Volume 45, Number 1 Winter 2026
A magazine for parents and teachers of blind children published by
the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults in partnership
with the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children.
Deborah Kent Stein, Editor
ISSN-0883-3419
Copyright © 2026 American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
For more information
about blindness and children contact:
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place, Baltimore, MD 21230 • 410-659-9314
https://nfb.org/nopbc • [email protected] • [email protected]
The National Federation of the Blind’s National Convention brings together blind people from across the country and around the globe. We come from all walks of life. Some of us have been blind all our lives, while others may be new to blindness. Some are young, some have been around the sun more than a few times. Some are convention first-timers, while others have been attending for decades. Our patchwork of individual experiences makes us stronger together, and it means that our National Conventions are a celebration of our diversity.
Over the course of eighty-five annual conventions, nearly three dozen cities reflecting similar diversity have played host to the NFB’s biggest event of the year. Yet, among this broad list of destinations, our convention has never come to the capital city of Texas to gather and celebrate. This will change next July when we head to the JW Marriot Austin for our annual National Convention July 3 through July 8!
Austin is widely known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” having been home to the PBS program Austin City Limits for more than fifty years and host to the annual South by Southwest music and media festival. Austin also boasts a vibrant arts scene with many public art displays throughout the city. But Austin isn’t just fueled by creative energy. A strong technology sector thrives here, with many tech companies establishing headquarters in the city. Waymo and Tesla are two notable names, as both companies offer autonomous vehicle rides within Austin. The University of Texas at Austin, with over 50,000 students, sits just north of downtown. Visitors will notice an emphasis on local retailers over national chains. This broad and eclectic diversity perpetuates the popular “Keep Austin Weird” vibe and makes for a truly unique destination.
The upscale JW Marriott Austin will serve as our headquarters hotel, while the recently opened Austin Marriott Downtown, just a short walk away, will provide overflow space. All convention events will take place in the headquarters hotel this year. Both hotels offer a number of dining options, 24/7 fitness centers, and rooftop pools with cabana rentals. The hotels are in the heart of downtown Austin, surrounded by local restaurants and shops. A few blocks south, walking trails line the section of the Colorado River known as Lady Bird Lake.
Our 2026 convention hotel rate is $139 per night for singles and doubles. Triples and quads are available for $155 per night. Sales tax and a tourism fee total a combined 19 percent.
Beginning on January 1, you may call 800-627-7468 to book a room at either hotel. Specify our room block code, BL1, to ensure you receive our convention room rate. For each room you book, the hotel requires a deposit of the first night’s room rate, taxes, and fees, payable by credit card or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Sunday, June 1, 2026, half of the deposit will be returned. Refunds will not be issued after that date.
The 2026 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be an exciting and memorable event, with an unparalleled program and renewed dedication to the goals and work of our movement.
Make plans to be a part of it. To ensure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, you should make reservations early. The hotels will be ready to take your call beginning January 1.
Remember that we need door prizes from state affiliates, local chapters, and individuals. Prizes should be small in size but significant in value. Cash, of course, is always appropriate and welcome. As a general rule, we ask that prizes have a value of at least $25 and do not include alcohol. Drawings take place throughout the convention sessions, and you can anticipate a grand prize of truly impressive proportions to be drawn at the banquet.
Important note for attendees: You must be registered to win a door prize! Registration opens in March.
If you or members of your chapter are first-time attendees, please learn about convention through the First-Timer’s Guide available at nfb.org/convention.
The best collection of exhibits featuring new technology; meetings of our special interest groups, committees, and divisions; the most stimulating and thought-provoking program items of any meeting of the blind in the world; the chance to renew friendships within our Federation family; and the unparalleled opportunity to be where the real action is and where decisions are made—all of these mean you will not want to miss being a part of the 2026 National Convention. To secure yourself a room in the headquarters hotel at convention rates, make your reservations early. We look forward to seeing you in Austin in July!
FEATURE
Connecting the Dots: A Late Lesson in Why School Matters
by Gary Wunder
BEGINNINGS
The Day I Lost My Daughter
by Penny Duffy
How to Raise a Blind Child: One Mother's Perspective
by Susan Tucic and Peter Tucic
PROGRAMS
Teachers of Tomorrow: Preparing the Next Generation of Educators Who Believe in Blind Children
by Mya Taylor
Baltimore Reflections
by Rachel Bodek
TECHNOLOGY
Update on the Monarch, An Interview with Greg Stilson
by Jonathan Mosen
CAREERS
Making It in the Media
A Podcast Presented by Nikki Jackson
ADVOCACY
National Federation of the Blind Denounces Devastating Job Cuts within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
Protecting Key Programs under the Department of Education
by Justin Young
Broadening Perspective and Narrowing Focus: What Blind Students Need to Know about Changes in the Department of Education
An Interview with NFB President Mark Riccobono, NABS Now Podcast
My First Adventure with Advocacy
by Willow Townsend
PERSPECTIVES
Sea Glass
by Lydia Schuck
WHAT'S NEW
Free Slate and Stylus Program
Update on ABLE Accounts for People Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision
Announcements
Are you the parent of a blind/low-vision child? Don’t know where to turn? Have you ever wondered what your child will be capable of when he or she grows up? Are you concerned that your child’s future will be limited by blindness or low vision? Do you have questions about how to parent a blind child? We are here for you.
Founded in 1983, the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), is a membership organization of families, friends, and educators of blind children. We have thousands of members in all fifty states plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.
We have a very inclusive definition of blindness which includes children who have some usable vision. Instead of focusing on what the child can or cannot see, we focus on the child and what she or he wants to be.
NOPBC is for families, educators, and friends of blind children, including those who have some usable vision. We welcome all families of blind children, and many of our children have both blindness and other disabilities.
We help families and blind children themselves maximize the child’s abilities and opportunities; we hold high expectations for all of our children, regardless of any additional disabilities they may have.
As a division of the NFB, the largest and most influential organization of blind people in the world, the NOPBC is well informed about the societal, legislative, and technological issues that affect blind people. We enjoy the resources, support, and expertise of fifty thousand blind people who can serve as mentors and role models for us and our children. When we as parents join the NOPBC, our children belong to the Federation family.
The NOPBC:
Most states have an NOPBC affiliate chapter. You can find your state chapter at http://www.nopbc.org. If your state does not have a chapter and you would like to start one, please contact us. We may be able to offer training and other assistance to start a state NOPBC chapter.
We have been where you are, and we want to support you and your blind child. We know that blindness does not define your child's future. We can connect you with other families and blind adults who can serve as positive mentors and role models. They can teach you the attitudes and techniques that will enable your child to become independent and to succeed in life.
The NOPBC offers hope, encouragement, information, and resources for parents, families, and educators of blind children. NOPBC provides:
We offer a wide variety of programs, activities, and training to families, children, and youth. One of our most exciting activities is our annual conference. Every year since it was established, the NOPBC has conducted an annual conference for parents and teachers of blind children as part of the national convention of the NFB. This conference has grown to include five exciting days of workshops, training sessions, activities for all family members, including sighted siblings, and countless opportunities to meet blind adults and other families and children from around the country.
Contact Us:
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
[email protected]
www.nopbc.org
by Gary Wunder
From the Editor: Many readers of Future Reflections know Gary Wunder as the long-time former editor of NFB’s flagship publication, Braille Monitor. Gary is also a past president of the NFB of Missouri, and for many years he served on the NFB’s Board of Directors. Within this organization and beyond, Gary is someone who takes the long view. He thinks carefully and shares his ideas with grace. In this article he reflects upon his personal journey and the way he came to value his education.
When I was growing up, the messages I received about my potential were as mixed and confusing as any young person could hear. On one hand, I was told that I was bright—perhaps very bright, in fact. On the other hand, the quality and quantity of my schoolwork never seemed to live up to that intelligence. The adults around me sadly concluded that I must be lazy.
Laziness was an easy label to apply, even though it never fit the way I understood myself. If I wasn’t doing the things I ought to do, the explanation seemed simple enough to others: I wasn’t trying. Nevertheless, I cannot look back and say that I ever felt lazy. I was praised for faithfully doing my chores, but schoolwork was often far down on the list of things I cared about. I simply could not explain why the tasks I was given at school really mattered. I could not see how schoolwork could help me become the kind of adult everyone said I was capable of becoming.
I grew up in a family that worked hard with our hands and our machines. We ran a dirt-moving business. The sights, sounds, and conversations of that business shaped my world from the very beginning. We used high loaders, backhoes, motor graders, and dump trucks. Even the supervision was done from a truck that was driven from job to job. The work was physical, productive, and immediate. You could look at a freshly graded lot or a newly dug foundation and know exactly what you had accomplished that day.
My mother and father could read, but nothing in our home celebrated reading. There were no lively discussions about authors or characters. My dad read the newspaper, and my mom read the magazines placed near the grocery store checkout. Those reading moments filled idle time; they weren’t about learning or self-improvement. No one around me modeled how reading might broaden a life or offer a wider future.
As a result, when someone asked me to memorize the eight parts of speech or diagram a sentence, I saw no connection with the world I knew. In my house no one ever paused to admire a well-structured paragraph. When teachers gave assignments on grammar, I couldn’t imagine where such knowledge would get a person in life—not in the life I expected to live.
After a few years of school, I understood the math that mattered: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. We used those skills every day in the business. I could count, measure, and figure quickly. Those skills earned nods of respect from my father, who talked to me with the expectation that I was keeping up. But algebra? Why on earth would someone want to solve for X or Y?
Looking back, I think my blindness should have pushed me to value academics. It should have been obvious to me that I wouldn’t be driving a high loader or a dump truck for a living. Yet somehow I didn’t draw that conclusion. My family and I had seen astronauts land on the moon. My parents truly believed that someone would find a way to restore my sight by the time I grew up. “They’re working on the eyes all the time,” people said, as though it were simply a matter of waiting my turn. The only time my parents read to me was when they came across an article about the restoration of vision. All I had to do was learn enough blindness skills to wait out the miracle. I didn’t need grammar or science any more than my parents needed those arcane studies, because technology would solve the problem of blindness for me.
I liked school, but the truth was that I wasn’t connecting the dots. Beyond the canned answers I could recite if asked, I had no understanding of why I was required to go to school. I could say that going to school was about “preparing for the future” or “becoming productive,” but those words had no hold on me compared with the lure of riding my bicycle, listening to music, or hopping on a horse with my brothers. School simply didn’t feel like a path to anything that mattered.
It wasn’t until my early teens that something finally lit the spark. I became fascinated with radio, and I decided to study to become a licensed amateur operator. Suddenly, learning wasn’t just a chore—it was a window into a world I couldn’t yet describe but desperately wanted to enter. I needed to learn about electronic circuitry, radio wave propagation, and the basics of physics. None of that knowledge lived in my family’s sphere.
My parents had no idea how a radio station worked. They had even less idea where I would find the books I wanted in Braille or on the reel-to-reel tapes that blind people used back then. They thought that radio equipment was too expensive. Besides, the activity was pointless if all I would do was talk with someone a few hundred miles away about the weather and his station.
But I wasn’t just talking about the weather. Through international Morse code—slow though it was—I found myself chatting with professors, engineers, and scientists. They talked about chemistry and physics as if they were as real as the machines my father drove. They asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I realized that I didn’t know. They spoke about the kinds of jobs people could obtain because they had mastered the very subjects I thought were meaningless.
Those conversations grew me up. They did not transform me overnight, but they gave purpose to subjects I had once dismissed. Knowledge wasn’t just for people who lived somewhere else; knowledge could be for me.
Today, scientists tell us that the parts of the brain responsible for long-term planning, weighing consequences, and linking effort to future opportunity do not fully mature in early adolescence. Some children appear mature because they can hold a good conversation with adults. I certainly fooled people that way. But the ability to say, “This hard thing today will open doors for me tomorrow” is a different kind of maturity altogether.
I do not write this to excuse poor performance or to suggest that children should be allowed to ignore their schoolwork. I write because I think that many parents, including parents of blind children, may see the same pattern in their children that my parents saw in me: intelligence without consistent effort. Before assuming laziness, I hope parents will ask: Does my child understand why this schoolwork matters?
Here are a few ways parents can help spark the kind of maturity that turns effort into motivation:
I had to learn as a teen what school was really about. I wish I had understood sooner that knowledge was my road to independence, a way for me to escape the stigma my family would never have tolerated—being seen as capable but unwilling.
Eventually, I did connect the dots. I discovered the value of learning how to learn. Nevertheless, I cannot help wondering how much smoother the road might have been if someone had helped me see that connection earlier.
So, to parents who see real possibility in their child but worry about the missing drive: do not mistake late maturity for laziness! Sometimes a young person needs to make one meaningful connection, to discover one reason that finally feels real. Once that happens, the rest of the dots often connect themselves.
by Penny Duffy
From the Editor: Burrowing through an archive of old emails recently, I came across a message from Penny Duffy. As many readers of Future Reflections are aware, Penny was a longtime member of the NOPBC board and a passionate advocate for blind children and their families. Tragically, we lost Penny to cancer in the fall of 2023. This post shows that she was thinking about our blind children even as her health failed. Here is Penny’s email:
From: Penny Duffy
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023, 11:57 p.m.
To: Deborah Kent Stein
Subject: An idea for a Future Reflections Article
Hi Debbie,
I hope you make it safely back from convention. I am so bummed I could not be at convention this year. My health just wouldn’t allow it. I am so overjoyed that my now adult child was able to go.
At the end of June, I was inspired to write a Facebook post. It just came out. I thought it might make a good article, but maybe not. It needs to be polished a bit, and it needs an intro. The first line sort of sounds like Abby died. But in reality I did not lose her. I don’t know—let me know. I will share it exactly as I posted it.
Here is the post Penny sent me.
Thirteen years ago, I lost my six-year-old daughter in Animal Kingdom. She was found quickly, but she got lost because she couldn’t see my sister.
Thirteen years ago, I brought my daughter to LensCrafters, thinking she needed glasses. The optician said, “She is acting like she is blind.”
Thirteen years ago, we confirmed she had the genetic condition that runs in my family and causes blindness, Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Within a few weeks we confirmed that she was blind with limited peripheral vision.
My daughter learned Braille. She learned how to use a long white cane. Later on, she learned to ski, and then to ski race!
My daughter showed that she is a compassionate and caring human. She worked hard. Hard! Society doesn’t make it easy to be blind.
We learned about the education my daughter would need. I met lots of amazing moms. Yes, there were dads, too, but lots of moms! They showed me their battle scars and shared their lessons.
I learned that my daughter needed to be the driver of her own life. She wasn’t going to learn Braille unless she wanted to learn it. She wasn’t going to embrace technology unless she wanted to use it. She wasn’t going to use the cane unless she wanted to travel independently. All I could do was connect us to other blind people and learn from their lessons.
I connected my daughter to blind peers and blind adults. I tried to make sure she had no shame in growing up to be a blind woman. Cane to the front. Be proud!
