American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Summer 2025 WHAT'S NEW?
Staying in touch with the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), using your smartphone, is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Having trouble joining the group? Don’t want to create a GroupMe app or have one more app on your phone? Don’t have a smartphone with a web browser, but can still receive text messages? We can help! Just send a text message to Melissa Riccobono at 443-803-0266. The message will need to include your name and say that you would like to join the NOPBC Announcements Group. Melissa will add you to the group, using your phone number, and you will receive announcements via text message only.
https://nfb.org/programs-services/education/nfb-stem2u
The National Federation of the Blind is excited to announce that our 2025 STEM2U curriculum is now available online! Designed specifically for blind and low-vision youth, STEM2U Online provides step-by-step instructions for accessible experiments, downloadable activity books and tactile graphics, and engaging instructional videos. These self-guided activities use everyday materials and can be completed at home or in the classroom. Complete the STEM2U Online form to receive the link to the curriculum.
https://aphconnectcenter.org
800-232-5463
The APH Connect Center offers information on a broad range of blindness-related topics, including specific eye conditions, resources for families, job preparation, and national and local services.
American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference
[email protected]
Dates: November 12-14, 2025
Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, Crystal City, VA
This year’s theme highlights the power of collective leadership at a time of rapid technological and societal transformation.
National Braille Press
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/programs/gep/ge_index.html
The Snail and the Whale, by Julia Donaldson
This title has been added to the Great Expectations program, a series of specially selected books with supplements created by National Braille Press with the goal of bringing picture books to life for blind children. Each print/Braille copy of The Snail and the Whale will arrive with a bonus stuffed humpback whale, along with a list of free activities available on the Great Expectations webpage. The list includes meeting blind oceanographer Amy Bower, crafts, a whale song activity, jokes, and information on water safety and sustainability.
Dots, Paper, Scissors Project
edentransition.org
[email protected] or Lydia Schuck at [email protected]
New handmade books with Braille and print plus tactile images are now available. Books are made, in part, by young adults with disabilities through the Dots, Paper, Scissors Project of Eden Transition Alliance. Flower Talk has no words on the pages, just tactile flower images made with a variety of materials. This book is designed for you to look at with your little one. It’s a good tool for sharing a conversation, describing pictures, and teaching concepts such as top, bottom, middle, right, and left. Counting Hearts and Counting Butterflies are typical print/Braille counting books with tactile images on every page.
https://insightablepuzzles.com/
Contact: Maureen Handwerker, [email protected]
InsightAble Puzzles produces a series of 3D puzzles for blind children and adults. (See the article “Puzzling Challenges” in this issue.)
National Braille Press
https://shop.nbp.org/products/spelling-wordfinder-puzzles
Braille, 1 Volume
Test your word knowledge with these 100 fantastic anagram puzzles with a twist! In each puzzle, find as many words of four or more letters as you can. Each puzzle contains seven letters. The first letter listed for each puzzle must be used in every word you find. You can use letters multiple times in a word, and proper nouns are not allowed. Check your answers at the back of the volume.
The NFB is gathering information regarding the accessibility of educational technology used in our nation’s schools (kindergarten through graduate level). If you are a student, parent, teacher, or administrator who uses screen access software or other accommodations to participate nonvisually in educational programs or services, or if you are the parent, teacher, or administrator of someone who does, please complete the Education Technology Survey once a semester and contribute to this important research.