American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Winter 2020 NOPBC
2019 NOPBC Conference Roundup
by Carlton Anne Cook Walker
From the Editor: At the 2019 convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Las Vegas, the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) hosted a variety of activities for parents, children, and tweens. In this article NOPBC President Carlton Anne Cook Walker gives a quick recap of last summer's program.
More than two hundred parents, professionals, and allies from thirty-three different states registered for and attended the NOPBC Conference, "Blindness Skills: The Only Sure Bet in Vegas," at the NFB National Convention. This "conference within the convention" provides five days of content consisting of sessions, workshops, and activities. The conference aims to instill high expectations for all blind children, providing information and ideas for adults supporting blind children, and offering fun and engaging activities for blind children and their families.
On the first morning of Seminar Day, NOPBC and NFB leaders welcomed parents and allies to the NOPBC Conference and the NFB Convention. The general session featured "Kid Talk," when NFB President Mark Riccobono spent time conversing with, teaching, and learning from the blind and sighted children in the room. The general session also included an address entitled, "Playing the Long Game and Beating the Odds," by NOPBC president Carlton Anne Cook Walker; "The Sound of Confidence," a keynote address by Lisamaria Martinez; and "Stacking the Deck With Blindness Skills," a panel discussion with California college student Vejas Vasiliauskas, Florida high school student Alyssa Mendez, and dual enrollment (high school and college) student Anna Walker from Pennsylvania.
Morning breakout workshops included "Convention 411: How to Optimize Your Convention Experience," "Science Is Everywhere!: Encouraging Curiosity, Experimentation, and Tactile Exploration for Children Birth through Eight," "Saving for the Future with Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Accounts: What Are ABLE Accounts and How Might They Benefit My Blind Child?," and "Cane or Guide Dog?: I Use Both."
At lunchtime, we hosted a new session, "Lunch with the NOPBC Board," where families and allies brought their lunches and joined the board to ask questions, get to know each other, and build relationships. We welcomed many new parents and their children as we ate together and shared experiences.
In the afternoon we hosted two sets of breakout sessions. The first afternoon breakout session included "Sensory Integration Exercises: Could They Help Your Child's Development?," "Curiosity, Fun, and Science," "Science in Middle, High School, and Beyond," and "Tactile Skills or Visual Skills?: Efficiency's the Key." The second set of afternoon breakouts were "Transition to College or Work: What Is It Like? What I Wish I Had Known," "Fun with Science: A Solar System Make-and-Take," "Tactile Map Making," and a repeat of the morning's ABLE session.
Though already jam-packed, Seminar Day was not over yet. After a respite for dinner the NOPBC hosted our first-ever Family Game Night. We provided children, youth, parents, and allies with adapted games we purchased from the NFB Independence Market as well as some off-the-shelf accessible games to enjoy. As the saying goes, "A good time was had by all." In fact, so many people attended that we truly did not have enough seats. Next year we hope to extend the length of time for the activity and to hold it in a larger space. We also hope to add more off-the-shelf games that we can adapt for accessibility.
During Family Game Night, we had the honor of hosting the second annual Megan Bening Memorial Fund Technology Giveaway. A detailed report of that event appears later in this article.
Youth Track
In cooperation with SAAVI [an Arizona-based organization for blind children and adults], the NOPBC offered Youth Track activities to more than eighty youth ages eleven through eighteen at the 2019 NFB National Convention. Youth Track activities ran for five days, including the evenings of the first and second days of NFB General Session. In Youth Track blind and sighted students engaged in activities to build self-confidence, strengthen the roots of NFB philosophy, and build meaningful relationships with peers and with Federation role models. Youth attended NOPBC offerings such as Family Game Night, the NFB Cane Walk, and the Braille Book Fair. They also took part in events sponsored by the National Association of Blind Students (NABS): the NABS Networking gathering and the NABS Annual Meeting. At the National Federation of the Blind Board of Directors meeting, Youth Track participants were introduced to the thirty NFB Scholarship finalists. At the American Action Fund Century Celebration Braille Carnival, youth enjoyed games and crafts around the theme of sea creatures. Additional Youth Track sessions included "Looking Good, Feeling Good"; "Express Yourself through Art"; "Protect Yourself: Methods and Strategies of Self-Defense"; "Federation Philosophy"; "STEM for College and Career"; "Resolutions Explained"; "Exhibit Hall Challenge"; "What Kinds of Jobs Can Blind People Do?"; "All in the Family," (geared toward sighted siblings); and the ever-popular "Unconventional Convention Scavenger Hunt."
Megan Bening Memorial Fund
In the spring of 2017 the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children started a fund in memory of Megan Bening, daughter of board member Jean Bening and her husband Allan Bening. Megan graduated with a bachelor's degree in information technology and a minor in psychology. In January 2017, she was working toward her master's degree in information technology and was employed as a user experience manager at Minnesota State University/Mankato when, at the age of twenty-two, she died suddenly from a spontaneous brain hemorrhage.
Megan's dream of bringing technology to blind students lives on through the Megan Bening Memorial Fund. The NOPBC and friends sell "Angel Pins," lapel pins shaped like angels pinned to a card that describes the mission of the Megan Bening Memorial Fund.
In its inaugural year, at the 2018 NOPBC Conference during the 2018 NFB Convention, the Megan Bening Memorial Fund gave away $10,000 worth of accessible technology to fourteen blind children and teenagers. At the 2019 NFB Convention, the fund gave away technology with a retail value exceeding $10,000 to twenty-nine children and youth. Eric Guillory, president of the NFB's Professionals in Blindness Education Division and Director of Youth Services for the Louisiana Center for the Blind, offered technology training to each winner.