My daughter grew up to be a regular teenager who also ski raced. She just finished her first year of college, with a double major and double minor. She is living more than a thousand miles away from home, in a city she doesn’t know. She just jumped on public transportation on her own to hang outside of a concert she didn’t have tickets to. She left with an armful of friendship bracelets and a huge smile. I couldn’t be more proud!
None of this is remarkable. Blind people do stuff like that every day, but none of that seemed possible thirteen years ago.
So, I tell that scared mom from thirteen years ago, “It’s going to all work out. She has this. Your little girl is going to be just fine.”
I am just a hack mom. Every right turn I made was due to the lessons I learned from another mom. My daughter’s achievements are her own, and I am so proud of the smart, strong blind woman she has grown up to be.
So, my advice is to be a hack mom. Surround yourself with battle-strong moms. Accept that you won’t ever completely understand your child’s experience, and that’s okay! Surround her with blind people she can learn from.
I don’t take credit for my daughter’s achievements. It’s an honor to be her hack mom!
by Susan Tucic and Peter Tucic
From the Editor: Many readers of Future Reflections know Peter Tucic. For more than a decade he represented HumanWare, one of the leading companies producing accessible technology for the blind community. As a HumanWare rep Peter traveled all over the world, spreading the word about adaptive hardware for the blind. Now that he is the father of two young children, Peter has taken a job with the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, allowing him to be close to his family. In this article Peter interviews his mother, Susan Tucic, about her experience with his upbringing and her philosophy about raising a blind child.
Peter Tucic: Raising a child always comes with uncertainty, learning curves, and moments of fear and pride. Raising a child who is blind adds an entirely different layer that most parents never anticipate, and few feel prepared to navigate.
I was raised in the western suburbs of Chicago by two fantastic parents, my father, Trivo, and my mom, Susan. I am totally blind, and I grew up at a time when information, resources, and community connections around blindness were far less available than they are today.
Like most parents, my mother had no prior experience with blindness before she became my mom. She had no road map—only instincts, persistence, and a willingness to learn alongside her child. From my early childhood through my years in the SASED Cooperative program (School Association for Special Education) in the Chicago suburbs, and later when I attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, my mother constantly balanced advocacy, instruction, and the everyday realities of parenting.
This interview is an opportunity for me to step back and reflect on what it truly means to raise a blind child from the parent’s perspective. My mother shares her thoughts on receiving an initial diagnosis, navigating family dynamics and expectations, learning to teach blindness-specific skills, and managing the balance between my need for independence and her concerns about keeping me safe. She also reflects on my school experiences, the introduction of Braille, social development, and the fears many parents quietly carry about their child’s future.
Through the questions that follow we explore the challenges, misperceptions, and emotional realities of raising a blind child, and my mother shares the lessons she learned along the way. Her thoughtful answers offer insight, honesty, and encouragement for parents who may be at the beginning of a similar journey.
Q: How did you handle my initial diagnosis of blindness? Was it difficult for you to share the news with other family members?
A: You were born a month and a half early, and you suffered a Grade 3 brain bleed. We were told that you only had a 25 percent chance of being “normal,” but that they didn’t know whether your issues would manifest physically or cognitively. When I learned that, I immediately started talking and singing to you at every opportunity, even in the wee hours when you were feeding. By the time you were four months old I noticed that you weren’t tracking visually, and you had difficulty with muscle coordination. Our pediatrician gave us a referral to Easter Seals for evaluation. You began PT (physical therapy) and OT (occupational therapy) for your conditions.
At nine months, you were referred to a pediatric optometrist. You received your first pair of glasses and a patch for your “lazy eye” and nystagmus. We continued with therapies, and when you were two years old we attended a weekend parents’ conference at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville. An evaluation there indicated that you might have a condition called achromatopsia.
We received so much support and information at the conference that I felt empowered. They recommended that we have you evaluated at the University of Illinois by a retinal specialist, Dr. Fishman. The testing and ERG (electroretinography) results showed that you in fact had a more severe condition than achromatopsia. It’s called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).
When I heard the news I was devastated. I felt terrible having to tell your father the news, although Dr. Fishman was very supportive. He referred you to the Lighthouse for the Blind in Chicago for ongoing support and resources.
Q: Did you find yourself having to correct misperceptions of family members in dealing with expectations at home?
A: My family and your father’s family were extremely supportive when they received the news of your diagnosis. My family jumped in to learn as much as they could to help you develop socially and intellectually. We all agreed that you should be expected to learn and do everything a sighted child your age could do. My upbringing and your father’s allowed us to expect independence and responsibility from our children. We both came from large families and weren’t catered to. We expected our children to do chores, to do well in school, to take music lessons or get involved in sports, and to practice etiquette with adults and in social environments. Persistence was also key in making sure all of our respective family members knew what our expectations were. Fortunately, it was never a problem for us.
Q: How did you go about learning to teach me everyday skills, having never interacted with a blind person in such a capacity before?
A: My background in science and education allowed me to teach skills by breaking tasks or challenges down into steps. I insisted on practice and perseverance to achieve the goal. We had a lot of fun making games out of learning how to do things, like using cheerios or chocolate chips to form letters in Braille. We focused a lot on hand-over-hand practice with tasks such as buttoning a button or scooping cereal from one bowl to another to work on fine motor skills. Later these activities transitioned into chore assignments such as cleaning the bathroom, emptying the dishwasher, or folding laundry.
Q: Were there ever times when you questioned what was being focused on at school related to blindness skills?
A: The early years of school were fairly smooth. We chose to send you to a resource program as opposed to keeping you in our home district. That way you could move through the curriculum as fast as you could, having all the specialists, equipment, and technology in place. We didn’t have to wait for it to come to you. Your TVIs (teachers of the visually impaired) in preschool and elementary school were integral in your success.
As you progressed to middle school, it became difficult to balance the resource room with the regular class, band, and gifted program. You had to learn the Nemeth Code for math, as well as continue Braille and technology while handling the regular curriculum. You asked if you could discontinue the gifted program to ease up on the pull-outs from the regular classroom.
The middle-school curriculum and VI specialists allowed your continued success, but high school became dicey. You took all of the regular high school courses, plus a few honors and AP courses, but the system wasn’t very accommodating around your blindness. You routinely were not receiving your Braille textbooks on time, but you still were quizzed and tested on the material. I discovered that the charts and graphs for chemistry were missing information that was included in the regular textbooks or Periodic Table, but you were expected to know the missing information. There were many of these issues, but you persevered and never wanted to make waves.
Q: How did you personally feel about the introduction of Braille?
A: You started Braille readiness skills in preschool and continued learning Braille throughout your education. I was so happy you had this experience, as it allowed you to develop literacy skills alongside your peers. You had the chance to adapt to the computer technology (JAWS) and Braille notetaker (BrailleNote). You also were able to be a test subject for all of the latest technology and methods being used by participating in research programs at Northern Illinois University (NIU).
Q: I remember a time when making friends was a real struggle. Can you talk a bit about that, and how you helped me get to the other side, where I was then almost never home?
A: You made friends very easily in the primary and elementary grades. Children naturally want to be helpers, and your classmates loved to help guide you or show you things by letting you feel what they were discovering. It also helped that you enjoyed LEGO® and K’nex®, and you could do those activities with your friends.
As you got older, late elementary and middle school, the boys became more interested in sports on the playground or going to movies and to friends’ houses. It became more difficult for them to relate to you, and for you to easily relate to them. We had the added factor of living out of district, which made the back-and-forth travel between friends’ houses a barrier. I remember some very challenging moments when you felt down like you did not fit in.
We devised a plan to set aside time on Friday evenings to do something that you might be interested in doing, something that would align with the things you heard the kids at school talking about. We started with trips to musical instrument or CD stores and restaurants. Then we moved on to occasional movies, sporting events, and concerts. This laid the foundation for further developing your natural love for sports and popular music/bands which allowed you to converse and engage with friends at school.
When you came home at night you were very busy with your piano and drum set, and you also played with the kids in the neighborhood. As you entered later middle school, you began to find various friend groups. I would drive you to your friends’ houses so you could do the things boys do, like riding ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and playing videogames. You loved going to the library. You consumed audiobooks voraciously and used your down time to lie on your bed and listen to your favorite genres.
In high school your friends were able to drive. Because you learned to be funny and engaging, they were willing to come and get you to hang out. However, I impressed upon you to be careful who you were with, because you wouldn’t be able to dig out of a hole if you got in trouble. Your friends would scatter and you could be left “holding the bag,” so to speak.
Q: What were your greatest fears for my future due to my blindness?
A: I was most afraid for your future after your diagnosis of blindness. I couldn’t imagine what you would be able to do. At the time, I heard a grim statistic that only 25 percent of blind people are gainfully employed. I heard of many people surviving on SSI and living at home. I wondered if you would ever find the right woman and get married, if you would have children.
Then you excelled in school and were able to make friends. Through the SASED summer school program you were given the opportunity to work as an activity aid. It became easier for me to imagine a productive future for you. Knowing that you would be independent someday made it imperative for me to teach you daily living skills at a young age. I wanted you to be able to do laundry, make your bed, clean your room and shared bathroom, take out the garbage, empty the dishwasher, make sandwiches, use the microwave, and care for our cat. Your father would show you how to do mechanical work with the car and appliances. He taught you about plumbing, home repairs, yardwork, and shoveling snow.
We were clear with friends and family that we wanted you to do whatever you could on your own. We didn’t want them to baby you or help you with the things you were able to do by yourself.
When you were still in high school you were allowed to travel by Metra into Chicago with friends. I didn’t allow you to travel on your own until I was able to observe you safely travel and make the transfers between train stations. You had a Saturday job mentoring a blind child in the north suburbs.
Q: Did you ever feel that neighbors or relatives disapproved of the way you were raising your blind son? Did people ever suggest that you should be more protective, that you should have shielded me from potentially dangerous situations?
A: I never felt that neighbors or family disapproved of how we were raising you. However, it did drive me crazy when people thought I should be looking for miracle cures, or told me how tragic it was that I had a blind child. They would ask me if I ever tried x, y, or z to “fix” your vision. Or they’d tell me there’s a place in Russia where they can fix/heal blindness.
I didn’t feel that we were ever judged for allowing you to do what we allowed you to do, like going to the city in high school for concerts or to hang out with older friends. I think in some way they probably admired that you were trusted to experience the world and comport yourself the same way a high schooler would be who wasn’t blind.
Q: Are there any other pointers you have for parents today on raising a blind child?
A: The greatest pointers on raising a blind child would be:
Look to a higher power. We don’t have all the answers, and we can’t fix all of our children’s problems. It’s okay not to know the answers or outcomes. I have a faith-based background, and I put my trust in God to give me strength, clarity, and peace to handle the most difficult, anxiety-ridden problems I face.
by Mya Taylor
From the Editor: The National Federation of the Blind is deeply committed to ensuring that blind children receive quality education and have access to a full range of opportunities. In this article project manager Mya Taylor introduces the 2025-2026 cohort of participants and explains the program’s philosophy and goals.
For more than a decade, the National Federation of the Blind Teachers of Tomorrow program has worked to ensure that blind students across the nation receive high-quality instruction. The program helps professionals gain a deeper understanding of blindness by partnering with the blind community. Teachers of Tomorrow provides educators with more than information—it gives them mentorship, hands-on experience, and direct engagement with blind adults who serve as experts in literacy, technology, mobility, STEM, and independent living.
Funded through the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute with support from the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, the program combines monthly virtual seminars, specialized training in Braille and access technology, workshops led by blind professionals, and a culminating in-person learning experience. Participants leave the program equipped to teach skills, encourage independence, and foster confidence—the true foundation of a successful education for blind children.
As we begin a new program year, we are proud to introduce the 2025–2026 Teachers of Tomorrow cohort. These educators represent schools and communities across the country and bring a diverse range of experiences, specialties, and passions. Most importantly, they share a common belief that blind students can and should live the lives they want.
Rachel Bodek: I have been a teacher of blind students [TBS] for almost five years. I co-run a support group for Jewish families with blind members called Insight Beyond Eyesight. I’ve been involved in various NFB programs, including the NFB BELL® Academy, and I have held some positions on the board of the NFB of New York At Large Chapter. I am a parent of twin boys (fun fact).
Jasmine Brown: I am Jasmine Brown, a TBS in Bloomfield, New Mexico. I am passionate about empowering learners to build independence and confidence through accessible education. My work blends technical expertise, creative problem solving, and a deep commitment to equity in learning. Fun Fact: I enjoy creating art in my free time, especially pieces that combine texture and color to tell a story.
Caitlin Brown: Hello, my name is Caitlin Brown. I am a special education teacher in Washington, DC. I love cooking and baking, painting my nails, reading, and tackling DIY projects. A fun fact about me is that I love to travel and I have been all over the US and Canada, yet I have never been on an airplane!
Jenilee Charley: Hello, my name is Jenilee Charley. I’m a member of the Osage Nation Born for Water Edge of the Navajo Nation. I’m from Gallup, New Mexico. I have been in education for eighteen years. Of those eighteen years, sixteen have been as a TBS. Before that I was a special education teacher at an elementary school named after my great-grandfather. Currently I work for New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI) as an itinerant teacher and mentor. I’m the Alumnae President of the Delta Gamma Fraternity Chapter of New Mexico-El Paso, and currently I’m the Advisor for the Delta Lambda New Mexico State University (NMSU) Foundations. Our philanthropy is called Service for Sight, and we support five schools in the US. I am also on the board of Camp Abilities Four Corners. Fun fact: I was my cousin’s TBS for most of her education.
Lynn Colburn: My name is Lynn and I am an itinerant TBS in Utica, New York. I love my job! I get to work with a variety of students, from infants to adults. I am also a certified water aerobics and water spin instructor!
Elizabeth Ellis: Hi, I am Libby Ellis, and I am a recent Certified Orientation and Mobility Instructor and TBS. I live in Washington state, and I have three dogs, one turtle, and guppies aplenty! I like to read sci-fi/fantasy books in my free time, and I am part of a wonderful little book club that meets monthly.
Brandy Firkins: Hi, I’m Brandy from East Texas. I work in Desoto Parish in Louisiana with students who have moderate to severe complex needs. Several of my students have Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI). I’ve been married for twenty-three years, and I have two amazing kids, ages twenty-one and sixteen. I love spending time in my garden and on my farm. I dream of creating a fully functioning orchard that can provide meaningful jobs for individuals with special needs.
Hannah Geller: Hi! My name is Hannah Geller, and I am so excited to be participating in the Teachers of Tomorrow program. I am a TBS in Arlington Public Schools (APS). This upcoming school year will be my fourth year as a TBS and my sixth-year teaching in APS. I enjoy spending time with my husband and our dog, Boomer! I also love theater—I attended forty-eight shows in 2024!
