors will be there, too, and eager to share
their knowledge with parents.
Unique, however, to this event is the opportunity to
interact with literally thousands of the real experts on blindness�blind people
themselves. The blind people�old, young, and middle-aged�who come to NFB
conventions represent the entire socio-economic, educational, cultural, racial,
and career spectrum.
Here is the information you will need to make your
plans to be a part of this exciting event this year in Atlanta, Georgia:
Hotel
Information
The convention will be held at the Atlanta Marriott
Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. To make
reservations call the hotel at (404) 521-0000. The Marriott has a national
toll-free number, but do not use it! Reservations made through the toll-free
number will not be valid. They must be made directly with the hotel. The room
rates are singles, $57; doubles and twins, $59; triples, $61; and quads, $63.
There is also a tax, which at present is 14 percent. There is no charge for
children in the room as long as no extra bed is requested. A deposit of $60, by
check or credit card, is required before the reservation is guaranteed. If a credit
card is used, the deposit will be charged against it immediately. If a
reservation is cancelled prior to June 4, 2000, $30 of the deposit will be
returned. Otherwise, refunds will not be made.
NFB
Camp (child-care)
Children must be pre-registered for this service. The
pre-registration cutoff date is June 15, 2000. Details follow at the end of
this article.
Fees
The registration fees for the Family Event, the
continental breakfast, the parents seminar, the Braille Carnival, and all other
NOPBC-sponsored workshops throughout the week are $25 per couple plus children,
$35 for three adult family members (e.g. two parents and a grandparent) plus
children, and $15 for one adult plus children. Although we have streamlined our
registration procedure, we highly recommend that you pre-register for the
seminar this year. It will allow you to enjoy a more relaxed, leisurely morning
at the Family Event. The pre-registration form is included in this article.
These fees DO NOT include registration for the NFB
convention proper; they only cover the NOPBC events. Registration for the
convention is $10 per person and is required in order to get the convention
hotel rates quoted above. Convention registration begins Monday morning, July
3.
The following NOPBC activities are only a small part
of what goes on at the convention. NFB National Conventions are famous for
informative, high-energy division and committee meetings; a huge, diverse
exhibit hall; inspiring banquet speeches; fun and informational entertainment
(a music talent show, dances, a casino night fund raiser, a Sensory Safari
display, a mock trial, a play, etc.); and outstanding general session agenda
topics. The convention session runs all day Wednesday, July 5; a half day
Thursday, and all day Friday and Saturday. The banquet is Friday night, July
7.The exhibit hall is open all day Monday, all day Tuesday, before the general
session and during noon break on Wednesday, all afternoon on Thursday, and
during noon breaks on Friday and Saturday. For more information about
activities planned for the 2000 Convention, please see the April 2000 issue of
the Braille Monitor on the Web Site:
<www.nfb.org>.� You may also
request a free copy from the NFB at 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland
21230; (410) 659-9314.
Here, now, is the line-up of NOPBC events at the 2000
NFB Convention:
Saturday,
July 1
NOPBC
Welcome Wagon
Parents who arrive in Atlanta on Saturday, July 1 may
get parent-related convention information, tips, and NOPBC seminar and workshop
agendas from the NOPBC Welcome Wagon. When you arrive, call on the hotel house
phone and ask for Barbara Cheadle. (Note: please do not call after 10:00 p.m.!)
You may also get information and pre-convention agendas from the NFB of Georgia
suite, the NFB presidential suite, and NFB information tables set up in the
hotel lobby.
Sunday,
July 2
NOPBC
Annual Parent Seminar Day
From eight in the morning to nine at night this day is
packed with NOPBC events for parents, children, and youth. This year, the day
will start on a more relaxed note. From 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. parents and kids are
invited to start the day together at our informal
Family Event. Here, parents can munch on bagels while they visit special information booths on Early
Childhood, the Blind Multiply Handicapped Child, The Gifted Blind Child,
Homeschooling, Residential Schools for the Blind, Convention Information, and a
Blind Mentors and Models booth sponsored by the National Association of Blind
Students. Children and teens can enjoy their juice while they talk to Louis
Braille, Helen Keller, and other blind
historical figures (in full period costumes) who will be our special guests
at this event. For the more rambunctious youth, there are rumors that there
will be a �Bop-It� playing corner.