NOPBC continues to sell Angel Pins and to accept donations in order to give away more technology to blind students at the 2020 national convention. Through your donations and dedication to this mission, Megan's dream of providing blind children with the technology they need to live the lives they want comes true.
Cane Walk
For many years at our NFB Annual Convention, NOMC professionals have volunteered their time and expertise to provide about ninety minutes of cane travel instruction to children and their family members. (NOMC stands for National Orientation and Mobility Certification). Sighted adults learn alongside the children, using learning shades and adult-size long white canes as teaching canes. Through the generous support of the National Federation of the Blind, the NOPBC is able to send each blind child and one family member home with a Cane Walk long white cane.
This year seventeen blindness professionals volunteered more than forty hours of cane travel instruction to twenty-eight individuals from twenty-one families during our two Cane Walk sessions. We know that many of these professionals and others provide even more time and instruction to children, youth, and families throughout the convention.
Annual Meeting
One hour before our Annual Meeting started, the NOPBC held a Vendor Fair. We invited vendors of blindness-related products and services to display their wares. Attendees had the chance to meet the vendors and learn what they had to offer. Parents and allies visited vendors, asked questions, and received personalized and in-depth responses. In addition, parents used this time to network with one another, including with our NOPBC board members.
The theme of the 2019 Annual Meeting of the NOPBC was "Independence and Success: The Best Show in Vegas (and Everywhere Else)." After a welcome from NOPBC president Carlton Walker, we heard from Anil Lewis, executive director of Blindness Initiatives for the NFB. Anil shared with parents the pivotal and unending role of the NFB in the lives of blind children in his presentation, "From Concept to Curtain Call—Making the Show Possible." Next the NFB 2019 Distinguished Educator of Blind Children, Adrienne Shoemaker, shared her experiences with the blind children and youth she serves in New Hampshire in a talk called "Building and Showcasing Talent." Dr. Fredric Schroeder counseled parents on the vital importance of encouraging a child's talents and interests without focusing on blindness; he inspired us all to honor our children's individuality and noted the opportunities NFB mentors provide in helping blind children and youth in "Finding the Right Role and the Right Stage."
We also heard from two panels, one composed of middle-school students and another of parents of blind students. Our student panel, "Taking the Stage," featured Passion Augustus of Louisiana, Emerie (Eme) Mitchell-Butler of Virginia, and Marley Rupp of Nevada, who shared their experiences of living the lives they want. In our parent panel, "Behind the Scenes Support from Parent Leaders," Sarah Erb, Utah Parents of Blind Children president; Emily Wagner Gindlesberger, Pennsylvania Parents of Blind Children president; and Carla Keirns, from the Missouri Parents of Blind Children told us how their chapters work with their state affiliates to reach out to and support blind children and youth and their families.
The last item of our annual meeting was elections. All ten board member positions were open. Four members of our 2018-2019 board stepped down from their positions: Jean Bening, Rosina Coleman, Carol Akers, and Hayley Alli. All four have served in their states and on the national level with honor and distinction. We recognized departing board member Jean Bening for her ten years of dedicated service to NOPBC. Her contributions include, but are certainly not limited to, her coordination of our annual Cane Walk, her ability to inspire donors, and, most importantly, her inception, coordination, and implementation of the Megan Bening Memorial Fund Technology Giveaway. As we welcome our new board members, we know that we can count on past board members to continue to serve the NOPBC and the National Federation of the Blind as mentors and leaders.
Braille Book Fair
Everyone attending the Braille Book Fair in Las Vegas this summer hit the jackpot! At the fair each year, thousands of Braille books are given away to children and adults, and 2019 was no exception. In addition to a wide selection of print/Braille titles, including picture storybooks for our youngest readers, we had early chapter books, teen reading, adult fiction and nonfiction, cookbooks, and more to give away. The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults donated many Twin Vision® books from the Kenneth Jernigan Library to the Braille Book Fair. Not only did this donation greatly increase the number of print/Braille books we could offer, it allowed individuals to read a piece of history—the Kenneth Jernigan Library closed on March 1, 2018.
As always, NFB members donated books as well as funds to purchase the always-in-high-demand print/Braille books. NFB provides much support in this endeavor, including logistical assistance before, during, and after the event and storing the boxes of books year-round.
At the Braille Book Fair, volunteers boxed the books and addressed them to be shipped to each individual's home via Free Matter for the Blind. This year every single book found a new home! After the Braille Book Fair families got a bite to eat and returned to enjoy the Century Celebration Braille Carnival, which celebrated one hundred years of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults.
Parent Leadership Program at National Convention
Thirteen parents and grandparents from seven states attended four hours of intensive leadership training, met members of the NOPBC Board, and were mentored by NOPBC and NFB leaders throughout our national convention. In addition to taking part in this intensive training, they read and discussed selected pieces of Federation literature and attended the NOPBC Conference and related activities throughout convention week. During General Sessions and at Convention Banquet, these individuals forged new relationships with their state president and members of their affiliates and solidified relationships that already existed.
PAC Plan Participation
As noted above, NOPBC is a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind. We veteran members of the NOPBC and NFB know the vital importance of the support we receive from the Federation. We make certain that families new to us understand our relationship with the NFB. One way we show our appreciation of and support for the Federation is through the PAC plan. PAC stands for preauthorized contributions. We encourage our parents and allies to begin a PAC plan or add to an existing one and note NOPBC as the division they support.
To encourage participation in the PAC Plan, NFB divisions compete each year for possession of a stuffed animal fondly known as the PAC Mule. At the 2019 NFB Convention, NOPBC was proud to receive the PAC Mule—demonstrating our unwavering dedication to our Federation family.
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