Sarah Hammett: My name is Sarah Hammett; I am going into my ninth year of teaching special education. I am a collaborative teacher at Whitesburg Elementary [in Alabama]. I recently completed my master’s in differentiated instruction and received a TVI certification. I have a large extended family, and I love being an involved aunt. I am a volunteer coach for my city’s Miracle League youth teams. Fun fact: I learned how to make balloon animals during the COVID quarantine.
Gretchen Ivers: Hi, my name is Gretchen! I recently graduated from Northern Illinois University (go Huskies!) with my master’s in TVI and O&M. I am especially interested in learning about the legal advocacy side of being a teacher. I enjoy unicycling and rock climbing.
Danielle Jensen: My name is Danielle Jensen, and I have five children. I love my job as a TBS, and this summer I went on a cruise to Alaska.
Summer Kaurin: Hello, my name is Summer Kaurin. I live in beautiful Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with my husband and our youngest of three sons. We love where we live, and we enjoy spending time in the surrounding mountains and lakes or playing cards at home on our back patio. As a newer TBS in North Idaho, I am eager to expand my knowledge and improve the support I provide to my students.
Melinda Lance: I am Melinda Lance, a Teacher of the Visually Impaired in Giles County, Tennessee, with eleven years of experience in special education. As someone who is blind in my right eye and completely deaf in my right ear, I often startle when approached from that side. This leads to some humorous moments when I turn in circles, trying to locate the source of my name being called. I find joy in teaching Braille and empowering my students to overcome their disabilities. I also serve as the Special Olympics Giles County Area Director, celebrating the achievements of these remarkable kids. I love spending time with my family, traveling, and reading Christian fiction, particularly mysteries or end-times stories, with the “YADA YADA Prayer Group” series being one of my favorites.
Erin McCormack: Hello from Arlington, Virginia! I’m so excited to be part of the 2025-2026 cohort and to learn alongside such a dedicated group. I’ve been a TBS since 2019, teaching in Oklahoma, Georgia, and now Virginia. Advocacy for the blind and visually impaired community is at the heart of my work. I’m eager to grow my Braille teaching strategies while gaining insight and inspiration from blind mentors and fellow educators.
Leslie McNeil: I’m Leslie McNeil, a TBS with over seventeen years of experience and a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist for the past year. I’m passionate about empowering individuals with low vision to gain independence and confidence through tailored education and mobility training. I’m also a lifelong learner. I currently teach students in the CSRA RESA program (Georgia), and I also work for a company called Luxient, where I support expanded learning and accessibility services across diverse communities. Fun fact about me: When I’m not teaching or supporting students, I love going on geocaching adventures. It’s like a modern-day treasure hunt that keeps me exploring and thinking creatively, both on and off the job.
Danielle Petsch: My name is Danielle, and I am so excited to be a part of this program! I have been a TBS for fifteen years, and I look forward to this amazing professional development. I also run our local camp for blind students twice a year.
Lori Rudolph: I am a TBS in Howard County, Maryland. Prior to my entry into this field, I worked in women’s and children’s health policy research, as an event manager in a large convention hotel, and for eight years I worked as a paraeducator in a multiple intense needs preschool classroom. I received my master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in May 2023. I have learned and provided instruction in Music Braille Code (music literacy is necessary to continue into high school performance programs). I am most proud of the development of a comprehensive after-school cooking program, addressing all nine ECC (extended school year) areas, for which I was awarded a grant. The program included a Q&A session for our students to speak with an award-winning chef with a visual impairment. Despite all of my engagement and studies, I am reminded on a daily basis of how little I actually know with regard to access technology, accessible STEM instruction, and the perspective of the blind community in totality. I am excited to meet and collaborate with other professionals in this field. In my free time I like to read, listen to music, travel, and spend time with family.
Annika Ryan: My name is Annika Ryan, and I am in my second year of teaching at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. I have lived in Georgia my whole life. I am a Christian, and I’m very involved at my church. I love to do anything with friends, anything outdoors, and I love to be active! My favorite hobby is going to antique and thrift stores.
Kelli Smith: My name is Kelli. I am a TBS at the Virginia School for the Blind. I have been legally blind for twenty years. I am very excited about the journey that led me to educate blind students and the ability to continue my passion, which is teaching. I am a singer, and I am known to make up random songs on the spot.
Alexandria Sykes: Hi! I’m Alexandria Sykes, a TBS from McKinney, Texas. I love what I do, and I support kiddos as they discover their passions. I believe the bar is never fixed...raise it and kids will rise to meet it, lower it and they’ll meet that, too. Fun fact: I once tried to “quickly organize my teaching supplies,” and three hours later, I was wearing a puppet on one hand and bubble wrap on the other.
The 2025–2026 Teachers of Tomorrow program year will include virtual seminars, mentorship from blind professionals, training in accessible STEM, hands-on Braille instruction, and participation in Washington Seminar, where teachers will learn firsthand how advocacy and policy shape the lives of blind students.
Graduates of Teachers of Tomorrow describe the program as transformative, reigniting their passion for teaching while equipping them with the tools to set higher expectations in every classroom they serve.
Educators interested in applying for the 2026–2027 Teachers of Tomorrow cohort can learn more at https://nfb.org/programs-services/education/teachers-tomorrow. Applications are expected to open in Spring 2026.
Individuals in the United States who are currently preparing to become teachers of blind students, as well as pre-K-12 teachers who are already working with blind or low-vision students, are encouraged to apply.
by Rachel Bodek
From the Editor: As a member of the 2025-2026 cohort of Teachers of Tomorrow, Rachel Bodek recently spent a weekend at the NFB’s national headquarters in Baltimore. On her way home she wrote the following letter to the many dedicated people who organized this weekend of intensive training and reflection.
I’m on my way home from this spectacular experience, and, thanks to my husband, who’s encouraging me not to wait, here come my reflections.
I’ve been part of the NFB in various capacities over the past twenty years. I have benefited greatly from my involvement and shared what I’ve learned with others, thus impacting many people. Yet my feelings today are on a new caliber—I feel like I really came home. I feel more part of the Federation family than ever before—together with all my new Teachers of Tomorrow (TOT) siblings.
As I kept telling my husband over this weekend, they are saying everything I keep saying. I feel so validated, and I am getting the encouragement to keep doing what I do, despite much pushback at times. At the same time, I was led to the realization once again that there is still more I can do for my students, for my Insight Beyond Eyesight support group—and for myself as well! Let this new chapter begin!
Here comes a small list of the “bajillion” things I heard and experienced this weekend. I’ll write just one more sentence before I start, to thank all those people who were involved in this beyond amazing endeavor—the people who handled all the logistics, the presenters, the volunteers whose names I know and those whose names I don’t know, those I met and those who worked behind the scenes. You did a great job putting this weekend together, and it is much appreciated!
Now here I go for real! Mr. Anil Lewis, I am so glad the Georgia sheltered workshop did indeed not get another Lewis, and the blindness world got you instead! You are changing the world for the better. And yes, it is so important for our students to have autonomy while they’re encouraged to set and reach high expectations. Learned helplessness won’t get you far in life.
President Riccobono (I know how to spell your last name now because I read it in your letter to us in Braille! Otherwise, I definitely would have inserted a k. There! Just another proof as to the importance of Braille literacy). Your energetic and engaging portrayal of the “vision industrial complex,” where it is wrongly presumed that eyesight equals superiority, enraptured our attention. I can still picture the children at the Wisconsin School for the Blind being led by the trays they’re holding (like pull toys) instead of using their canes and learning to carry their trays independently. Each time I think about this it elicits a sad chuckle.
Another story is the one about the blind teacher getting injured while looking for a runaway student; the teacher tripped over the child on the staircase. This teacher generally used human guides instead of using a cane. The teacher wondered what could be done in the future to prevent this situation. You said, “Just use your darn cane!”
Your emphasis on the importance of mentors was a theme throughout the weekend—it’s the ultimate solution for many issues. As you stated, “The NFB shares many stories. This is the way people find common ground to help one another.” And to us teachers you emphasized the importance of teamwork as you prudently declared, “Although we are good fighters, we’d always rather be partners than litigators.”
Then came the “treasures discovery” session—we got such useful gifts, including adapted games, slates and styluses with a training pop-it to help us learn the concept of using a slate. (Look out, students of mine! I will give it another try with you—even though you found it difficult the previous time!) Karen Anderson claims writing with the slate can help you remember information better. And the drawing board will give our students more opportunities to do artwork.
Then came Mr. Jonathan Mosen and technology extraordinaire! With limitless patience and expertise, you gave us a tour of your fascinating IBTC (International Braille and Technology Center) and answered all our questions. Wow! What an experience!
We marched on to the Independence Market and the tenBroek Library tour. There were so many great products to be purchased and so many interesting artifacts to be seen and touched!
Finally, for Friday’s last program, we had the behind-the-scenes tour with Mr. John Berggren. It was intriguing to hear about the history of the Kenneth Jernigan Institute and plans for the future. Furthermore, your perspective as a sighted employee (in this case a minority) was entertaining yet meaningful. You honestly shared how your view of blind people changed from “a bunch of quirks” to normal people who happen to be blind. The reports of how you speak up for the dignity of blind people in a soft, yet strong manner (relieving self-advocacy fatigue) show your genuine view of and compassion for humanity without judging exteriors. If only the rest of the world were just like you it would be a much better place for all!
That much in one day! The wise ones of us ended it there so as to get a proper night’s sleep before the music went off at 6:00 a.m.!
Saturday started with a bang—in a refreshing and unique way. Karen, your personal account was quite moving. Although you really are one amazing person, it is not for reading 50 wpm in fourth grade, nor is it for getting away with murder for not performing well at school and passing anyway. Boy, did we become cognizant of how crucial it is for our students to be held accountable and having consequences for their actions (or inactions) from your presentation and others!
First Lady Melissa Riccobono—with charm and charisma you walked us through your challenges, starting with your five-year-old self, whose friend didn’t think you could count dollar bills, all the way to your daughter’s reading difficulty saga and the lessons you learned from it. You alerted us to the fact that many times blindness is only one characteristic, and there might be other underlying diagnoses that need to be addressed. We all want to be your friend, now that we know you are into true crime and medicine—just in case we ever need your help. Yes, it would have been nice if you had pursued your dream of becoming a doctor, which would have placed you in very exclusive ranks, shared with a small handful, including Dr. Jacob Bolotin. (I’m obsessed with him, and I hope a children’s book will be written about him some day!) We appreciate everything you do for the blind and others in various capacities.
Bre Brown’s talk about the “dirty words” was an insightful (no pun intended) discussion about all the other terms used—anything but the word blind itself. Her session later on how to cut fruits and vegetables under learning shades was presented with so much patience and clarity! Bre, you are a superb instructor!
Ronza Othman’s powerful and poignant life story held us captivated, notwithstanding the encroaching lunch slump fatigue. Her accomplishments in spite of her underprivileged background are truly remarkable! She alerted us to the fact that extended time is not something that lasts in the real world. Employers have the right to give equal pay for equal work; hence, blind students need to be weaned from this entitlement when they prepare for their future vocational aspirations. Ronza’s session later on pouring drinks was filled with more details than we considered before, and definitely piqued our awareness.
The Zoom sessions with students who are part of NABS (National Association of Blind Students) were enlightening and informative. The suggestion of using one’s blindness as an asset in a job interview is brilliant (of course accompanied by concrete skills it has taught the person).
The other Zoom call with former Teachers of Tomorrow participants was very interesting and informative as well. It is so nice to hear how much this program has given them and how they still feel connected. Their advice is invaluable, and we will try to follow their lead!
It was so much fun to explore and play with all the games, tools, and equipment at the center! I hope our suggestion of building a goalball court in the empty space on the second floor will be taken seriously!
The sessions with Nikki [Jackson] to practice using the long canes and the session on carrying trays were the cherry on top. The one on carrying trays was a fascinating (and a bit scary) experience. Now we can understand our students a bit better and teach them another skill or two!
Karen, I know you had help setting up this program. But you were there almost the entire time, seemingly without resting for a minute! You welcomed me into this program so graciously, and you offered to tackle any issues that might arise due to my religious needs. Apparently, you changed some of the schedule and locations just for me! You and those who have worked with you on this are true models on inclusion, acceptance, and loving kindness! Words are insufficient to express my boundless gratitude.
May you all be blessed! I’m looking forward to a year of growth, learning, and working together to improve our skills and our outlook for blind people—thereby bringing more good into this world!
P.S. Perhaps we can take my students’ questioning of the name “Teachers of Tomorrow” seriously. We could rename this program something like TOT-TOP, Teachers of Tomorrow, Teachers of Posterity.
With endless appreciation,
Rachel Bodek
by Jonathan Mosen
Based on an Access On Podcast
From the Editor: As most readers of Future Reflections are aware, the Monarch is a revolutionary piece of Braille technology developed through a collaboration between American Printing House for the Blind (APH), HumanWare, and the National Federation of the Blind. In this interview, Greg Stilson of APH shares the history of the Monarch and introduces some exciting new developments.
JONATHAN MOSEN: Blind people have wanted it for years—a multi-line Braille display. Some of us even started calling it the Holy Braille! Now we have it. It is called Monarch. It grew from a collaborative venture between APH, HumanWare, and the National Federation of the Blind.
I’m sitting here in the Jernigan Institute with Greg Stilson from APH. Welcome back, Greg. Tell me about the journey of the Monarch.
GREG STILSON: We have nearly fourteen hundred devices in the wild, being used by students, teachers, professionals, and trainers globally. This journey started in 2020 when we put out a request, asking mainstream and assistive tech companies to open up their NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and tell us about some of the top-secret Braille stuff they were working on.
The goal was to develop a multi-line tactile intelligent display. We saw a number of prototypes. It was the partnership of HumanWare and Dot Incorporated out of South Korea that really brought this dream to reality. We had the vision of what we wanted to see, but the technology didn’t exist to bring forward what we have today. That partnership with Dot and HumanWare, along with the National Federation of the Blind later on in the journey, was what made it happen.
JONATHAN: I don’t know how much Dot has released publicly about their Braille technology, but it’s different, isn’t it? I mean, it feels different, but also it’s a lot lighter than the piezoelectric cells. That is a significant factor when you’ve got line after line of Braille.
GREG: Most people think that what you see is just the cells, and that’s it. The reality is there’s a whole piece of technology called the back panel that goes behind those cells. Stacking these cells in the fashion that we have with the Dot cells just wasn’t possible. The most you could ever do with those cells is two lines, because you have the additional technology that supports the movement of the piezoelectric cells. The interesting part about the Dot cell is what you see is what you get. The cells are extremely thin. I’m not going to say paper thin, but they’re not very thick at all. We can sort of assemble them like Legos next to each other, so you can create different spacing. In our case, we’ve created a tactile array that’s equidistant pins apart, but we’ve got a sort of algorithm where we skip certain numbers of columns between characters to represent the typical Braille spacing.
JONATHAN: When people come to the International Braille and Technology Center (IBTC), where they can put their hands on a Monarch, they definitely feel that it is different in some way. People say to me, “It feels a little bit like thermoform,” and they don’t notice it after a short time.