Braille Carnival Buddy volunteers will also be on hand to meet the kids and
parents.
From 9:30� to
10:00 a.m. parents will have about 30 minutes to check pre-registered children
into the NFB Camp before returning for the general seminar session at 10:00
a.m.
Alternatively, parents may remain in the Family Event
room and register children ages 4 and up for the Braille Carnival. Under the supervision of Carnival Buddy
volunteers, children may go to the Carnival in small groups, pairs, or even
one-on-one if age and other factors make this desirable. Carnival Buddies will
be available to supervise children from 10:00 a.m. to noon, when the parent
seminar adjourns. Parents are asked to go to the Braille Carnival and pick up
their children within 30 minutes after the morning seminar session adjourns.
The Braille Carnival will feature exciting and fun
games, competitions, demonstrations, and prizes with Braille themes. Carnival
booths are sponsored by NFB divisions, state affiliates, NFB centers, and
residential schools for the blind. Sighted or blind, Braille reader or
non-Braille reader,� kindergartner or
teen-ager�there will be lots of fun activities suitable for all. The Carnival
will run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Parents are welcome to join the fun over
the lunch break from noon to 2:00 p.m.
The general seminar session for parents will run from
10:00 a.m. to noon. The theme this year is �Roles,
Rights, and Responsibilities.� The guest speakers will include Joe Cutter,
pediatric O&M specialists from New Jersey, and Allen Harris, Director of
Field Operations and Implementation, New York Commission for the Blind. We will
also have an exciting panel of 5 or 6 blind students and a panel of the school
team members (classroom teacher, teacher of the visually impaired, parent, and
school administrator) that are responsible for the education of blind and
visually impaired children.
The afternoon workshops will include these topics: �Beginning Braille for Parents� (one,
three-hour session); �Got a Hammer? Blind Kids Can Take Shop Class;� �Teaching
Self-Advocacy Skills;� �Tactile, Auditory, and Visual Techniques for Low Vision
Children;� �Modeling Social Skills for Blind Kids: Discussion Group;� and �The
Braille Lite in the Classroom.�
While parents attend the afternoon sessions, all teens
who are 12 and older have the choice of attending a Baby-Sitting Course conducted by Carla McQuillan from 1:30 to 5:00
p.m. Carla is the volunteer director of NFB Camp, the owner and operator of a
Montessori school, and the president of the NFB of Oregon. She is also blind.
Blind teens also have the choice of attending special
discussion groups concerning blindness issues as they relate to typical teen
concerns. Young blind women ages 13 to 18
can attend the session called �What Your Mother Couldn�t Tell You,� and young
blind men ages 12 to 18 can attend the �Guy Stuff� session. These sessions
run from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday evening, the entire family can relax at the NOPBC Family Hospitality from 6:30 to
9:00 p.m. Then, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., blind and sighted youth ages 9 and up
have the chance to participate in a hotel scavenger hunt. Under adult
supervision, kids can explore the hotel and win prizes. To add to the fun and
to enhance the educational aspects of the game, sighted kids carry canes and
wear sleep-shades (blindfolds) on the hunt.
Monday,
July 3
Monday, July 3, begins with two Cane Walk sessions. Parents of blind kids of all ages (babies to
teens), teachers, and blind kids can get hands-on experience in using a cane in
the hotel environment under the guidance of volunteer instructors from the
Louisiana Tech/Louisiana Center for the Blind O&M program. Joe Cutter,
pediatric O&M specialist, will provide the demonstration for the parents of
babies, toddlers, and children up to pre-school age.
Teens have another chance on Monday from 2:00 to 6:00
p.m. to get together, socialize, listen to music, and enjoy games in a Teen Drop-In Room co-sponsored by NOPBC
and Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM).
Tuesday,
July 4
The big event on Tuesday, July 4, is the Annual Meeting of NOPBC, which is
conducted from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The meeting will feature many exciting state
parent division reports as well as numerous informative guest speakers.