GREG: HumanWare and Dot worked for years to get their Dot cell feel. The touch of the pins feels as close to piezoelectric as you can get. What feels kind of thermoformy is the membrane that goes over the top. However, it doesn’t get as sticky as thermoform, or squeaky. I hated reading Braille on thermoform, because if your fingers got at all sweaty, or if there was any moisture in the air, you would get that squeakiness. You don’t get that on the Monarch’s membrane, but that membrane is there for a very specific reason. The pin technology that’s used in the Dot cell is electromagnetic. There’s a magnet that is basically flipping a cam inside the cell. The slightest amount of dust or finger oils that gets in there would prevent the pin from flipping correctly. So that membrane is essential for this technology to work.
We have nearly fourteen hundred units in the wild, each consisting of 480 cells. I’m proud to say we’ve received only two devices back for repairs, each with only one defective cell. In the refreshable Braille world, which is just unheard of!
One of the things we have on the Monarch is the touch sensor. We know where your fingers are. When you lift your finger up or lift your hand up, we are able to fix those pins immediately. That’s something we’re doing in the short term.
JONATHAN: Let’s talk about why anyone would want this. I’m sure there are people saying, “Look, I’ve been using refreshable Braille for all this time, and my single line of twenty or forty, or if you’re really lucky, eighty cells has been sufficient.” I think it’s fair to say that the catalyst for APH creating this is to get it under kids’ fingertips.
GREG: The funding mechanism was there. We knew that multi-line Braille had tremendous educational uses. APH is the largest producer of Braille textbooks in the country. If we could deliver textbooks or content electronically, we could create a cheaper path to getting material to teachers and students, right?
JONATHAN: Wouldn’t it be possible, without Monarch, simply to get a textbook to a child who would open it up on their regular old forty-cell notetaker?
GREG: Think about when you use a textbook. You do a lot of skim reading, right? You’re looking for indentations, paragraphs, headings, and tables. STEM textbooks require significant amounts of formatting. Even in literature, formatting is important for poetry.
When you look at a textbook, you’re absorbing much more than the content. You’re absorbing what is important because it’s in a box, or you’re discerning what is centered, what is right justified. On a single-line Braille display, you miss out on a lot of that content. You’re seeing it as sort of a ticker tape, if that makes sense.
JONATHAN: We’ve had concerns for a long time about ensuring that kids can participate fully in STEM subjects. Tell us a bit about graphics on Monarch.
GREG: We looked at our fiscal year 2025, the first full year that Monarch had been in existence. Over 48 percent of the graphics that were downloaded from the Tactile Graphics Image Library (TGIL) at APH—that’s over nineteen thousand graphics—were downloaded by Monarch users directly. That shows that there is a tremendous demand for instant tactile graphics! Until now, blind students have never had access to learning what something looks like by searching a database.
JONATHAN: Is it possible at the moment to open up a JPEG on the Monarch and see what it does?
GREG: Not a visual JPEG. That’s the dream, and that’s where AI comes in. I don’t want to see a tactile graphic being simply an outline drawing. When you talk to folks in the sighted world they say, “All they need is an outline, and that’s it.” The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) released graphics standards for a reason.
JONATHAN: So, at the moment then, the only way to get graphics is to use the library that’s built in?
GREG: We also offer a tool that we call Wing It. It’s a way to pair a smartphone or an iPad with the Monarch. It allows a peer, sighted or blind, to draw anything on that glass surface, and whatever is drawn is replicated on the Monarch instantaneously.
Often the gen ed teacher forgets to provide a graphic ahead of time to the teacher of the visually impaired. This allows that teacher or the teacher of the visually impaired, or even a sighted classmate or blind classmate, to draw on the iPad screen. You can add labels even without knowing Braille.
For example, let’s say they’re determining whether an angle is acute or obtuse. You could draw the angle and then label it however you want to label it.
When you’re labeling, the user doesn’t have to know Braille. When you tap the label button on your iPad, it will pop up the iOS keyboard. You type in whatever that label is, and we translate that into a Braille label instantaneously.
JONATHAN: Wing It is a lot of fun. As a blind person, it’s fun to doodle around and see what comes up on the Monarch. It’s not a freedom many of us have had before.
GREG: When we demonstrated Wing It at the 2025 National Convention, people would draw their signature. The number of people who had never felt what their signature looked like was incredible!
JONATHAN: Let’s talk about some of the concerns. One of the things we are hearing is concern about giving a kid a device that’s so expensive. If they break it, what’s going to happen? These kids are young, and they’re going to knock it about.
GREG: We built this with kids in mind. We’ve done drop tests. Don’t forget, we give sighted kids iPads with glass screens when they’re only two years old. There’s always been resistance around handing blind kids’ assistive technology and allowing them to take it home. But my sighted third-grader can take home her Chromebook.
I really have a problem with gatekeeping this technology, because so much unintentional learning happens at home. APH and HumanWare stand by our warranties. It’s a two-year warranty on this device. We stand by the technology that’s in it as well.
Would you not let a sighted kid take their technology home? Would you not let the sighted kid take their technology from class to class? In most cases, they allow the sighted population to do that.
JONATHAN: You’ve commented that there are cost savings over time if a kid gets a Monarch early. Have you been able to quantify those?
GREG: If a student is using hard-copy textbooks, you have to look at the transcription cost. We estimate a cost of about six thousand dollars every time an embossed copy is run, when you add up transcribing, proofreading, paper, binding, and postage.
Sighted kids love their multimedia content, and it can be incredibly impactful for learning. This is also a possibility with Monarch, in the sense that it’s not just all reading textbooks and looking at graphs. Kids can have the same fun, accessible way of learning and playing at the same time.
I think that this is where I’m most excited. Early on we created a software development kit for the Monarch so that APH and HumanWare aren’t the only companies developing content for this tactile platform. This year we developed a partnership with PBS Kids. One of the games they have for their PBS Kids app is Cyberchase Echo Explorer. This is a perfect example of what a tactile educational game can be. It combines tactile graphics and a game board where you can physically move a character around. It provides Braille content, and it has sound effects and great music. You’ve seen the chess game on the Monarch. That’s the tip of the iceberg.
JONATHAN: What are you learning about how adults can benefit from so much Braille real estate?
GREG: We’re seeing some incredible innovation around multi-line Braille. You’re able to do what they call cropped mode, which allows you to format a table in a table form. You can actually feel the rows, the columns, the cells. You can point and click within a cell and then expand it. If you’re looking at an Excel spreadsheet, you can point and click and reveal the formula or whatever the content is in there.
They’ve also implemented split mode, which is really unique. I see people using it in different ways and in different use cases, where you’re able to select how much of the display real estate you want to give to one app, and then select how much you want to give to the other app. For instance, you have your Microsoft Word document on the lower portion of your Monarch, so if you want to make sure you’re keeping good time, you have a clock on the upper half.
JONATHAN: But it’s expensive, isn’t it? This is the elephant in the room. It costs a lot of money, this thing. You have to spread the cost of development among a smaller number of units and all that sort of thing. How do we get those who might fund these items, both in education, in voc rehab, whatever, to a point where they understand the value of this device for employment and education?
GREG: That’s a great question, and it is the elephant in the room! Much of the first-of-its-kind technology in our field was extremely expensive. The Kurzweil reading machine was over twenty-five thousand dollars when it first came out back in the Seventies. Cost will come down as we get more of these devices out there. I encourage parents, teachers, and students to get in touch with their ex officio trustee in their state. That’s the person who manages the APH funds and can write a justification letter on why the student would benefit from Monarch.
My sighted daughter rarely reads physical textbooks anymore. Most of her reading is on a screen of some sort. I look at that as the equivalent to what we provide our blind students today. She’s still getting a fully formatted page of text on the visual screen. If the technology is there and the funding is there, a multi-line Braille device is the tool that’s going to provide blind students equal access to information.
I start there and have teachers and students speak to their ex officio trustee. Every state has one or two of them. For college students and professionals, Monarch can be funded through voc rehab. I’ve coached several students, especially in college, on how to write justification letters, citing unique things that this technology does. I would say number one is electronic delivery of textbooks for faster and cheaper access. Number two, if you have a student who’s in STEM, they’re going to need access to the Desmos graphing calculator. It provides access to a tactile image or a tactile graph that they create, unlike anything that they’ve ever had before.
I used to create graphs using Wikki Stix and a physical piece of Braille graph paper. I would plot my points and put my Wikki Stix to connect the dots. I never knew if it was right or wrong. I didn’t know what would happen if I changed the graph. If I change the minus one to a plus one, how would that impact the graph? I’d have to pull my Wikki Stix off and regraph it. With the Monarch you regraph an equation in Nemeth or UEB Math Code, you can choose to graph it, and instantly it will show you what that graph looks like. It’ll show you where the X and Y intercepts are. If you need to change it, you can go back and change it, and it regraphs it on the fly. The math integration with the Microsoft Word that we have on here, along with the Desmos graphing calculator, really creates a solution that’s unlike anything else.
JONATHAN: Then this is an equity issue. If sighted students have access to electronic text, then blind people are just as worthy. They should be able to do the same thing. The second is that question of cost efficiencies to be gained over time. So, when you look at them both like that, you have a very strong case.
I have seen adults who have saved up or made some sacrifices, gotten a loan even, to buy a Monarch because they were so excited. It was the kind of device they’d waited for forever. Sometimes their considerable sacrifice is really amazing, the way it’s changed their lives.
If you’re out there doing your job with your forty-cell Braille display, how do you pitch it to say, “Well, actually I’d be better off for the Monarch.”?
GREG: You’re going to see this device grow exponentially. We didn’t have Wing It a year ago, and now it’s there. We’re going to be releasing a periodic table app. So, the value of the device and the use cases it’s going to support are growing exponentially. One of the most common features we’re being asked for is cloud storage. One of the things that you mentioned, Jonathan, is in a workplace.
Work places use cloud storage. We’re going to add access to Office 365 or cloud storage and Google Drive as well. A number of vocations really lend themselves to the Monarch.
If you’re doing a lot in Excel, that’s a case to use your Monarch with JAWS. You are able to quickly browse a spreadsheet with your finger. Rather than having to arrow through each cell or each row, you’re able to scan the screen, pan up and down and find where you want to actually click in and do some work. We have some UI designers that really have taken advantage of Wing It to sort of structure their user interface design.
So, there are some significant use cases that can justify such a tool. If you present a lot, I can tell you firsthand that presenting on a multi-line Braille display or reading a speech is a much better experience than trying to do it on a single-line display. You can scan down a margin and find your next bullet point, find the next section that you want to speak to. So, there are several use cases that absolutely can be justified.
I have been reading from electronic Braille for every public presentation since 1996. For me, initially, it was an adjustment to use the Monarch. I was used to that one line of Braille. Now that I am used to the Monarch, I wouldn’t want to go back! It has improved my efficiency and productivity in all sorts of environments.
The number one use case that I love hearing about is people re-falling in love with reading. I’ve read so many stories about people who start reading, and it takes them a little bit to get used to the Braille spacing or the dots or whatever it is. And then after a day or so, they start to read like they would read on paper. That is something that always touches me. When we built this device, we said the number one thing it has to do is feel like you’re reading a piece of paper. To me, the greatest excitement that I can get is knowing we pretty much achieved that goal. Now folks can have access to as many literature books or textbooks or whatever they need. And it feels like reading on paper.
JONATHAN: For such a major investment, you want to know that it’s evolving. I’ve been using a Monarch for a year now, and I have seen it become a lot more stable and capable. You’ve already mentioned some of the new things that are coming, such as cloud storage. What about the ability to pair with your iPhone or Android device via Bluetooth? Currently, the terminal mode only supports USB. Is that something that’s coming?
GREG: Yes. In version 1.4, we will support Bluetooth terminal. Apple is currently working with the device, but typical of Apple, they don’t tell us when it will be available. We hope to see that in the next 26 point something release, but the Bluetooth protocol is supported. So, you’ll be able to pair immediately with JAWS or NVDA.
JONATHAN: Anything else you can tell us about that’s not too far away?
GREG: One thing we know is a need, and especially in the classroom, has to do with assessments. If students are using Monarch on a daily basis, they get tested, and they have assessments and things like that. Oftentimes you’ll be using one device for your daily work and then the assessment will require that you use something completely different to be assessed on.
Sadly, I think one of the biggest challenges our blind students face is getting assessed on the technology use rather than the content from the assessment. One of the things we’re doing is working with some of the larger assessment companies here in the United States to support Monarch through their assessment platforms. I can’t say much more beyond that, but just know that we are working with those partners and making sure that the students, if they are using a Monarch during the day, can use it also through their assessments.
JONATHAN: You mentioned the Dot Pad X earlier. That’s interesting, because Dot Incorporated is an OEM, an original equipment manufacturer supplying you with Braille cells. They’ve also gone into the retail market by coming up with Dot Pad X, and they’re marketing that here in the United States. Is that an uncomfortable position to be in?
GREG: You’re a great interviewer, Jonathan Mosen! They are a great partner in working with us on the specifications that we have. I know that they also have obligations to their own shareholders and directions that they need to go. I think the devices are very different. I equate one to a PC compared to a refreshable Braille display like we have today.
The Monarch is a fully intelligent computer, and the Dot Pad is a display for something else. I think they both have their place, and the technology that Dot has created is on its own. It is the best thing that’s available for multi-line Braille today, and we are incredibly happy to be working with them.
JONATHAN: Are you confident that since this device is running Android, it’s not going to get into a position where networks may refuse to let it connect because the operating system is getting a little old?
GREG: We are already looking at that, and there will be an Android update coming in 2026. The nice thing is that, because this device is so different, it’s nothing that would fit into the Google Play Store box today. The support isn’t available. Having the content that would work with a multi-line experience isn’t available through Google yet.
We’re going an uncertified route. The way that we have allows us to be more flexible in being able to update quickly. So, we’re confident that we’ll be able to continue updating Android as needed.
JONATHAN: Well, we will continue to focus on this wonderful world of multi-line Braille. The Monarch is the leading device in this category in terms of all of the things that it does. We’ll keep focusing on that and other devices. And we look forward to having you back on the podcast in future to discuss how Monarch is evolving. I really appreciate that.
GREG: Thank you so much for having me! I look forward to the next time.
JONATHAN: That’s Greg Stilson. We are going to feature a demonstration of the Monarch next week. Since it talks, it’s an easy device to demonstrate. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about the Monarch, you can go to aph.org/product/monarch.
That concludes this episode of Access On, the technology podcast of the National Federation of the Blind. To send in a contribution for a future episode, email us, attach an audio clip, or just write it down and send it to [email protected].
To keep up to date with Access On, follow us on Mastodon, [email protected]. To subscribe to an announcement only email list about upcoming episodes, send a blank message to [email protected]. To learn more about the National Federation of the Blind, visit our website, nfb.org or phone us, 410-659-9314.
Presented by Nikki Jackson
From the Webinar Where the Blind Work
From the Editor: Where the Blind Work is a monthly webinar presented by the Committee on Employment of the National Federation of the Blind. You can listen to the monthly webinar by visiting https://nfb.org/programs-services/employment/where-blind-work. In this session, host Nikki Jackson interviews three blind people who have built successful careers in the media.
NIKKI JACKSON: Our first presenter, hailing from Florida, currently works as accessibility coordinator for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Please give a warm virtual welcome to Natalie Gross! Natalie, please share with us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
NATALIE GROSS: Hi! My name is Natalie Gross. I’m originally from Pasadena, California, so I’m a long way from home right now. I’m currently the accessibility coordinator for FIFA World Cup 2026.
Getting to this job has been quite the journey! I’ve done quite a few things in entertainment. It was not a straight path to what I’m doing.
When I graduated from college I wanted to be a publicist. But there were no blind publicists. There were not any disabled publicists of any kind that I could reach out to for mentorship. They just weren’t hiring us. I wanted to do publicity in fashion or sports. I know those are very different fields, but I love them both, so either one would have been a good fit for me.
I did a lot of freelance work. I did a lot of internships. I worked at a museum as an intern, and then I interned for one of Katie Perry’s background singers. She was super nice! Her name is LB, for Lauren Baugh. I was kind of hustling, because nobody was hiring blind people in the entertainment industry when I graduated from college. I thought, this is a big problem! Why aren’t we more represented in this space?
At that time, I wasn’t well connected in the blind community. I went blind right before I started college, and most of my peers weren’t disabled. I really wanted to make connections in the community, so I joined a blind theater group. They reached out to me, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to be around other people who were experiencing the same things I was. I decided to join the group, and I found that I really loved it. I ended up getting scouted at one of our rehearsals. A casting rep came in and said they were looking for someone to be in a commercial. It was raining, and my hair was crazy. I came in and said, “This is me not at my best!” But I guess something went well, because they invited me in for a callback!
I did not get that commercial, but they liked me so much they introduced me to a talent agent. That’s how my acting journey began.
It was really slow at first. This was in 2017. A handful of people with disabilities were getting into television shows and commercials, but work was still pretty scarce. Only one agent in LA was working with actors with disabilities—that’s one out of maybe four hundred agents, so it was really wild!
In the meantime, I kept doing freelance publicity work as I was getting into acting. I worked with theater groups, and I ended up joining a dance group as well. As most people know, when you have a disability, you have to hustle! So, I joined a dance team and started doing salsa professionally with a team of folks with and without disabilities.
I still wasn’t finding substantial work. I wanted to be on my own and pay the bills! It was a rough road! I asked myself what I could do in the meantime, since I didn’t have any stable job. I loved fashion, so I decided to start a podcast with my best friend, Melissa. Through the podcast I caught the attention of some people who were interested in working with me on a fashion line. I began my brand, called Not Your Inspiration.
I was doing acting, doing fashion, dancing—and finally I got the opportunity to work as publicity and marketing coordinator for Blind Institute of Technology. It was a really great job. I loved it!
From there I connected with a consulting agency that was looking for someone with an entertainment background. They did a lot with Google and The Academy, and they worked with the Grammies. It was a great opportunity for me to get my foot back into entertainment, but more as a nine-to-five job.
I learned so much from them! I found out I love working on event accessibility. I loved working for big events like the Academy. From there the FIFA job opened up. In the beginning I wanted to work in sports, so it came full circle. I would have to move to Miami, but FIFA World Cup is the biggest game in the world! It’s been a great opportunity! I got a lot of experience working at a stadium and using all kinds of amazing accessibility features. We introduced ASL commentary to FIFA, audio commentary, a sensory room, and captioning—all the things that make an experience accessible for disabled spectators. I’m really excited about the work we do!
NIKKI: Let’s move on to our next guest, hailing from Texas. This person is a performer and a consultant. Please give a warm virtual welcome to Cristina Jones!
CRISTINA JONES: Hi! I’m an opera singer, and I also do consulting. I’m an educator as well; I teach Braille music and private voice lessons. I’ve taught at a couple of universities, usually survey classes on opera and musical theater.
Right now, I live in Austin, Texas. I grew up in southern California, in the Long Beach, Orange County area. I went to the Braille Institute in Orange County, and I took part in the Johnny Mercer Children’s Choir there. When I was in high school the children’s choir director asked me what I wanted to do. I couldn’t see myself doing anything outside of music, so I went to college to be a choir director. Then I discovered that I really love opera! I don’t want to sit and listen to it all the time; I want to take part in it. That’s basically what I do.
I do primarily opera performance or concert work, which is basically opera without the staging. I also do some consulting work with companies such as Netflix and Disney, Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow. I’ve also done a bit of acting—not out of a burning desire to do it, but I’ve been in a few films because the opportunity dropped in my lap.
I’ve found that whenever I do something that’s off the beaten path, it tends to give me more work in the area that I want to focus on. As a blind contractor you have to hustle. But when you’re distracted away from areas where you want to concentrate, when you just let life happen, more things tend to come your way. I don’t know if this is everybody’s experience, but it’s certainly mine.
I should mention that I got my master’s in London. I also have an Alexander technician license, which means I work with people on their body.
NIKKI: Thank you very much! I really like what you say about letting life and art lead you. I think many of us can relate to that.
Finally, this next individual hails from New York. I’d like you to give a warm virtual welcome to Jourdain Searles.
JOURDAIN SEARLES: Thanks for having me! I’m from Augusta, Georgia, and I went to college there. I wanted to move, but my mom didn’t think I could be out on my own. When I finished college I got a lot of encouragement from professors. They thought I knew a lot about film, and they wanted me to go to film school. It had never occurred to me! I applied to NYU, and I got in and studied dramatic writing. I got into UCLA, too, but I did a lot of research on LA, and with their public transportation system it didn’t seem very feasible. People would have to be driving me around all the time. If I got into a school in New York, I could be totally independent. I could walk and take the train everywhere.
When I moved to New York I rode the trains all over, just trying to learn the system. I got lost a whole bunch. When I was younger my TVI (teacher of the visually impaired) taught me to get the lay of the land, so I rode the subway all over the city, trying to figure it out. Now I know it pretty well.
I started writing film criticism on my blog. I didn’t really expect anybody to notice, but I got a fellowship with a magazine that doesn’t exist anymore. They were a feminist publication that started out in the northwest. It was a fellowship for pop culture criticism. The cool thing was you had to write eight digital articles for the fellowship. So, I immediately had those bylines. Then I wrote a long-form research piece for the actual print magazine, one of my earliest pieces of long-form writing.
It’s a little weird being a film critic when you have low vision. I don’t notice certain things as much as other critics do. I pay a lot of attention to the dialog. I ask other critics about things they’ve noticed that I might not pick up on. It makes for an interesting conversation. It’s extra special when I have the chance to write about a film involving people with low vision.
I’ve done a lot of film podcasts to raise my profile. I’ve also done stand-up. I started doing stand-up a year after I came to New York. It was a way for me to figure out my identity and assert my independence. When you’re standing on stage you can’t see anybody because the lights are so bright. I thought that would be scary, but the fact that I can’t see anybody’s face is great! I can say what I want to say, and I can’t see the judgment.
Once in a while I include jokes about how I see. I’m giving the audience permission to laugh, because I’m fine. You live your whole life with people asking you, “Do you want to get this problem fixed?” No, I don’t want to get it fixed! It’s fine. I just want to talk about it.
When I was growing up my mom was afraid I’d look like a dork with my thick lenses. Now so much of my adult cred is built around wearing big glasses. I love wearing big glasses! It’s my favorite!
Doing stand-up has been very helpful with my job as a film critic. I do a lot of film Q&As and panels. I get asked to do these things because I’m very comfortable being onstage. With Q&As I can’t see all the hands, but everybody’s very chill about it. I’m very comfortable talking about what I need. I’ll tell producers exactly where to stand so they’re in my line of vision. I have to time myself in case I don’t see them; otherwise, I’ll run the light and go a little longer than I’m supposed to.
I feel really fortunate living here, because I can go to all these events and do all these things. I’ve been on film festival juries. I was on the jury of the Melbourne International Film Festival, and I had the chance to mentor another writer while I was there.
I’ve written for the New York Times and Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter. If they like your work enough, editors are willing to work with you. I never thought I’d be able to live as independently as I do, and I feel very fortunate!
I don’t know how to explain why, as a person with low vision, I love movies so much. It’s as though I’m trying to watch as many movies as I can for as long as I can. When I was a kid they thought I would lose all of my vision. That didn’t happen, but it made me want to read and watch as many things as I could. It also made me think about how much filmmakers can learn from listening to disabled voices.
There was a movie I was supposed to review a couple of years ago. There were “Easter eggs” all over it, and everybody was talking about all the things they saw in it. I was focusing on the characters, and from that angle I wasn’t getting much from it. My review sounded so different from everybody else’s reviews! That’s a really cool thing about film criticism. It’s your unique perspective. Whatever observations you have are going to be interesting, even if it’s not the traditional way people talk about film.
NIKKI: It’s really nice to hear how comfortable all three of you are in your craft and with who you are as individuals. I’m sure all of you have faced some challenges with accessibility in your work. What are some of the ways you’ve been able to work with those accessibility challenges to produce a level of work that matches that of your sighted peers? I’ll ask Cristina first.
CRISTINA: I’m a contractor, so my work comes from everywhere—opera companies, orchestras, universities. Some places are union, some are not. One area where I sometimes have a hard time, depending on what I’m auditioning for, is comfort and timing around disclosing my blindness. Over the past seven years I’ve pushed myself to be more comfortable on my blindness journey. I realized that a lot of my hesitation was my own internalized ableism. I wanted to be seen as competent and on an equal footing. I realized that when I wiped blindness out of the equation to be seen as equal, I was erasing a fundamental part of myself. I ended up incorporating blindness into my brand. My website is blindsoprano.com.
Sometimes I wonder, if I didn’t disclose, would I get more audition offers? Having blindness as part of my branding has forced me to be honest with myself and the people around me. I’ve gotten a good amount of work. People know what to expect.
One challenge is juggling time and resources, when resources aren’t provided for me consistently. I have to get my scripts in Braille or learn by ear. A lot of times we’re hired very quickly. They might send me the sheet music two weeks before I have to perform. They don’t give me a lot of time to get done the things I need to get done.
The way I deal with that challenge is that I have several readers who I know and trust. I can call them and say, “Please, please! Let me buy you coffee! Can you read this sheet music for me?” Or I look online to see if the music I need might be available through the National Library Service for the Blind (NLS). I look to see if it’s in the public domain, or if there are recordings anywhere.
Another challenge for me is staging. A lot of directors have assumptions about what I need or what they think I’m capable of. Explaining to them in a way that’s firm but not rude about what I need and don’t need, how much spoon-feeding I need with the staging, involves trusting myself. I’m pretty comfortable with myself and my skills. But I’m not immune to insecurity! If something goes wrong, I sometimes assume it’s me. I assume I stepped out of place or did something else wrong. Most of the time it turns out it’s not me, but now and then it is. Everybody makes mistakes. I worry that if I make a mistake as a blind person, I might be messing things up for other blind artists. That’s something I need to let go of.
The other thing for me, in terms of accessibility challenges, is that sometimes, even though people look at my website, they don’t get it. When they meet me, they say, “Oh! You really are blind!” “Well, yeah!” In my head I can be pretty snarky, and when somebody says something like that, it’s challenging for me to bite my tongue and not be a jerk.
NIKKI: Jourdain, what about you?
JOURDAIN: The major thing I deal with in a lot of film festivals is they’ll tell me to watch from up in the balcony. I tell them I can’t see from up there. I have to advocate for myself to get what I need. I wear glasses, so they assume that whatever my issue is, it’s fixed.
Film festivals can be pretty chaotic. A lot of the time I can’t figure out which line I’m supposed to stand in. I have very low depth perception, and going down the stairs I need to hold the railing. If I can’t get to a railing, I just have to wait. Other critics don’t have to jump through those hoops.
NIKKI: Is audio description an option with films at festivals?
JOURDAIN: Some of the big festivals have audio description, but every festival needs it. It’s up to the festival to provide it. Most of the time they’ve been good about it, but they could definitely be better.
NIKKI: Miss Natalie, what about you?
NATALIE: When I was going out and auditioning they’d give us a script, and sometimes things would be crossed out or underlined. It would indicate whether they wanted you to speak loud or cut the line off. I use a screen reader, and a lot of that didn’t work. At first I didn’t speak up. Once I got my footing I realized I needed to speak up. They spend so much money on casting; they’re going to accommodate you. You don’t have to feel like you should just be happy to be there. People don’t know what they don’t know. Now I ask my agent to make sure I get the script in a Word document.
Also, I have to be vocal about how I show up on the screen. Producers will have very stereotypical ideas. It’s not one-size-fits-all; not all of us wear dark glasses, not all of us have dogs. I remember once I was shooting a commercial, and they said, “Put her cane in the shot next to the couch!” I had to explain I would not have my cane next to the couch. I’d leave it by the door when I come into the house. It doesn’t have to be in the shot. When I explained it, the director realized it was kind of silly, and they took it out. You tend to be a little shy, you don’t want to lose your job, but there’s a way to explain things and get people to understand. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had very supportive managers, but that’s not always the case. Working in accessibility so long, I find that people just don’t know. Usually, they say no because they haven’t done it before, but when you come with a solution, then they’ve got it.
NIKKI: I love that you spoke about being your own advocate. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that we’re just lucky to be here at all, but that’s not how we change things and make a difference.
It sounds like all of you have had to be very resourceful in your work, because things aren’t always accessible. My next question is about the arts and entertainment field as a whole. How do you think the field can better represent and include blind professionals?
JOURDAIN: It would help if accommodations were considered more important. There should be more accessibility in venues where you watch film. There should be more engagement with disabled arts collectives, more awareness that we’re here. Often I’m the only visually impaired critic around. I seem to be the only critic who’s struggling. Most industries have to be forced to care. We have to create a unified front.
I remember a film called Vision Portraits. It was a documentary about low-vision artists, made by a filmmaker who was losing his sight. It’s really good, and I wrote about it. We obviously need more films like that! When I reviewed it I felt really lucky, because I didn’t even know it existed. The filmmaker reached out to me. I wish there were more connections between us all.
NATALIE: I think the industry as a whole need to allow disabled people to be part of the conversation. A lot of times folks without the lived experience try to speak on our behalf, and they end up missing the mark. When they don’t get it right and they get backlash, then they say, “Well, we’re not going to do it at all then!” They’re upset because they didn’t get it right the first time, but they didn’t get it right because they didn’t consult us.
One thing we like to say is, “Nothing about us without us.” We need to make sure that we’re not only being brought to the table, but we’re leading the conversation about us, about what real disability representation could look like—not just the sob stories and the tropish things they like to put out! Blind people are moms, sisters, husbands, teachers, whatever the case may be. That’s not always portrayed in the media. It would be really helpful to get the industry into a more inclusive space.