Wednesday,
July 5
Wednesday evening, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. is the
traditional, always popular IEP and IDEA
Workshop. This year one of the guest speakers is an attorney from
Baltimore, Maryland, Mark Martin, who specializes in disability educational law
issues.
Thursday,
July 6
Joe Cutter, pediatric O&M specialist, will lead a
drop-in anytime discussion about cane travel and orientation and mobility for
kids in a session from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. called �Have Cane, Will Travel.� Barbara Cheadle will moderate a drop-in
discussion group during that same time called �Parent Power.� The focus of this session will be on ideas for
organizing and strengthening NFB parent divisions. From 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
parents can drop in for �IEP Small Group
Consultations�with� experienced
volunteer NFB advocates.
NOPBC
Pre-Registration
Deadline June 15, 2000
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City����������������������������� State����� Zip
Phone (H)����������������������� (W)
$________Fee enclosed (make checks payable to NOPBC)
$15 for one adult plus children
$25 for 2 adults plus children
$35 for 3 adults (e.g. parents and a grandparent) plus
children
The NOPBC
registration fee includes Continental breakfast at the Family Event, Sunday,
July 2; NOPBC Seminar registration; Braille Carnival registration; and all
NOPBC-sponsored workshops throughout the week. This fee does not include NFB
Camp fees or convention registration.
Braille
Carnival (ages 4 and up)
List child�s name, birthdate, vision� (blind, sighted, low vision), and other
disabilities.
Mail to:
NOPBC
Pre-Registration
1800 Johnson
Street
Baltimore,
MD 21230
NFB Camp 2000: Child Care During
Convention
From the
Editor: Carla McQuillan is a member of the National Federation of the Blind
Board of Directors and President of the NFB of Oregon. She also operates her
own Montessori school, which has been growing rapidly since it opened. Since
1996 Carla has conducted NFB Camp, the childcare program during National
Conventions. This year the Board of Directors has decided on an important
change in NFB Camp registration policy. If you are considering using this
important program during the convention in Atlanta, you will find this notice
of deep interest. This is what Carla says:�
Ten years ago, childcare during convention sessions
was performed by parents, but times have changed. Last year we cared for
ninety-four children in NFB Camp, nearly half of whom had not pre-registered.
The increase in family participation at our conventions is wonderful news, but
it has made advance preparations a necessity. By decision of the Board of
Directors of the National Federation of the Blind, beginning in 2000, all
children who wish to participate in the programs and activities of NFB Camp
must register this year by June 15,
2000.
NFB Camp will be open during general convention sessions,
division and committee meeting day, and banquet evening. Plenty of teens are
always available to baby-sit during evening and lunchtime meetings. The
schedule this year will be as follows:
Sunday, July 2, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (you are responsible for lunch)
Monday, July 3, Camp is closed
Tuesday, July 4, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(you are responsible for lunch)
Wednesday, July 5, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. and 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 6, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Friday, July 7, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.;
1:30 to 5:30 p.m.; and banquet
Saturday, July 8, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
and 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
These times may vary, depending on the timing of the
actual convention sessions. NFB Camp will open thirty minutes prior to the
beginning gavel and close thirty minutes after adjournment. Fees for the entire
week (including banquet)are: first child, $80; second child, $60. By the day
(does not include banquet) fees are each child, $20; banquet, $15.
NFB Camp
Pre-registration Form
Return
by June 15, 2000
Parent
Information:
Name
Address
City������������������������� State������ Zip
Phone
Child(ren)
Information:
List name and age for each child. Give a brief discription of
disabilities, if any.
���� ���
Weekly fees: first child, $80, second child, $60. Daily fees:
each child, $20 times number of days. Banquet fee: $15 per child
Total due: $______________
Completed Pre-registration forms and payment must be
received by June 15, 2000. Make checks
payable to NFB of Oregon.
Mail to:
National Federation of the Blind
�5005 Main Street,
Springfield, Oregon 97478,
(541) 726-6924.
The NFB
Camp toddler room at the 1999 convention.