CRISTINA: The main thing I would say is that we need people with disabilities to be represented on and off screen. It shouldn’t only be the performing artists advocating for themselves. There should be representation everywhere. It’s really important that we encourage each other as blind people to look beyond jobs that might seem easy for us to have. It’s important to me as a blind opera singer to have more work created specifically for blind people.
I’m always sending other blind singers to directors, because that networking is so necessary and important. We need open communication on both sides, and we need to build positive relationships. We need to have discussions and allow people to ask questions.
NIKKI: Thank you for saying that. That’s such an important point! Why can’t there be blind people working backstage with the stage crew? Working at every level? Now, can each of you tell us about an exciting project you’re currently working on?
NATALIE: We have a lot of accessibility features for blind and low-vision spectators. We have audio description. We’re bringing back the haptic board, where you not only listen to the audio description, but you can put your hand on a tablet and feel the progress of the ball. It’s really cool! I got to try it out! Come see me at World Cup next year and have a blast!
CRISTINA: I just finished filming something with Lifetime, and I’m really excited for whenever that comes out. I have no idea when that will be.
JOURDAIN: On November twenty-first to twenty-fifth, I’ve programmed a series of Angela Bassett movies at Brooklyn Academy of Music. I’m very excited about that. It’s my first time programming a series. Mostly I did it because I wanted to show Strange Days. It’s the thirtieth anniversary. I’m showing Strange Days, Waiting to Exhale, and What’s Love Got to Do with It? I’ll be introducing some of them. It’ll be a lot of fun.
NIKKI: What advice would you give people who are interested in finding success in the arts and entertainment field, in whatever art form they want to pursue?
JOURDAIN: I’d say do as much research as you possibly can. There were so many things I didn’t know that I didn’t know!
One thing, I wish I’d had more conversations with my mother. Parents feel like if they have a child with a disability they’ve got to protect them. I didn’t get the encouragement to go out there that I wish I had had. I wanted to go out there. I wasn’t afraid of going out there. Know that you can do basically anything. Sometimes it takes a bit more work. I don’t mind watching a film thirty times, because I love what I do, and I want to get it right. Love what you do, try your best, and people are going to appreciate it.
NATALIE: A piece of advice one of my friends gave me years ago was, “Anything you’re scared of, run straight toward it. That’s how you overcome fear.” I’ve truly been running ever since. Things can be a little scary. Like I mentioned, I’m a long way from home. It’s been an incredible journey, and I don’t regret it.
NIKKI: Cristina? Cristina, are you there? We seem to have lost Cristina.
I really appreciate you all hopping on and talking about your experiences and your backgrounds, and giving such words of encouragement. Thank you all for being here! And thank you to our listeners, too. If you have questions or comments, please email us at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you at our next webinar.
From the Editor: The following statement was released by the National Federation of the Blind on October 14, 2025.
Multiple news outlets report that most federal employees within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) received Reduction in Force (RIF) notices on Friday, October 10. The RIF is scheduled to take effect on December 9, 2025.
If not reversed, this action will severely undermine the Department of Education’s ability to carry out its legal responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Randolph-Sheppard Act. These laws (https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/legislative-priorities/laws-and-funding-fact-sheet) ensure that blind children receive Braille and other essential educational services, that blind adults receive the training necessary for competitive employment, and that blind entrepreneurs have opportunities to operate businesses on federal properties.
While the National Federation of the Blind—the nation’s transformative advocacy and membership organization of blind people—has been breaking down barriers in education and employment, this action by the Department of Education threatens to rebuild those very barriers by eliminating the positions responsible for enforcing crucial disability rights laws. The consequences will be devastating—fewer blind students learning Braille and accessible technology, fewer blind adults receiving mobility and employment training, and fewer business opportunities for blind entrepreneurs. Furthermore, loss of institutional knowledge will be a significant disadvantage to the commitments our nation has made to these programs and citizens with disabilities. These cuts will set back decades of progress toward equality and independence for blind Americans.
In a letter to Secretary of Education McMahon dated March 25, 2025, (https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/policy-statements/letter-secretary-education-regarding-executive-order) we sounded multiple alarms about how cuts made to Department of Education programs would have a devastating impact on blind Americans. This latest action by the Department only deepens the concerns we put forth in that letter. The National Federation of the Blind calls upon the Department of Education to immediately rescind this reduction in force.
by Justin Young
From the Editor: Justin Young is a member of the Advocacy and Policy Team at the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute. In this article he updates readers of Future Reflections on proposed changes to programs under the US Department of Education, changes that may affect blind people of all ages.
Over its long history, the National Federation of the Blind has used multiple strategies to advocate around federal, state, and local issues that have an impact on blind Americans. These advocacy efforts include making phone calls, writing letters, sending emails, and meeting with elected officials in Washington and at the local level. We use these strategies from our advocacy toolbox to protect the federal laws and programs on which we, as blind people, depend.
At the 2025 Washington Seminar, we visited the offices of our members in Congress. We told specific stories of how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the many programs housed within the US Department of Education have a direct impact on our lives. Our representatives and their staffers understood our position and told us they would help to maintain these programs, ensuring that our rights would be protected.
Then, in March, an executive order was issued, beginning the official process of closing the Department of Education. Important programs that impact blind Americans would be shifted to different federal agencies. The executive order would begin a lengthy process of reductions in force (RIFs), having an impact on how these programs are managed at the federal level. Federationists wrote to the Secretary of Education, explaining our concerns and indicating the importance of IDEA, the Rehabilitation Act, and such rehabilitation programs as those under the Randolph-Sheppard Act, the Older Individuals Who Are Blind (OIB) program, and the quota system for the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) that helps local schools and agencies afford Braille materials and access technology items.
Here are some examples of how these programs have a direct impact on blind people and our families:
IDEA covers individualized education programs (IEPs), ensuring that blind students have the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). It ensures that blind students have the right to learn and use Braille, having it as the primary learning medium. Federal funds under IDEA also help school districts pay teachers of blind students to instruct in the K-12 school system, teaching Braille, access technology, and cane travel.
Vocational rehabilitation services help pay for job training or college studies, and they can assist with providing access to technology. Vocational rehabilitation services also may pay for blind people to attend an adjustment-to-blindness training center where they can gain competence in the skills of blindness.
The Quota Funds Program of the American Printing House for the Blind helps school districts afford access technology such as the Monarch and provide access to Braille materials, including tactile maps.
The Department of Education helps offset the cost of Bookshare, a program that provides books in accessible formats for students at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels.
Programs under the Randolph-Sheppard Act allow blind people to become business owners and entrepreneurs, helping reduce the high unemployment and underemployment rates for blind Americans.
For blind seniors, the Older Individuals Who Are Blind program provides independence skills training, allowing blind people to age in place with their families.
Throughout the federal government’s appropriations process, the NFB has monitored the budget bills of the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. Federationists have met with committee staff, attended mark-up budget meetings, and continued the conversations that began at Washington Seminar in 2025.
Not all twelve budget bills were passed by September 30, 2025, resulting in a shutdown of the federal government. The government attempted another RIF of the Department of Education staff, with sweeping layoffs in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Through the loss of key personnel, the Department of Education would lose key institutional knowledge of how these programs are administered.
During this period our plan was to set up targeted meetings with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee members. We asked our affiliates that had at least one Republican senator on that committee to send one or two individuals to Washington for in-person meetings. The HELP Committee is the relevant committee of the Senate charged with providing Congressional oversight of education programs and federal agencies. It has been our hope that bipartisan support around this issue will be expressed by the members of this committee and the House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee.
In addition, we asked all Federationists to set up district meetings with our representatives to explain our concerns and continue our advocacy on this important topic. The continuing resolution that will fund the federal government until January 30, 2026, included a provision to bring back all the staff members who were furloughed during the forty-three-day shutdown. However, it is unclear what may happen after January 30, 2026. We will continue to advocate and urge our Congressional representatives to fight on our behalf, ensuring a partnership with the organized blind movement.
Always remember that it is never too late to reach out to your senators and representatives, telling personal stories of how the above-mentioned programs directly impact our lives. Personal stories are among the most important components in the advocacy toolbox, and we must use them whenever possible. The above-mentioned programs have a direct impact on our community. We need to keep up the pressure on our elected officials so they will help us in the fight to protect these critical programs from being harmed in any way. We need to ensure that blind people can depend on them for the present and into the future.
NABS Now Podcast, December 31, 2025
From the Editor: NABS Now is the monthly podcast of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS). It is available on such mainstream platforms as Spotify. In this episode, NABS Now hosts Qualik Ford and Izzy Bailey interview NFB President Mark Riccobono about the proposed cuts to the US Department of Education.
IZZY BAILEY: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the NABS Now podcast. I’m Izzy Bailey, and I’m joined by my co-host, Qualik Ford.
QUALIK FORD: Hi, everyone. This is Qualik Ford, and I’m super excited to be back with another NABS Now podcast.
IZZY: Qualik, we have a very, very exciting episode today. Do you want to share a little bit about that?
QUALIK: Yes. We’re going to be talking about a very important topic, and talking to one of the integral leaders of the National Federation of the Blind. He is our wonderful national president, who is doing so much for students and for members all across the organization: President Mark Riccobono.
MARK RICCOBONO: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it! This is my first time. I’m a rookie.
IZZY: That’s very exciting. Thank you for being here. We’re honored. I want to share a quick anecdote: I got the original voicemail saying that you were joining us, and with the iPhone it will transcribe your voicemail if you don’t catch it. It did in fact tell me that we were interviewing President Obama! Initially I was pretty excited—but when I heard it was you, my excitement quadrupled. I’m thrilled to have you here and to chat with you. Thank you for being here.
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: If you can get President Obama, I’ll be bumped any time—as long as you can get him to commit to do something for us.
IZZY: I’m sure we can get that scheduling figured out! Qualik, do you want to start off with the first question?
QUALIK: First, President Riccobono, give us an overview of who you are and what it means to be president of the national organization. Then we can jump into our topic.
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: My name is Mark Riccobono, and I have had the honor of serving as president of the National Federation of the Blind, first elected in 2014 and re-elected every two years since. What does it mean to be president? Well, it really means representing the hopes and dreams of blind people across this nation. That means you have to listen to a lot of blind people. I try to talk to more blind people in a year than anybody else does. My goal is that, any situation I get into, I know what blind people will think about it. I am a blind person, and I do have opinions, but I’m informed by dozens, hundreds, thousands of other blind people—diverse by age and almost any other characteristic you can think of. I’ve met blind people doing things that there’s no way in the world I would want to do, and blind people doing things that I might aspire to do myself. My job is to synthesize all that into something that makes sense for as many blind people as possible.
QUALIK: Our topic today is about the current landscape of education and the Department of Education. You have a familiarity with education, right?
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: I got a business degree from the University of Wisconsin last century, and I went into retail management. But the most interesting stuff I was doing was as a volunteer. I served as president of the National Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin. In our state at that time there was a big debate about the education of blind children, and about whether or not to close the Wisconsin School for the Blind. It’s a very interesting story, but I’ll save it for another time.
I knew a lot about the education of blind children. Actually, I knew exactly what not to do, because that was my lived experience. I knew that anything opposite that was a good idea!
I put a lot of ideas into the mix of the debate that was happening in the state. I borrowed a lot of ideas from other Federationists across the country and from the good work that had been done. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction asked me to run the statewide agency that served blind children. I was just short of my twenty-fourth birthday, and as I said, the only thing I knew about education was what not to do. I had to take my understanding of blindness—the understanding that I got from the lived experience of blind people across the country, the positive philosophy of the Federation—and try to put it into practice in a traditional system. I meant to get an education degree from Johns Hopkins University, but honestly, the paper was not nearly as valuable as the real-life work experience.
QUALIK: As a Baltimore native I love Johns Hopkins, but as you say, experience is what’s important. Give us an overview of what’s been happening with the Department of Education and funding cuts—the different aspects of this whole situation and how it’s affecting blind students across the country.
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: First and foremost, a lot of people don’t think about the role the Department of Education plays in their lives until they find a need for it. We knew that eliminating the Department of Education was going to be a topic of conversation in 2025, based on the priorities that the president had been articulating on the campaign trail. In January of this year (2025), right before our Washington Seminar, we decided to change the priorities that we talked about with Congress. We didn’t change them that much, but we added one—to talk about the programs that are essential to blind people, programs that live within the Department of Education. We’ve been very careful not to get lost in the debate over whether or not there should be a Department of Education. Our goal is to protect the programs that impact blind people.
The Department of Education at the federal level has a number of important programs that impact blind people. I’ll talk about the ones that specifically impact blind students, either in college or K-12. The first one, of course, is special education services. One function of the Department of Education is to distribute money to the states, and the Department of Education also provides important technical assistance to school districts on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. One prime example for blind people is that we were able to get the Department of Education, more than twenty years ago now, to create a technical assistance Dear Colleague letter. The letter made it clear that under the law and the regulations, Braille should be the default reading medium for blind students unless the team decides otherwise. In the past it was not that way, and you had to fight for Braille. Now you have to fight to eliminate Braille. That means a lot more kids are getting Braille than used to, but we know there are still kids who are not getting Braille and should get it. That change was due to our advocacy, and also because the Department of Education offered that technical assistance.
Another aspect is the rehabilitation program. Almost any blind person who is going to pursue higher education is probably going to go through vocational rehabilitation to get technology and support. That program, besides the dollars flowing from the Department of Education, has a lot of technical assistance elements that the department enforces.
Unfortunately, I would mention, is enforcement and oversight. That comes from the Office of Civil Rights, which is responsible for doing enforcement under the law, whether it be the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and any aspect of the education laws that would be overseen by the Department of Ed. Cuts in the Office of Civil Rights were actually some of the first to be made, and a lot of blind students have already been waiting for their claims of discrimination to be processed by the Office of Civil Rights. Cuts in the personnel mean that you wait longer to have your accessibility concerns addressed by the department. Of course, students can’t just stop being students. It probably means that a lot of these concerns are never going to be heard, because students aren’t going to wait around. They’re going to continue to push forward and try to graduate. Once they graduate their accessibility concerns don’t have any merit. Unfortunately this has a very negative impact.
IZZY: Thank you for speaking to that. That was a very comprehensive answer. I appreciate your touching on all those issues.
How have funding reductions affected education access opportunities for blind students in grades K through 12, college, and vocational training?
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: In terms of funding, the funding is kind of flat at the moment—that’s the good news. The bigger issue over the past year is the uncertainty with what’s happening with the personnel at the Department of Education. These people have a lot of institutional knowledge in terms of the law and making sure that the procedures the government uses to enforce the law are followed. The bigger problem is the loss of those personnel. A lot of personnel were lost with the reduction in force during the shutdown. Congress did reverse the reduction in force—the RIF, as they call it—but if you know there’s a lot of uncertainty in the job that you have, you’re likely to start looking for a job where you have more certainty! That means that potentially we’re going to lose a lot of institutional knowledge about the Rehabilitation Act and special-education law.
Funding is an issue, too. Congress never has fully funded special education at the 40 percent level that was promised back in the 1970s. It never happened. We know that funding is inadequate to provide the services that are needed for blind students in grades K-12.
The uncertainty also takes the pressure off of schools. If we look at higher education, the law makes it clear that educational technology should be accessible. The Title II regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act are set to come into effect fully next April. The uncertainty at the Department of Ed undoubtedly will make a number of schools think they’re probably not going to go through with that, so they can be less diligent about the accessibility of our technology. I’m sure some of the listeners to this podcast are already experiencing that.
IZZY: That’s a good point. A lot of the conversation that I’ve been exposed to has been specifically about funding, but sticking to that disruption in decades of institutional knowledge—that is huge! Thank you!
QUALIK: Our organization, our movement, is constantly at the forefront of making sure that our voices are heard, that blind students’ voices are heard, that blind people’s voices are heard. What current initiatives are we pursuing right now, or have we pursued, in relation to this? I know you’ve written several letters and contributed in multiple facets.
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: This is kind of an interesting time for the organized blind movement. We’re usually the ones pushing innovation, pushing for change, pushing for modernization. But actually, our position right now is to protect the status quo. It’s not that we think the status quo is perfect! But the threats to the programs affecting blind people have been so real that we have gone to Congress. We have said we need champions in Congress to protect the Rehabilitation Act, special education programs, programs for blind entrepreneurs. If Congress is not hearing from people about those programs, they will be very easy to get rid of. Congress is going to be much more resistant to getting rid of things that they’re getting pushback on.
This is really interesting, because usually it’s the rest of the blindness field that’s trying to protect the status quo when we’re trying to change things. We’ve heard from some other organizations and people in the blindness field who are arguing that this is a time of innovation. I feel that is really a mistake. We know that the administration would love to hear people say, “These programs for the blind—let’s blow them up and build something different!” As we’ve seen, it’s very easy to tear things down. It’s much harder to build them back up.
I don’t exactly want to say that we’re playing defense. We’re playing offense in terms of making sure we find those champions in Congress who are going to protect the programs when those questions come up.
IZZY: Looking at the micro level, how can an organization like NABS support this work?
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: It’s really important to let your members of Congress know why these programs are important. We need to share stories of how these programs make a difference. We need to tell stories about getting Braille and specialized instruction in K-12. We need to talk about the importance of having accessible technology in higher education and the real harm that is done by not having accessible materials. We need them to know how the Rehabilitation Act has provided support so that blind people can pursue the things they really want. Those personal stories are critical! It’s about being able to put a name, a face, an experience to what these programs mean.
If you think about it, most Americans have never utilized services under the Rehabilitation Act. So, when a policymaker says, “Let’s reduce the rehabilitation program,” thousands of people have no clue what they’re talking about. It has no impact on their lives, as far as they know. So, they think, okay, that’s easy to get rid of. The more we tell our stories, especially to lawmakers, the harder it is for those programs to be seen as easy to throw away.
The other thing I’d say is of course we have our National Federation of the Blind Washington Seminar coming up in January. It’s a great opportunity to come to Washington, DC, and advocate with members of Congress along with five hundred other blind people. It’s really empowering to sit in your senator’s or representative’s office and tell those stories directly.
QUALIK: It is such a powerful experience! I’ve been to several Washington Seminars, on the advocacy side and the Student Connection side. There’s so much to be gained, and it really does help you realize the impact when you actually get in a room with a congressman or congresswoman to talk to them about what your life is about. A lot of the time when the congresspersons are there, that’s what they want to know about. They want to know about their constituents’ lives rather than just hearing about the bills. Not to say that the bills aren’t important, because they definitely are! But the tie-in to the personal side is massive.
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: There are only one or two members of Congress who are blind or have low vision. Most people in power don’t have that lived experience. You’re right—they can look up the bill and read the bill, and they can have a staffer analyze the bill, but they need to know the real, personal elements and why it all matters. That’s what’s going to motivate them.
Another thing people can do is really stay clued in. Take the time to read what’s being said, to dig into the details of what’s happening. This is why we’ve been very careful about not getting into the fight about the Department of Education specifically as it relates to blind people. Put our program into the Department of Labor, create a new department if you want, but just don’t kill the program. That’s the important thing! We actually think our programs are okay at the Department of Education, and we’ll be happy if they stay there. But if the Department of Education is going away, which is what the administration has said they want to happen, we don’t care. That’s not our lane! Our lane is protecting programs for blind people.
It’s really important that people take the time to read about the issues. Sometimes what’s on the surface is a distraction from the real advocacy work we should be doing.
QUALIK: What would you say is a message you have for students who are super nervous or overwhelmed? As you said, the student journey keeps moving on, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a ton of anxiety. What would you say to blind students who are looking to soothe that anxiety?
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: I think it’s a difficult time to be a student in America, not just a blind student. I think blind students have it better than a lot of populations. You have a whole network of people who you can share ideas and resources with. You also have a whole social network across generations, all the blind people who have come before you, people who have your back. That’s huge! There are lots of populations out there who wish they had that. Just remember that you’re not alone. The fight is worth it. The fight has been different for various generations. But as blind students today you still have more advantages than any generation of blind students before you. That’s because of the amount of accessible technology that’s out there, and because of where the laws are. You’re better off than any other generation of blind students, and you have a powerful network. That should give you a degree of faith and hope, even when times are hard. Do something old-fashioned! Pick up the phone and call another member of NABS, and I guarantee you, they’ll be there to support you.
IZZY: That’s a lovely segue into my last question. I love history, I love our shared history and the history of the organized blind movement. In times like these, I try to look to our history to find inspiration. Are there any events in history similar to what we’re going through now? Are there any mentors or historical figures you look to for inspiration when dealing with contemporary issues?
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: In terms of past events, thinking about the Department of Education specifically, you have to remember that the Department of Education is a pretty modern invention. It’s less than fifty years old. That means that times could be different and have been different.
In terms of inspiration as it relates to blind people, there are lots and lots of choices. Today I think I’ll elevate Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. I had the opportunity to visit with the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Frank Bizignano, who came by the NFB Jernigan Institute earlier today. Dr. tenBroek was pushing on getting the Social Security program to work for blind people in a meaningful way when it was brand new. Social Security was established in the middle of the 1930s, and Dr. tenBroek was hammering on it from the beginning to shape it into something that wasn’t just viewed as welfare for blind people or an entitlement. He worked to get the program to provide meaningful support for blind people to have a basic level of financial means to get out from under their families and find some independence. From today’s perspective it’s really hard to fathom! It’s so basic now that we would have that right, that ability. I find that pretty inspirational, because he was dealing with a time when blind people had little to nothing. Today we’re dealing with problems, but as I said, today blind people have so many more advantages than we had back then!
I encourage people to check out our Walking Alone and Marching Together podcast, which covers the first fifty years of the organized blind movement. I think you’ll find a lot of inspiration and powerful stories about people and ideas that are still applicable, even in 2025.
QUALIK: It is a wonderful listen! I’ve definitely been immersing myself in it.
Thank you, President Riccobono, for talking with us and for sharing such insight into the landscape in front of us, and also for giving us guidance on the way forward. I think everything you talked about is hugely important. Izzy and I are grateful to have the opportunity to talk with you. Hopefully this is the first of many opportunities to talk to you on the podcast. Thank you again!
PRESIDENT RICCOBONO: It’s been a pleasure to be here. Let’s go build the Federation!
by Willow Townsend
From the Editor: A native of Elkhart, Indiana, Willow Townsend has taken part in the Bell® Academy held in Springfield, Illinois, every summer since she was four years old. At the 2025 NFB of Illinois Convention she shared the story of her first foray into advocacy. With her teacher’s encouragement she discovered that one person speaking up for change really can make a positive difference.
One day I was doing an O&M lesson with my teacher, Miss Julene Fitch. We were working on cardinal directions and street crossings in my neighborhood. I noticed that there was one intersection where the traffic patterns were very confusing. I could not cross independently while also staying safe. Miss Julene had to help me cross the street by being a sound beacon.
After this experience we began discussing the use of accessible pedestrian signals (APSs). Miss Julene and I agreed that APS signals would improve our city, and we decided that maybe we could do something about it. This was the beginning of our grand adventure, the quest to make our city more accessible.
Miss Julene started out by giving me some guiding questions that we could answer together. She wanted me to be able to describe what APSs are, how they work, and the cost of their installation. Accessible pedestrian signals are devices that are placed at intersections to help blind or low-vision people cross streets safely. They provide nonvisual cues such as sounds, spoken messages, or vibrations to indicate traffic signals. APSs can help blind and low-vision pedestrians make better judgments about crossing streets safely. These devices can be placed at the center of an intersection where the crosswalk is located.
After finding the answers to Miss Julene’s questions, we took a walk around our city to identify places that would be a good space for APSs to be installed. This process required us to take pictures of intersections that could benefit from having an APS at the crosswalk. We identified three intersections where it was unsafe for blind and low-vision people to cross, and we took photos of the intersections.
After we completed our research, we began preparing a speech for the mayor. We started by writing a guide that I could follow when I presented the speech. This guide included questions that the mayor might possibly ask me. For a while, I practiced reading my speech and answering questions that the mayor might ask.
Finally I presented my speech to the mayor himself. My speech was very successful. The mayor then invited us to an event called the State of the City. He gave a special mention to the work we had done.
A few weeks later, Miss Julene showed me an email that she had received from the mayor. We found out that the mayor had begun installing APSs in many locations around the city. I was invited to a ribbon cutting for one of the city’s first APS installations. I helped cut a huge ribbon with a pair of massive scissors in front of a crowd of supporters.
I think that the most rewarding part about advocacy is seeing the impact that you can have. Even advocating for something small can make a major difference in someone’s life. Being able to know that the streets in my city are more accessible is something that I can be happy about.
One of the biggest challenges about advocating for the installation of APS devices was working up the courage to talk to the mayor. I was not sure that the mayor would listen to a twelve-year-old kid, but he did. The challenge was definitely worth it. I would love to advocate for more accessibility in the future!
by Lydia Schuck
From the Editor: Lydia Schuck is an educator and researcher who has written numerous articles for Future Reflections and other publications. Much of her work is informed by her experience raising her blind daughter, who has cerebral palsy and autism. In this article she shares her experience volunteering at a camp for people with disabilities in Ukraine.
Do you remember sea glass?
I lived a mile or so from Lake Michigan during my childhood. Walking along the shore we would sometimes find pieces of glass from broken bottles: green from Seven-Up or ginger ale, sometimes blue or amber, mostly just colorless glass. The pieces had tumbled over and over in the sand and water until they were polished smooth. Lake Michigan is really just a big rock tumbler!
It’s hard to find real sea glass these days. In the US fewer and fewer products are sold in glass containers, and there are new ways to recycle glass bottles and jars. Some states offer incentives such as deposits on each bottle sold. Residents of those states get 5 or 10 cents back on every bottle they return. Some people actively search out bottles and cans from the trash, returning them for the deposit they can collect.
There just isn’t as much sea glass as there used to be. One friend of ours breaks glass items and tumbles them in a rock tumbler to simulate the dull colored glass pieces that used to wash up on the shore. You can even buy factory-made sea glass in craft stores today!
On the shore of the Black Sea in Europe, however, sea glass still abounds. At least it did back in 2017, when I had the chance to go to Ukraine. For a week I worked at a camp for individuals with disabilities. My husband and two of my kids stayed a bit longer and worked at a children’s camp, too. It’s a cultural thing in former Soviet countries: kids go to camp for a week or so.
Now that the Soviet Union no longer exists, it is a bit harder for kids to get to camp. There is no longer a Soviet children’s program, at least not in Ukraine! Poverty is an issue, too. Who can afford a week of camping on the Black Sea coast?
The opportunity to camp on the shore of the Black Sea is especially out of reach for most individuals with disabilities. Even if you had the money, you probably would not have access to camping activities. There are few ramps or other accommodations. On arrival you’d need someone to help you get down the steep gravel road to the beach, and then you’d need help to roll or walk through the sand. Finally, you’d need someone to help you out of your chair and into the water.
The camp program gives people with disabilities the opportunity of a lifetime! Volunteer cooks and other helpers are on hand to assist people to move around the campgrounds and the beach. They help campers maintain good hygiene and take part in social activities. My husband, my daughters, and I did a lot of wheeling people down to the beach and back up the steep unpaved road to the campsites.
Several families brought children with autism. I have an adult child with autism myself. She is also blind, and she has some mobility issues due to cerebral palsy. Because of her extreme hypersensitivity issues, she did not go with us to Ukraine.
Yet, while I was in Ukraine, I thought about my daughter over and over. I told camp guests, especially the parents, that I have a child who is blind and has autism. Everyone met my husband and our two other daughters in person. To my regret, I’d forgotten to bring a photo of my oldest daughter. (It is like me not to carry photos!)
On the last day of my visit, I decided to get some sea glass for my daughter back home in Michigan. I went down to the beach and saw a woman named Natasha with her young-adult son, Daniel. Daniel has profound autism. At nineteen years old he stood almost six feet tall. My husband and I had been playing with Daniel during the week at camp. I explained that I was collecting glass for my daughter.
Natasha helped me gather sea glass while Daniel played in the water. The Black Sea looks like Lake Michigan, but it is salty. While we were on the beach, we saw harmless transparent jellyfish pulsing through the waters.
When I’d gathered enough glass, I climbed back up the steep hill to the campground. The next day I flew home from Odessa to Detroit.
Several months later, I got a message online from one of my daughters, who has extensive contacts in Ukraine. A friend had forwarded to her a message from Natasha—yes, “sea glass” Natasha! Natasha told a mutual friend that she had had a wonderful time at camp. And on the last day, she said, she got to help another parent of a child with autism. She helped that mom pick up sea glass to take to her daughter, back in the United States.
Natasha wrote, “I never knew I could help another parent. I was so happy!”
I knew how Natasha felt. Sometimes I am so consumed with arranging medical care and school accommodations that I think of myself and my family as “takers.” I so want to be a “giver,” but I think I don’t have anything to give. But I do, and I did, even back when my child with disabilities seemed to need endless support. The National Federation of the Blind and many outdoor education experiences gave me opportunities to share life with others in my blindness community.
Are we like Natasha, happy about helping each other, loving each other, and loving each other’s children? By joining together with other parents, we have a unique opportunity. We learn that we can give, and not merely take from the disability and special education systems. We learn that our very beings, our experiences, successes and failures, joys and sorrows, everything about us contributes to the experience of all of us.
We also have the opportunity to learn about blindness from people who live it every day. Our own children, their friends, and all of our adult NFB friends teach us to help, to persevere, and to be joyful! We come together to share our joys and our difficulties, to march together, instead of walking alone.
“My slate and stylus are must-haves in my toolbox. They are my pen or pencil. I love my refreshable Braille display and my Braille labeler, but when they don’t work, it is my trusty slate and stylus that serve every time.”
Each year, hundreds of blind people across the United States receive a practical and empowering tool through the American Action Fund’s Free Slate and Stylus Program. Through partnership with the National Federation of the Blind, and designed to support Braille literacy and everyday independence, the program offers blind people one standard-size slate and stylus at no cost. This longstanding Braille writing method continues to be a relevant and essential resource for those who read and write Braille.
The slate and stylus are a simple yet powerful tool. With it, blind people can write Braille by hand on paper, making it easy to label items, jot down notes, or practice writing without the need for other equipment. The slate holds the paper in place while the stylus is used to emboss Braille dots, allowing for portability, convenience, and reliability in nearly any setting.
This program is available to blind people of all ages across the United States. Whether someone is learning Braille for the first time or has been using it for decades, the slate and stylus remain a trusted way to stay organized, communicate, and access information. While technology continues to evolve, the slate and stylus offer a low-tech solution that doesn’t require electricity or batteries. It remains an important part of Braille education and daily life.
Requesting a slate and stylus is simple. Individuals can complete an online form provided by the National Federation of the Blind, or mail in a completed accessible PDF form. Once approved, the materials are mailed free of charge. This ensures that cost is not a barrier to accessing basic Braille writing tools, particularly for students, seniors, or others who may be newly blind or rebuilding their skills.
The Free Slate and Stylus Program is one of the many ways the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults works to promote equality and independence for blind people. By distributing these tools at no cost, the organization supports access to Braille and reaffirms the importance of literacy in building confident, self-sufficient lives. For these recipients, a simple slate and stylus opens the door to greater independence, one Braille cell at a time.
https://nfb.org/programs-services/free-slate-and-stylus-program
Your support helps keep our resources free for blind children and adults. You can contribute to the American Action Fund in three easy ways.
Make a gift online by visiting https://actionfund.org/donate.
Give over the phone by calling 410-659-9315.
Send a check made out to “American Action Fund” to 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, MD 21230.
Often the simplest and most significant way to make a charitable contribution is to plan a legacy gift. Creating a lasting impact is easier than you might think. Choose an option that works best for your circumstances.
You can plan to give all or part of a bank account, insurance proceeds, investment assets, real estate, or a retirement account. You can even give a required minimum distribution from your IRA directly to charity and avoid taxes on the distribution. After taking care of your loved ones, you could bequeath a specific dollar amount or a percentage of your estate to an organization whose mission is important to you.
The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults Legacy Society recognizes and honors the generosity of friends of the Action Fund who have chosen to leave a legacy through a will or other planned giving option.
If you wish to give part or all of an account, simply fill out a POD (payable on death) or TOD (transfer on death) form. For pensions and insurance assets, simply designate a charity as a beneficiary. If you would like to leave a legacy to the Action Fund in your will, please include the following language:
“I give, devise, and bequeath unto the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults, 1800 Johnson Street, Suite 100, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, (EIN# 52-1192529) the sum of $______________ (or) _________ “percent of my net estate” or “the following stocks and bonds”: ____________________, to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons.
If you have questions or would like more information, please reach out to Patti Chang at 410-659-9315 or [email protected]. If you have included the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults in your will or have made some other provision for a future gift, please contact Patti so we can recognize you as a member of our Legacy Society.
Legacy gifts carry the values and ideals that have been important to you throughout your lifetime, and they provide for generations of blind children and adults. Please consider the American Action Fund in your future plans.
by Jesse Shirek
Reprinted from Braille Monitor, Volume 69, Number 1, January 2026
Have you ever dreamed of being able to save money to buy your own home, go on a Caribbean cruise, or purchase that Monarch Braille display you’ve always wanted without affecting your federal benefits? Have you wished for a way to invest your savings so your dollars grow tax-free, and to be able to withdraw money when you need it most without penalties or negative consequences? It may sound too good to be true, but if you became blind or disabled at or before age forty-six, you likely qualify for an ABLE account—a benefit that far too many people are unaware of or are simply not using.
The Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, commonly referred to as the ABLE Act, was signed into law on December 19, 2014. This groundbreaking legislation made it possible for eligible disabled individuals who acquired their disability before age twenty-six to qualify for an ABLE account. On December 29, 2022, Congress expanded this opportunity through the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, increasing the age of onset to forty-six. As of January 1, 2026, millions more blind and disabled Americans now have access to this life-changing savings tool.
An ABLE account is a special, tax-advantaged savings account that allows qualified blind or disabled individuals to save money for disability-related expenses without losing eligibility for federal programs that have strict resource limits. That definition is accurate, but it can still feel abstract, so let’s talk about what it actually means in your everyday life.
Let’s use the example of Pat from Pittsburgh.
Pat is a blind person who receives Supplemental Security Income, commonly known as SSI, and is not currently working. Under SSI rules, Pat is not allowed to possess more than $2,000 in cash or savings without losing their benefit. Like so many people, Pat used to feel trapped, unable to set anything aside for the future. But once Pat learned about ABLE accounts, that changed. By saving money in an ABLE account, Pat can now set aside up to $100,000 without jeopardizing their monthly SSI payment or other essential supports.
ABLE accounts also ensure that individuals can maintain eligibility for other important programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid, and affordable housing programs through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Instead of worrying about losing benefits by saving too much, ABLE account holders are finally able to plan ahead and build security.
In 2026, an individual can save up to $20,000 per calendar year in their ABLE account; this is known as the annual maximum contribution limit. If the account holder is working and not contributing to a retirement account through an employer, they may be able to save even more. It is remarkable to think that gifts or donations from family and friends can now go directly into your ABLE account without counting as income that could reduce or eliminate benefits. For example, a cash gift given directly to you may be counted against your SNAP eligibility, but when contributed to your ABLE account, it will not be counted as income at all.
Money saved in an ABLE account must be used for qualified disability expenses, but that phrase covers far more than people first expect. Funds can support health needs and costs associated with maintaining or expanding independence or quality of life. This means ABLE funds can be used for food, medications, medical care, housing costs and utilities, transportation, clothing, or employment-related needs. Quality of life matters too, so travel, hobbies, and entertainment also qualify. I recommend holding onto receipts for purchases made with your ABLE account funds, just in case you ever need to verify that your spending meets the intended purpose of the law.
ABLE accounts are administered at the state level, and today forty-six states and the District of Columbia operate ABLE programs. It’s a good idea to review your own state’s program first, because some states offer state tax deductions or tax credits. If you live in a state without its own program, or if you simply want to explore your options, you can enroll in another state’s program. You may find that an out-of-state program offers lower fees or different investment options that better suit your goals. Many programs offer a basic savings account as well as investment portfolios with higher earning potential. Each state’s program is different, so it is worth doing a little research to make sure you choose the one that is right for you.
Because ABLE accounts operate as investment accounts, there are a couple of ways to spend the money. You can transfer funds into a checking account when you are ready to make a purchase, or you can request a debit card from your ABLE program. Returning to our earlier example, Pat finds the debit card option especially helpful because they do not yet have a strong enough credit history to qualify for a traditional credit card. Their ABLE debit card works seamlessly to pay for rides on Uber, Lyft, or Waymo, making daily life more convenient and supporting independence.
Another powerful way to use an ABLE account is for meaningful long-term savings. Pat’s older brother Roger became blind at age thirty-four and only recently learned he now qualifies too. He plans to begin saving a portion of his earnings from his sales job, choosing more aggressive investments so that his savings can grow tax-free. When Roger eventually needs to use that money, and as long as he spends it on qualified disability expenses, he will not be taxed on the growth or withdrawals.
I hope this article has helped you see just how valuable an ABLE account can be. You no longer have to feel stuck living benefit check to benefit check, unable to set money aside or plan the life you want. You deserve the opportunity to dream, to save, and to build a future filled with possibility.
If you would like to learn more about ABLE accounts, I encourage you to visit ABLETODAY.org. The site includes a wealth of information about the rules governing ABLE accounts, as well as detailed comparisons of every state program. You can also reach out to National Federation of the Blind Government Affairs Specialist Jesse Shirek at [email protected].
https://nfb.org/scholarships
Contact: [email protected]
Application Deadline: March 31, 2026, at midnight EST
The NFB Scholarship Committee invites legally blind students from the United States, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico to apply for one of thirty 2026 NFB National Scholarship awards. To apply, read the rules and the submission checklist, complete the official 2026 scholarship application form, supply all required documents, and request and complete an interview with an NFB affiliate president. This year each scholarship award will be valued at $10,000! Remember, the only way to win is to apply!
https://nfb.org/programs-services/nfb-bell-academy
https://nfb.org/programs-services/education/nfb-stem2u
The National Federation of the Blind is pleased to announce its 2026 youth programming through two signature initiatives: the NFB BELL® Academy and NFB STEM2U.
The NFB BELL® Academy (Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning) is designed for blind and low-vision children and focuses on building strong foundational skills in Braille literacy, nonvisual independence, and confidence. Through hands-on learning and positive blindness philosophy, students are encouraged to explore, learn, and grow alongside peers.
NFB STEM2U brings hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math experiences directly to blind and low-vision students. These programs emphasize accessible experimentation, problem-solving, and exposure to STEM concepts and careers—demonstrating that blind students belong in STEM spaces.
Programs will be offered in multiple locations during 2026. Learn more and find registration details on our website.
Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards
https://nfb.org/bolotin
Contact: Everette Bacon, [email protected]
801-631-8108
Application Deadline: April 15, 2026, 11:59 pm EDT
The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards honor individuals and organizations that are a positive force in the lives of blind people. Winners of the Jacob Bolotin Awards break down barriers facing blind people in an innovative way, change negative perceptions of blindness and blind people, and push past existing boundaries to inspire blind people to achieve new heights. Winners receive a cash award, and have included entrepreneurs, volunteers, filmmakers, authors, mathematicians, technology developers, artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations, programs, partnerships, and more. The awards are presented annually at the NFB National Convention.
Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation
National Braille Press
https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/technology/tog.html
Application Deadline: March 6, 2026
The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is an annual prize of $10,000 awarded to a project or projects that show the most innovative idea in the field of Braille and tactile literacy. Winners and applicants have submitted projects for professional software and apps, educational software and apps, gaming software or apps, and Braille or tactile-related hardware or learning paraphernalia. Innovators have come from all over the world in the fields of education, technology, engineering, tactile graphics, and literacy. This is the only prize to foster and reward innovation in the area of Braille and tactile literacy for the blind and deafblind communities. National Braille Press established this award in 2007, thanks to support from the Gibney Family Foundation, inspiring people to go beyond what was thought possible with their many years of generosity. NBP is very grateful to the Lavelle Fund for funding this program since 2021.
2026 Helen Keller Achievement Awards
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has announced the recipients of the 2026 Helen Keller Achievement Awards: social influencer and author Molly Burke, nationally recognized teacher and author Kathy Nimmer, and T-Mobile US Inc. These honorees, who have made significant strides in expanding independence and opportunity for people who are blind, deafblind, and low vision, will be recognized during AFB’s annual celebration on the evening of April 23 at the Harvard Club in New York City. Both of this year’s individual honorees are recognized for their steadfast advocacy to break down stereotypes and create a more positive attitude toward blindness. T-Mobile places significant focus on customer service, and the accessibility team has made notable advances in creating a more digitally accessible universe for smartphone users with disabilities.
2025 Schneider Family Book Awards
The Schneider Family Book Awards are given in recognition of books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience. The 2025 awards were announced at the convention of the American Library Association (ALA) on January 26, 2026.
Younger Children’s Award (ages 0 to 8)
Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe
by Amy S. Hansen with Wanda Díaz Merced
Charlesbridge Publishing
Young Children Honor Books
Bat and the Business of Ferrets
by Elana K. Arnold, Illustrated by Charles Santoso
Clarion Books
I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea
by Janice Milusich, Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Anne Schwartz Books/Random House Children’s Books
Middle Grade Award (ages 9-13)
Where Only Storms Grow
by Alyssa Colman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Middle Grade Honor Books
Octopus Moon
by Bobbie Pyron
Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin Random House
The Strongest Heart
by Saadia Faruqi
Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Young Adult, ages 14-18
Whale Eyes: A Memoir about Seeing and Being Seen
by James Robinson
Penguin Random House
Young Adult Honor Book
The Golden Boys’ Guide to Bipolar
by Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Wordsong/Astra Books
Education Newsletter
The National Federation of the Blind will soon launch Raising a Blind Child newsletter for parents and teachers of blind children of all ages. The newsletter will be sent out monthly and will showcase quotes and articles from various NFB publications as well as current happenings in the Federation.
The Amazing Adventures of Braille Boy: Power Outage
https://zuzusampson.com
Contact: [email protected]
Created by a young blind student who couldn’t find books about a blind superhero, Braille Boy is a blind boy with amazing powers. In this latest addition to the series, Braille Town is plunged into darkness after the evil Cane King makes a fatal mistake. By electrocuting Braille Alien and his flock of mischievous birds, Cane King inadvertently knocks out the town’s power grid. Braille Boy and his allies rise to the challenge, teaming up to restore electricity to their community. Their mission becomes a beacon of selfless service, reminding readers of the power of unity, resilience, and civic responsibility.
CripWisdoms, A Feminist Disability Coloring Book
by Haben Girma
Clovernook Prints
700 Hamilton Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45231
513-522-3860
ISBN: 9798992621716
This coloring and activity book was created by Miso Kwaak and Emily Nott, “two graduate students, friends, and co-conspirators” in Madison, Wisconsin. The book includes not only tactile drawings to color, but prompts for poems, activities, reflection, further learning, activism, and dialog with loved ones. The authors’ hope is that this book is “a pathway for people to engage with feminist disability studies theory and crip wisdoms, and that engagement with these ideas creates pathways to care, resistance, softness, struggle, and possibility. We hope this book gives you a place to color, make, spin, and reflect in ways that nourish you.” All profits from this book are donated to the Disability Visibility Project.
Walking Alone and Marching Together
A new podcast series, Walking Alone and Marching Together, brings to life the history of the National Federation of the Blind’s fight for equality and inclusion from 1940 to 1990. Learn about the victories, setbacks, and defining moments of the first fifty years of our movement, all presented in an accessible and engaging format. New episodes will be released every week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or Podbean.
https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/walking-alone-and-marching-together
National Federation of the Blind Radio Network (NFBRN)
NFBRN is an all-new, always-on audio experience designed to transform, motivate, and raise expectations of blind people. Broadcasting 24/7, this dynamic station brings together a diverse mix of content from the organized blind movement, including legendary speeches, Braille Monitor articles, recent podcasts, convention highlights, uplifting stories, and live events. Send feedback and suggestions to [email protected]. NFBRN will unite multiple publications and voices, offering a seamless listening experience available through Amazon devices and other major radio platforms.
Audible Currency Reader
www.loc.gov/nls/services-and-resources/us-currency-reader-program
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) has partnered with the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to provide currency readers free of charge to eligible individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Educational Technology Survey
https://nfb.org/legal/surveys
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.
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